health care

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US Poverty Rate Dips, but Uninsured Swell

Income inequality reaches all-time high

(Newser) - The US poverty rate has finally taken a downturn for the first time in 10 years, census figures show. The poverty rate was 12.3% in 2006, down from 12.6% the previous year, and annual household income rose to $48,200. But the news isn't all rosy: the number...

10 Ways to Cut Medical Costs
10 Ways to Cut Medical Costs

10 Ways to Cut Medical Costs

Hospital and med bills don't have to cost an arm and a leg. Lower your blood pressure with these tips from MSNBC .

(Newser) - Avoid financial injury by following these ten tips from MSNBC:
  1. Shop for tests. Different labs may vary widely in costs.
  2. Negotiate. Hospitals may waive or reduce a co-pay fee if the patient can prove that it's a hardship.
  3. Question the necessity of follow-up appointments, X-rays or MRIs.

GAO Warns of Decline & Fall .... of America

US problems are the same that destroyed Roman Empire, chief declares

(Newser) - America's dire state resembles that of the Rome just before its fall, the head of the General Accountability Office has warned in a grim new report. "Declining moral values and political civility at home, an over-confident and over-extended military, and fiscal irresponsibility," could lead to disaster here at...

Why Small Government Has Collapsed
Why Small Government
Has Collapsed

Why Small Government Has Collapsed

Prospect writer says Dems can drown movement in bathtub

(Newser) - Democrats have never been so well positioned to sell big-government liberalism—as the other side looks pathetically out of step with Americans’ desires to expand health care and bolster infrastructure, says the American Prospect’s Paul Waldman. After the Minnesota bridge collapse, the public is ready for the party that...

Grocery Chain Offers Free Rx Meds
Grocery Chain Offers Free
Rx Meds

Grocery Chain Offers Free Rx Meds

Publix pharmacies will dispense 7 antibiotics at no cost

(Newser) - Pharmacies in Publix supermarkets across five Southern states will distribute seven antibiotics free to patients with prescriptions, the chain said today. The CEO allows that one goal is to drive customer traffic, but it's also an example of the private sector assisting access to affordable health care, the AP reports....

Nagin to Feds: Cut Red Tape
Nagin to Feds: Cut Red Tape

Nagin to Feds: Cut Red Tape

New Orleans mayor tells Congress of dire need for docs, mental health workers

(Newser) - Ray Nagin delivered an unscripted plea to Congress yesterday, asking for a more urgent response to the health-care crisis that has plagued New Orleans since Katrina hit in 2005. Both Republicans and Democrats echoed the mayor's frustrations at the federal government's inaction on the city's pronounced shortage of physicians and...

8 Yanks Graduate From Cuban Med School

Free tuition, humanitarian approach drew minority students

(Newser) - Cuba's Latin American School of Medicine graduated its first batch of American students this week, helping raise the eight-year-old school's profile. There are 90 more already enrolled in the free program, which comes with an exemption to the ban on travel to Cuba for Americans. Students are selected by the...

YouTube Asks, Dems Respond
YouTube Asks, Dems Respond

YouTube Asks, Dems Respond

Voters call the shots as candidates answer their questions directly

(Newser) - Voters put questions directly to the Democratic presidential candidates last night, thanks to 3,000 citizens who submitted questions to YouTube. CNN selected and played 39 of the homemade videos, in which regular Americans—including a lesbian couple, a singer, and a snowman—created an unprecedented debate format. The candidates...

House Dems Call for Expanded Health Care Bill

Calls for both children's coverage and shoring up Medicare

(Newser) - The Senate reached a rare bipartisan agreement to beef up insurance coverage for low-income kids, and now House Democrats are proposing a health care plan with an even wider scope. Their plan yokes the children's coverage to big changes in Medicare, and is sure to heat up the confrontation between...

Bush Rejects Plan to Expand Health Care for Kids

Prez rejects bipartisan bill despite pleas from Republican senators

(Newser) - President Bush rebuffed a health care compromise yesterday that would expand a program that provides coverage to poor children. The Senate's bipartisan proposal would insure 3.3 million more kids, but Bush says he'll veto any expansion of government health care on philosophical grounds—despite pleas from within the GOP.

