Sub-Topics Insurance for Children Wellness Programs Also Try Medicare Lists Health Insurance Resources (PBS.org) Provides links related to protecting yourself from health insurance problems. 04-06 Multimedia -08-15-09 Factcheck About Health Care (ABC News) "Each day this week we've run a "Fact Check" report about health care -- trying to cut through the many rumors about health care reform to give you the facts." 08-09 News -001 Seven Falsehoods About Health Care (Newsweek.com) "Does the House bill call for mandatory counseling on how to end seniors' lives sooner? Absolutely not. Will the government be dictating to doctors how to treat their patients? No. Do the bills propose cutting Medicare benefit levels? No on that one, too." "But on the other hand, has Congress figured out how to pay for this overhaul? Not yet. Or will it really save families $2,500 a year as the president keeps claiming? Good luck on that one, too." 08-09 -02-26-09 Health Care on the Front Burner (Time.com) "As part of the $3.5 trillion budget he proposed on Thursday, President Barack Obama is pushing for a down payment on universal health care, a reserve fund of $634 billion over 10 years paid for by higher taxes on the wealthiest Americans and savings from government programs like Medicare and Medicaid." 02-09 -05-25-06 Vermont Signs Near-Universal Health-Care Insurance (ABC News) "Vermont's governor signed a bill on Thursday that would make the state the second in the nation with near-universal health-care insurance by extending coverage to as much as 96 percent of its residents by 2010." " A new subsidized health-care plan called Catamount Health will be offered by insurance companies and paid for in part with a hike in the state's cigarette tax and a fee on employers who do not offer health insurance to their workers." 05-06 -08-19-09 Editorial: Frightening Future If Health Reform Fails (CNN News) "Milliman Inc., an employee benefits consulting firm, publishes annually its Milliman Medical Index on the total health spending by or for a typical American family of four with private health insurance. The index totals the family's out-of-pocket spending for health care plus the contribution employers and employees make to that family's job-related health insurance coverage." 08-09 -10-19-09 Poll: Majority Backs Public Option (MSNBC News) "As Democratic congressional leaders and White House officials work to shape health care bills that will go to the House and Senate floors, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that support for a government-run health plan to compete with private insurers has rebounded from its summertime lows and now wins clear majority support from the public." 10-09 -10-29-09 House to Vote on Health Plan (MSNBC News.com) "After months of struggle, House Democrats rolled out sweeping legislation Thursday to extend health care coverage to millions who lack it and create a new option of government-run insurance. A vote is likely next week on the plan largely tailored to President Barack Obama's liking." 10-09 -11-13-09 Why Small Businesses Are Against the Health Bills (Time.com) "When it comes to finding quality, affordable health insurance, few have it worse than small-business owners and their workers shopping for coverage on the open market. They are charged the most per person, have the least amount of choice and, as a result, are some of the most likely to be uninsured." "Some 70% of the nation's estimated 50 million uninsured are full-time workers or their dependents, many of whom work for small businesses. Just 39% of workers in firms with three to 24 staff are covered by job-sponsored insurance, down from 50% in 1999." "Business groups like the Chamber and the NFIB vehemently oppose the public option. The Chamber says it would pay below-cost reimbursement rates, leading doctors and hospitals to charge private insurers (and the employers who purchase coverage from them) more to make up the difference. But even if that were true — and there are many observers who say this fear is overblown — it's not clear that small-business owners would be the ones to suffer." 11-09 -Will the Attacks of Insurers Backfire? (Time.com) "Indeed, the insurers seem to have done nothing so much as galvanize the often fractious Democrats. Before this week, a proposed government-funded public plan to compete with private insurers to reduce costs seemed to be off the table. In the Senate it most likely still is; but in the House, Pelosi is using the industry's assault to coax recalcitrant moderates to sign on to a strong public option." 10-09 02-06-04 Medicare Ads Opposed (CBS News) "Several Congressional Democrats have asked the General Accounting Office to investigate the use of taxpayer money on ads publicizing recent changes to Medicare." "The Department Health and Human Services, which oversees Medicare, announced the $12.6 million ad campaign this week and unveiled a 30-second television commercial that anchors the effort. The ad proclaims: 'Same Medicare. More benefits.' " "Charles Rangel of New York — complains that the ad misleads when it says "It's the same Medicare." Democrats contend Medicare is not the same. The new law includes restrictions on Medigap prescription insurance, introduces means-testing of premiums for supplemental or Part B Medicare and indexes deductibles for Part B to inflation. Neither the TV nor print ad mentions any of those changes." 2-04 09-05-04 Medicare Premiums to Jump Largest Amount in Program's History (MSNBC News) "Medicare premiums for doctor visits will rise 17 percent next year, the Bush administration said Friday. The $11.60-a-month increase is the largest in the program’s 40-year-history." 9-04 Comparative Effectiveness (Congressional Budget Office) "Over the past 30 years, federal spending on Medicare and Medicaid has roughly tripled as a share of gross domestic product (GDP), rising from about 1.3 percent in 1975 to about 4 percent in 2007. According to the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO’s) projections, under current policies such spending will reach about 12 percent of GDP by 2050—but substantial uncertainty surrounds that estimate.1 If costs per enrollee continued growing over the next four decades as quickly as they have grown over the past four—about 2.5 percentage points faster than per capita GDP—then federal spending on those programs would reach about 17 percent of the economy. If, instead, costs per enrollee did not exceed the growth of GDP, those federal costs would reach about 6 percent of GDP in 2050 solely because of demographic changes (see Figure 1)." 