health insurance

Stories 361 - 380 | << Prev   Next >>

US Insurers Warming to Medical Tourism

Sending patients to India, elsewhere could save $20B a year

(Newser) - If you’re in need of high-priced surgery, your insurance company might have a plane ticket for you. Insurers are starting to warm to “medical tourism” for the same reason uninsured Americans are: Surgery is significantly cheaper overseas. At least 150,000 Americans go abroad for medical procedures every...

Detente Mellows Wal-Mart's Once-Virulent Foes

Retailer finds middle ground with detractors

(Newser) - Wal-Mart, more accustomed to being lambasted than lauded by its critics, is seeing a shift in public opinion, reports the New York Times. The mega-retailer has reached accords with some of its most ardent detractors, even listening to their advice on issues like employee health care. The company, too, has...

More Say 'I Do' for Health Plans
 More Say 'I Do' for Health Plans 
Apr 29, 2008 10:12 AM CDT

More Say 'I Do' for Health Plans

About 7% marry to get coverage as costs soar

(Newser) - Health-insurance worries have gotten so serious they're pushing some Americans up the aisle, the Los Angeles Times reports. In a new survey, 7% of people said they or somebody in their household had married in the last year to get health benefits. The survey also found that health-care worries trumped...

Blogger Weighs Health Care Plans, Flunks McCain
Blogger Weighs Health Care Plans, Flunks McCain
OPINION
Apr 25, 2008 4:40 PM CDT

Blogger Weighs Health Care Plans, Flunks McCain

Clinton edges Obama in real-life take on insurance reform

(Newser) - Hacking through the forest of reporting on the presidential candidates' health care plans, Glamour blogger Megan Carpentier weighs in. Writing "as someone born with a birth defect who has been known to get sick," she bluntly begins, "I know enough about my own health insurance situation over...

Closet Smokers Might Get Canned
Closet Smokers Might Get Canned
Apr 23, 2008 4:42 PM CDT

Closet Smokers Might Get Canned

Factory workers who lied on insurance forms may lose jobs

(Newser) - A group of factory workers who lied about their smoking habits could be fired. The Whirlpool company charges lower premiums for health insurance to nonsmoking workers—and relies on the honor code when employees sign up. Now 39 workers at an Indiana factory have been suspended and face losing their...

Blood Test May Predict Dementia 6 Years Early

Some worry over boost in insurance costs; others want wider study

(Newser) - A new blood test can warn of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases six years before symptoms appear, its makers say. The assessment, set to launch this summer, could allow patients to begin fighting the ailments early with through dietary changes, exercise and drugs, the Daily Mail reports. But some...

1 in 50 US Infants Mistreated
 1 in 50 US Infants Mistreated 
Apr 3, 2008 6:30 PM CDT

1 in 50 US Infants Mistreated

Study finds parents 'not being able to really care' for newborns

(Newser) - About 1 in 50 US children under age 1 is a victim of nonfatal neglect or abuse—particularly among the uninsured, a survey finds. One-third of the 91,000 victims were a week or younger when the maltreatment occurred. "It's not primarily kids being hit, but parents … not...

India: Solution to US Health Crisis

Uninsured find cheap, top-flight care there; your HMO could be next

(Newser) - India is a top destination for uninsured Americans needing major surgery, the Chicago Tribune reports, with prices up to 85% lower than US rates. Last year, India welcomed 150,000 medical tourists, the Chicago Tribune reports—and now, HMOs want a piece of those savings. “Employers may soon follow...

Clinton Pitches Cap on Health Insurance

Proposes to limit premiums to 5-10% of median income

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton has proposed putting a cap on premiums in her universal health care plan, limiting them to between 5% and 10% of family income, the New York Times reports. The average cost of a family policy bought by an individual last year was $5,799, or 10% of median...

House Passes Mental Health 'Parity' Bill

Requires comparable insurance coverage for illnesses of body, mind

(Newser) - The House has passed a bill requiring most group health insurers to provide comparable coverage for treatment of mental illness and addiction as they do for physical illness, the New York Times reports. "Illness of the brain must be treated just like illness anywhere else in the body,"...