Uninsured Ignore New Health-Care Law

Massachusetts takes its time enforcing universal requirement

(Newser) - A law requiring Massachusetts residents to have health insurance kicked in yesterday, but two-thirds of the 372,000 residents who need coverage haven't signed up, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Massachusetts is a pioneer in universal health care, and most people eligible for subsidized care have insurance, but some 6%...

Health-Care Industry Feels a Little 'Sicko'

Film's corporate opponents unite against Moore

(Newser) - Michael Moore's "Sicko," in which the filmmaker advocates for socialized health care, has the industry nervous and trying to downplay the film's accuracy and objectivity. Strong opinions are flying on both sides, from medical workers who back Moore to an industry lobbying organization that calls him "a...

Army Hospital MIA on Stress Disorders

Walter Reed lacks resources to cope with growing problem

(Newser) - Though 20 to 40 soldiers are sent home from Iraq each month with severe mental problems, the Army's largest hospital has no post-traumatic stress disorder center, reports the Washington Post. There is also a severe shortage of doctors qualified to treat these patients. Not long ago, the head of psychiatry...

Moore's 'Sicko' Leaks to Youtube
Moore's
'Sicko' Leaks
to Youtube

Moore's 'Sicko' Leaks to Youtube

Health-care expose has early onset at video sharing site

(Newser) - Documentarian Michael Moore has a feverishly anticipated takedown of the American health-care industry set to open in two weeks—but try telling that to the internet. Sicko went viral this weekend as cinematic hackers managed to post the two-hour film in its entirety on YouTube, probably from a pirated DVD.

Kidney Donor Reality Show Was a Hoax

Broadcaster draws praise for raising awareness of transplant-organ shortage

(Newser) - A controversial Dutch reality show featuring a dying woman’s choice of a kidney recipient aired last night—and was revealed as a hoax. The "donor" was an actor; the contestants were real patients who were in on the prank. A producer said the goal was to call attention...

Health Care Isn't a Third Rail Anymore

Dems eady to tackle universal health care again—and GOP is notably silent

(Newser) - Thirteen years after Hillary-Care, politicians are ready to think big again about the US health care system, the Wall Street Journal reports. Skyrocketing costs and the rising ranks of the uninsured are combining to form a climate where candidates feel that they can tackle the issue without political backlash—even...

Barack Backs Universal Health Care
Barack Backs Universal
Health Care

Barack Backs Universal Health Care

Plan resembles Hillary's failed attempt as First Lady

(Newser) - White House applicant Barack Obama has unveiled a health care plan which will offer all Americans coverage comparable to what federal employees get. The Obama Plan would cost upwards of $65 billion a year, which the Senator plans to fund by cancelling Bush tax cuts and increasing efficiency, the Chicago ...

Doctors Post Prices for Procedures
Doctors Post Prices for Procedures

Doctors Post Prices for Procedures

In a competitive Southern California market, a medical price war

(Newser) - A group of doctors in California has become the largest private practice in the country to go public with its prices for medical procedures. Breaking with the notion that price-shopping demeans professional services, HealthCare Partners posted the price of 58 common procedures, from x-rays to flu shots, on its website...

Big Pharma Loses Generic Drug Fight
Big Pharma Loses Generic
Drug Fight

Big Pharma Loses Generic Drug Fight

Deal for developing nations first blow by Dems in Congress

(Newser) - Congress and the White House have agreed to give developing nations more access to affordable generic drugs by easing some patent enforcement rules. Tucked into a broader trade agreement passed last week, the provision is the first blow to American pharmaceutical companies since the Democrats won control of Congress, the ...

Doctors Are Sorry, Not Sued
Doctors Are Sorry, Not Sued

Doctors Are Sorry, Not Sued

New laws allow doctors to apologize

(Newser) - Lawmakers in nine states want doctors to be able to say they're sorry. So-called  "I'm-sorry" laws, already on the books in 27 states, allow doctors to apologize to patients when they make mistakes, or as expressions of sympathy, without fear of litigation.

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