08-09 Debate Focuses on Public Insurance Option (CNN News) "After weeks of battles over aspects of President Obama's proposed health care reforms, the debate focused Monday on one central issue: whether the U.S. government will offer a public insurance option." "Former Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean, a doctor and one-time presidential candidate, told NBC's 'Today Show' on Monday that he believes a public option 'is the entirety of health care reform; it's not the entirety of insurance reform.' " 08-09 Debate Focuses on Public Insurance Option (Time.com) "So what happens if Obama takes the next step and explicitly abandons the public option? The left will be disappointed and its enthusiasm for the whole exercise may wane, though Obama probably won't lose many votes among liberal Democrats on Capitol Hill. At the same time, he probably won't pick up many from Republicans, who are looking less and less like they are in the mood to find a compromise. But it could help keep some shakier centrists aboard. And it would lower the intensity of the heat around the entire debate, by removing an issue that the White House has increasingly come to view as a distraction from the larger goals of its health-care reform." 08-09 UnitedHealth Buys the Lewin Group (Bloomberg.com) "UnitedHealth Group Inc., the largest U.S. health insurer, said profit rose 22 percent on gains from government-sponsored medical programs." "In May, UnitedHealth bought the Lewin Group, a Washington-based health-policy consulting firm, for an undisclosed sum, adding to its expanding capabilities in analyzing and mining health data." Editor's Note: Lewin Group, owned by the largest U.S. health insurer, has been cited by Congressmen opposed to health care reform as the source of information for why health care reform should be opposed. 07-09 Papers -Best Health Plans (U.S. News) Suggests best plans. 08-08 -President Obama: Illegal Immigrants Will Be Barred (ABC News) " 'Undocumented immigrants would not be able to buy private insurance on the exchange. Those who are lawfully present in this country would be able to participate.' " 09-09 -What to Do If Your Insurance Company Won't Pay (U.S. News) "Billing advocates have several lines of attack they can follow. They often uncover errors such as services that were billed but never delivered and single procedures billed multiple times, says Nora Johnson, vice president of Medical Billing Advocates of America in Salem, Va. They also have tools to determine typical payments to hospitals and physicians by Medicare and private insurers, which are lower than the amounts charged to out-of-network patients and even lower than the charges levied on patients with little or no insurance. And they can drill down to a hospital's bottom-line cost for specific services, which tells them just how much wiggle room there is for jawboning inflated charges lower." " 'You give them your documentation from the government, and they will turn around,' Whitehead says. 'I've never found one where the hospital or insurer will not come to a resolution.' " 08-08 Cobra Insurance (Cobra Insurance) "Thanks to The Cobra Act of 1986, whether you have lost coverage because you were laid off, terminated, had your hours reduced, or resigned, you are able to purchase group coverage for yourself and your family for a limited amount of time." 08-08 Glossary on Uninsured (PBS.org) Provides definitions of key terms used in discussing insurance coverage. 10-07 Health Care Lobbyists Rise to Power (CBS News) "The pharmaceutical industry is putting its army of lobbyists into overdrive as Congress works to complete a health care reform bill." "There are 3,000 registered health care lobbyists on Capitol Hill -- that's six for every single member of Congress. And in many cases, those lobbyists are former members of Congress who shaped laws that benefitted the industry they joined." 10-09 Health Insurance Facts (PBS.org) "The rise in the number of people without health insurance in the United States since 2000 [is 6 million]. This has been driven in part by declines in employer-sponsored coverage." 04-06 Health Insurance Insider: They Dump the Very Sick (ABC News) "[Wendell] Potter, who has more than 20 years of experience working in public relations for insurance companies Cigna and Humana, said companies routinely drop seriously ill policyholders so they can meet 'Wall Street's relentless profit expectations.' " How to Protect Yourself From a Health Insurance Nightmare (PBS.org) "Simply having health insurance does not mean all your medical services will be covered. This week's show illustrates how a family already coping with illness can get stuck with overwhelming expenses even after insurance kicks in. But there are some proactive steps you can take to protect yourself from an insurance nightmare." 04-06 Issue - Health Care Comparison Among Three Candidates (DeanforAmerica.com) Provides Dean, Kerry, and Gephart Health Insurance Plans, presented by the Dean Campaign. Annual costs for this insurance, according to the analysis, are $88.3 billion for the Dean plan, $214 billion for the Kerry plan, and $72 billion for the Gephart plan. Site does not include the weaknesses of the Dean plan. Editor's Note: This was prepared by Howard Dean's campaign and should not be viewed as impartial. 1-04 Underinsured (PBS.org) Provides information on the underinsured in the United States. 10-07 Uninsured by Country (PBS.org) Allows comparison of U.S. and several other countries in health insurance coverage. 10-07 What Is the White House Deal With PhRMA? (ABC News) "In June, the Senate Finance Committee and the White House jubilantly announced that they'd come to a deal with the pharmaceutical industry. But as details of that deal have come out, the White House has issued mixed and conflicting messages as to what they knew and what they'd signed off on." 08-09 Projects Estate Planning, Retirement, and Insurance (Northwestern Mutual) Provides dozens of articles discussing issues. 9-01 Web Library Sponsors Free Health Insurance Quotes (What a Quote) "We know that when you shop for health insurance for yourself, your family, or your small business you look for the solution that will best meet your needs. Contact us today and learn how we specialize in the self employed, individual and family health insurance market place." 06-08 Health Savings Account Information (HealthSavingsAccountInfo.net) "Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) were created by the Medicare bill signed by President Bush on December 8, 2003 and are designed to help individuals save for future qualified medical and retiree health expenses on a tax-free basis." 08-08 How Health Insurance Companies Deny Care Payment (U.S. News) "What few Davids know is that insurance contracts by law grant companies the legal right to manage a patient's care, including denying it, sight unseen, and give them the final say, if challenged. Unless the state steps in." 08-08

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