The Amazing Maze of US Health Care

A Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) study published in today’s New England Journal of Medicine shows that a majority of physicians (63 percent) support a health reform proposal that includes both a public option and traditional private insurance. If the additional 10 percent of doctors who support an entirely public health system are included, then approximately three out of four physicians nationwide support inclusion of a public option. A minority (27 percent) support a private-only option that would provide subsidies for low-income individuals to purchase private insurance.

Majority of Physicians Support Health Reform that Includes Both Public and Private Insurance Options – RWJF

By MIKE SCHNEIDER
Associated Press Writer

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Where someone lives makes a difference in whether or not that person has health insurance.

Census data released this week shows a vast geographic inequality in the uninsured that has been shaped by an area’s state laws, population makeup and jobs. Residents in vast swaths of the Southwest are many times more likely to lack health insurance than residents in pockets of the Northeast and upper Midwest.

“Depending on who you are and where you work, you can be very unlucky and not get covered,” said Dr. Bruce Siegel, director of the Center for Health Care Quality at George Washington University. “It’s a completely fragmented system.”

TBO.com – News From AP

By NEIL KING JR.

WASHINGTON — Business is parting from its traditional allies in the Republican Party on health care as companies and big corporate lobbyists lend tentative support to a congressional overhaul that conservative lawmakers staunchly oppose.

The rift mirrors a similar divide on other issues, including immigration and climate change, where many companies have backed legislative action that Republican lawmakers oppose.

But the health-care debate, in particular, casts a spotlight on the split in the longstanding alliance between economic conservatives and the business community.

Overhaul Divides Business and Its Traditional GOP Allies – WSJ.com

chicagotribune.com

The cost of medical benefits is projected to jump again next year with premiums and out-of-pocket expenses rising 10 percent, and that likely will mean more pain for workers, who have seen their share of the tab triple since 2001.
In 2010, the combined average premium and out-of-pocket costs for health care coverage for a worker are projected to climb to $4,023 a year, a 10 percent increase from this year, according to an annual study by Hewitt Associates released ahead of open-enrollment season for medical benefits.

Health care benefits: Workers to pay 10% more in 2010, Hewitt Associates study predicts — chicagotribune.com

By ANDIE COLLER | 9/28/09

You could forgive a typical poll-driven pol for being driven around the bend by health reform.

Legislators hoping to learn what their constituents think about the issue — and how to vote to keep them happy — face a dizzying deluge of hard-to-reconcile data, some of which suggests that voters are more than a little confused, as well.

Health care polls leave pols dizzy – Andie Coller – POLITICO.com