Investigate IVF clinics? Will there be a debate over Medicare’s future? Is Obama’s ruling on contraception an attack on religion? School-based health centers: a nonpartisan solution?
Vermont moves to implement new law that is seen as a “road map” to a single-payer health care system.
States will be given wide latitude to decide what “essential benefits” insurers must offer in their health policies come 2014.
What’s a person, exactly? Could Herman Cain get health insurance today? A new approach to caring for the elderly?
As federal officials draw up their list of requirements for essential health benefits under the overhaul, it’s not clear whether they will include treatment mandates passed by many states
At risk are some of the very programs seen today as national models: A state-subsidized Basic Health insurance plan, services that help the elderly and disabled stay out of nursing homes and insurance for 27,000 undocumented children.
Whether it’s sending money to your local free health clinic or further squeezing your organization to maintain services, we all need to find ways to stitch together the kind of safety net that we want to provide in our communities — a column by Jonathan Seib, executive policy advisor to Gov. Gregoire
Michelle Andrews speaks with Kaiser Family Foundation’s Jackie Judd about changes in lifetime insurance limits, keeping children insured, the new high-risk pools, rising health costs and consumers’ misperceptions about the overhaul
At least 1.5 million people will soon receive notices that their health plans fall short of meeting a key standard in the new health law – and by how much.
Unless you change who is eligible for the program — something no one seems to be suggesting — there are really only two ways to make Medicare cost less: Pay health care providers like doctors and hospitals less, or make Medicare patients pay more. Until now, neither has been very popular politically.
Many retiree health plans will not provide coverage for your young adult children. Health columnist Michelle Andrews discusses your alternatives.
Nancy-Ann DeParle, director of the White House Office of Health Reform, explains the new rule that requires health insurers to spend 80 percent of premiums on medical care.
LocalHealthGuide is a health news and information web service for Seattle and the Puget Sound Region. We are independent and unaffiliated with any hospital, medical association or insurer. If you have questions or if your group has an upcoming event that you would like us to cover, please let us know by going to our "Contact Us" page and dropping us a note. -- Michael McCarthy, Editor
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Seattle Times Health News
Experts divided over recommendation to screen children for cholesterol
Some clinicians say universal screening is an important tool to help identify children who are genetically predisposed to high cholesterol and to pinpoint others who could benefit from treatment. Others express concerns that screening may do more harm than good.
People in state high-risk insurance plans often feel left behind
The federal health law set up new plans that are cheaper and more comprehensive than the older ones run by states but consumers need to go without insurance for six months to qualify.
Peeking in on your doctor’s notes
Although federal law guarantees patients the right to examine and get copies of their medical records, providers haven’t always made it easy to do so. But the movement to give patients direct access to their health information has picked up steam, and policymakers have encouraged it as a way to empower patients to help manage their health and their medical care.
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