Nationally, employees now pay an average of $3,997 as their share of the annual family health insurance premium — about $1,000 more than in 2006 and twice the 2001 amount.
Poll found that 43 percent of Americans viewed the law favorably – down from 50 percent in July – while 45 percent held unfavorable views. But voters more concerned about economy than the new health law.
Some health providers are offering patients health-care credit cards to help pay for care. But some patients charge they’ve been swindled.
Reform forces insurers to cover basic benefits, restricts their ability to mistreat consumers, and limits what they can spend on overhead: bad news for the inefficient.
Medicaid expansion to cover more working poor. Funding to boost community health clinics. Incentives to encourage more to pursue primary care careers.
The story of 1993 Washington Health Services Act should serve as a cautionary tale.
Despite the clear benefits of health IT, only two in ten doctors and one in ten hospitals use even a basic electronic record system.
In the past, some plans would refuse to pay the routine care of patients in clinical trials, arguing the treatments were experimental and therefore not covered.
Plans, although a better deal than anything comparable on the private market, still may be unaffordable for many. Eligibility requirements may be a barrier.
Colleges and universities say some rules in the new health law could keep them from offering low-cost, limited benefit student insurance policies.
Drug restriction policies that discourage use of expensive, new medicines cut costs, but more study needs to be done to see how they affect patient health, researchers say.
FDA shouldn’t cave to pressure and allow Genentech to keep advanced metastatic breast cancer on the Avastin label, argues Merrill Goozner.
On White House blog, Gregoire outlines how Washington State will use new federal funds to review health insurance company rate hikes.
Jon Cohn answers John Goodman’s column: Comparing Medicaid cutbacks to private insurer’s dropping costly patients “is grossly misleading,” Cohn writes.
In the health reform debate we hear a lot about insurers dropping patients to save money, but not about Medicaid dropping thousands when state budgets are tight.
Lower-cost “fiixed payment” plans can leave patients with big bills.
The new healthcare reform law will extend health insurance to 34 million uninsured Americans, but what does it do to try to control costs?
You can boost the number of children with medical insurance by providing application materials to parents and helping them fill out the forms, study finds.
Law also helps seniors cope with Medicare drug benefit “doughnut hole” and will reduce seniors medical costs in coming years, President says.
Virtually all the projected improvement in Medicare’s long-run outlook stems from a big bet on hospitals and doctors becoming more efficient and productive.
How is it possible to expand health coverage to tens of millions of people through Medicaid, tax credits and subsidies and at the same time cut the deficit?
By any measure, the true cost of the health care legislation is well over $1 trillion for the first ten years and in no way will it reduce the deficit.
U.S. District Court judge allows constitutional challenge to healthcare reform law’s “individual mandate” requirement to go to proceed.
Washington residents who’ve been uninsured for at least 6 months and who have a pre-existing medical condition now can apply for coverage under the new Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan.
Looking to save money on healthcare? Consider asking your doctor for a discount. And remember, when negotiating for a better price: Cash is king.
[ August 12, 2010; 6:45 pm to 8:30 pm. ] Barbara Flye, the Senior Health Policy advisor to Washington Insurance Commissioner, Mike Kreidler, will provide an overview of the new health care reform law, and will help you understand how it relates to coverage for people with cancer.
President Obama explains HealthCare.gov, the new consumer website that makes it easier to find health care coverage and explains some of the benefits of the new health reform law.
Washington state’s insurance plan for residents with pre-existing conditions will start accepting applications in August with coverage beginning on the 1st of September.
Overall support remained stable since the June survey, with about half the public expressing a favorable view of the overhaul, the poll found.
When am I going to be able to start collecting benefits under the law’s new long-term-care program? When will the Medicare prescription drug coverage gap close?
Invisible Families: The homeless you don't see
They squeeze in with relatives, couch surf with friends or camp out in cars. More families are quietly becoming homeless, driven to the edge by a lack of jobs and affordable housing. The Seattle Times and its local news partners tackle the topic together. Project home
E-Health Records: Seattle is ahead of the curve
Health News from the Seattle Times