Oregonians Enter Lottery for Health Insurance

Coverage will extend to small fraction of state's 600K uninsured

(Newser) - Oregonians are flocking to sign up for a state-sponsored lottery with a high-stakes prize: health insurance. The state will begin drawing names this week to award health insurance plans to uninsured residents, the AP reports. More than 83,000 have signed up since January to have a shot at about...

Insurer Owes Patient $9M for Ending Policy

Calif. firm canceled her plan in the middle of chemo treatments

(Newser) - A California health insurance company owes a breast cancer patient $9 million in damages after it canceled her policy in the middle of chemotherapy treatments for breast cancer, the LA Times reports. The arbitration judge called Health Net’s actions “despicable." The hefty ruling, the largest of its...

Hillary's Health Plan Covers 22 Million More
Hillary's Health Plan Covers 22 Million More
OPINION
Feb 4, 2008 8:53 PM CST

Hillary's Health Plan Covers 22 Million More

Her mandated policy trumps Obama's, NYT 's Paul Krugman writes

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have health plans that sound similar but are vastly different in effect, the New York Times' Paul Krugman writes. Obama wants to make coverage affordable in the hope that Americans will sign up—a change that seems unlikely considering current coverage patterns. But Hillary's plan...

Arnold's Health Plan Terminated
Arnold's Health Plan Terminated
Jan 29, 2008 3:40 AM CST

Arnold's Health Plan Terminated

State Senate kills governor's 'fairy tale' universal insurance reform

(Newser) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's ambitious plans for a near-universal health care insurance system in California have been terminated after a year-long effort to win the support of lawmakers. The proposal was overwhelmingly rejected by California's Senate Health Committee, with only 1 of 11 senators voting in favor of the plan, reports...

Candidates Talk Health Care, But Not Their Own

Most GOP hopefuls keep mum on their personal coverage

(Newser) - With health insurance heating up campaign trails, NPR takes a look at how the candidates are covered, and finds not all of them forthcoming. Sitting senators are eligible for a federal plan, which is good but no panacea—packed with co-pays and deductibles. John Edwards reports he and his family...

Uninsured Cancer Patients Die More Often

Study finds 5-year mortality rate almost twice as high

(Newser) - Cancer patients without health insurance are 1.6 times more likely to die within five years of diagnosis than the insured, the AP reports. A new study by the American Cancer Society examined records for 600,000 patients under 65 in 1,500 US hospitals and found that 35% of...

Calif. Closer to Expanding Health Care

Assembly OKs $14B plan that mandates coverage for millions

(Newser) - The lower house of the California legislature yesterday approved a $14.4 billion bill to expand health care to millions of residents, a move analysts say could spark similar actions nationwide, the Los Angeles Times reports. But first skeptical state senators and voters must weigh in. The plan would require...

Bush Vetoes Kids' Health Bill Again
Bush Vetoes Kids' Health
Bill Again
Dec 12, 2007 6:49 PM CST

Bush Vetoes Kids' Health Bill Again

SCHIP expansion remains too pricey, president says

(Newser) - President Bush today vetoed for the second time expansion of a federal program that provides health insurance to poor and middle-class children, the New York Times reports. Bush called the proposed overhaul fiscally irresponsible, because it would cover too many undeserving recipients and raise taxes. Democrats will now try to...

UnitedHealth's Ex-CEO Will Pay Back $620M

Ousted Maguire settles claims over backdating stock options

(Newser) - UnitedHealth's ex-CEO will surrender another $420 million in stock options and retirement pay to settle claims in a scandal over stock-option backdating. William McGuire already had forfeited $200 million to UnitedHealth when he was ousted last year, the Wall Street Journal reports, making his giveback one of the largest in...

Immigration Hits All-Time High
Immigration Hits All-Time High
Nov 29, 2007 12:18 PM CST

Immigration Hits All-Time High

About 1 in 8 Americans started out elsewhere, says anti-immigrant group

(Newser) - One out of every 8 US residents is an immigrant following seven years in which a record 10.3 million newcomers crossed US borders. But more than half of those were illegals, according to an anti-immigration group's census analysis. Critics were skeptical of the study’s conclusions—which focused on...

Stories 361 - 380 | << Prev   Next >>
Most Read on Newser