Medicare

With Congress ready to spend $700 billion to prop up the U.S. economy, enacting health-care reform may seem about as likely as the Dow hitting 10,000 again before the end of the year. But it may be more doable than you think, provided we dispel a few myths about how health care works and how much reform Americans are willing to stomach.

1. America has the best health care in the world.

Let's bury this one once and for all. The United States is No. 1 in… more

Under the new administration, political conditions for health reform will be far less divisive than they were in the early 1990s, when President Bill Clinton's health plan failed, said Jacob Hacker, political science professor at UC Berkeley who advised the Obama campaign on health issues. "Americans have a very strong moral commitment to universal coverage," said Hacker, adding surveys consistently show Americans want everyone to have health coverage but are concerned about costs. "Once in place, as was the… more

On Monday, September 15th, six experts in fiscal policy and healthcare policy debated the nature of the nation’s pending fiscal crisis at the National Press Club. Moderated by TaxVox editor Howard Gleckman, the event featured Henry Aaron and Alice Rivlin of the Brookings Institution, Julie Barnes and Maya MacGuineas of the New America Foundation, Robert Greenstein of the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, and Eugene Steuerle of the Peterson Foundation. Henry Aaron warned that long-term deficit projections would… more

On October 28th, 1997, House Speaker Newt Gingrich and President Bill Clinton held a secret meeting where they reached a groundbreaking deal to create a centrist political coalition to reform Social Security and Medicare. Although the Lewinsky scandal ultimately undermined their agreement, the efforts of these men, and others in Congress, might serve as a model for members of both parties interested in addressing the long-term shortfalls in the nation's entitlement programs. Steven Gillon will discuss the details of… more

"Medicare naturally makes for strange bedfellows," Jacob Hacker, a political science professor a the University of California-Berkeley and the author of The Great Risk Shift: The New Economic Insecurity and the Decline of the American Dream wrote in an email. "Both conservatives and liberals have an interest in keeping the program's costs in line. The divisions are much deeper when it comes to expanding the role of government in health care -- and the political fight will be that much fiercer..."

..."Democrats should take away from the Medicare… more

Sandy and Charlie Murphy never imagined that paying for health care could put everything they owned at risk.

In 2002 the Murphys and their two sons were living a comfortable middle-class life in Scottsdale, Arizona, where Charlie, now 59, worked as a manager for Charles Schwab and where Sandy, now 60, was a part-time child advocate for the state. Then, in rapid succession, Charlie got laid off; Sandy quit to care for a son with health problems; Charlie discovered that his new employer set a $100,000 cap… more

While congressional negotiators build a federal budget for 2009, a group of bipartisan budget experts are launching a campaign to wean the government off what they call a debt addiction. John Dimsdale reports.

RENITA JABLONSKI: In Washington today, House and Senate negotiators will try to sketch out a federal budget for 2009. At the same time, across town, a group of bipartisan budget experts will launch a campaign to wean the government from what they say is a debt addiction. John… more

Think Tanks Offer Latest Social Security 'Reform' Plan (CongressNow, subscription only)

A new plan to reform Social Security released today would transform it into a true retirement insurance program to protect people against costs that exceed their means, according to a report released today. The proposal, presented jointly by The Heritage Foundation the New America Foundation, would mandate retirement savings and insurance,while scaling back benefits for those who don't need them. The proposal also would require… more

If you’ve never suffered the agony of low back pain, don’t worry -- chances are you will. About two-thirds of adults are hit with low back pain at some time in their lives, and for many the pain is sufficiently unbearable to send them hobbling into the doctor’s office. Yet although back pain is one of the most common conditions around, and although it costs billions of dollars each year in lost productivity, doctors still disagree over everything from how… more

Have you ever wondered why hospitals offer free cancer screening tests? You’ve heard the ads on radio, and seen them in newspapers, urging you to come to your local hospital for a free Pap smear, mammogram or prostate cancer blood test.

Hospitals would like you to think they are doing this out of the goodness of their hearts, that free cancer screening is a public service intended solely to improve your health. But there may be another motive at work… more