Health Care Costs

The Price of Hospital Stays Around the World

D. Brad Wright | Posted 11.23.2009 | Politics


D. Brad Wright

Technology costs more in the United States. Physicians cost more in the United States. What about the charges of health care facilities? Today, we examine the cost of hospitalization to find more of the same.

Health Care Rationing: Why the "R" Word is a Red Herring

N. E. Marsden | Posted 11.21.2009 | Politics


N. E. Marsden

it is ludicrous to imply that private insurance companies don't ration care by flat-out refusing procedures that people genuinely need or desperately want.

Ryan Grim

Senate Dems Close In On Reform: Details Of Health Care Bill Revealed

HuffingtonPost.com | Ryan Grim | Posted 11.19.2009 | Politics


Read the bill (PDF). Senate Democrats have posted the legislation on their web site. --------- Senate Democrats made a big step toward comprehensive...

The Price of Diagnostic Imaging Around the World

D. Brad Wright | Posted 11.18.2009 | Technology


D. Brad Wright

Diagnostic imaging represents one of the greatest leaps forward in medical innovation. And as it happens, its costs depend purely on where one plugs in the machine.

Health Care Prices Around the World

D. Brad Wright | Posted 11.16.2009 | Politics


D. Brad Wright

Starting today and running into the beginning of next week, I'm going to be making some pretty charts that demonstrate just how the U.S. stacks up against its counterparts among rich, industrialized nations.

Drug Companies Raising Prices Ahead Of Reform

nytimes.com | DUFF WILSON | Posted 11.16.2009 | Business


Even as drug makers promise to support Washington's health care overhaul by shaving $8 billion a year off the nation's drug costs after the legislatio...

An Open Letter to Harry Reid on Controlling Health Care Costs

Robert Reich | Posted 11.13.2009 | Politics


Robert Reich

Nobody promised you this would be easy, Harry. But, hell, why are you there, anyway? Your responsibility is to do the right thing by the American people and bring down future health-care costs.

How To Save Billions in Health Costs Starting Now

Dr. Jon LaPook | Posted 11.12.2009 | Living


Dr. Jon LaPook

President Obama has stressed the importance of "bending the cost curve." The fastest way to do this is shockingly simple: carefully explain to patients the known risks and benefits of procedures.

New Bill Would Extend COBRA Subsidy: Representative Joe Sestak

bloomberg.com | Margaret Collins | Posted 11.12.2009 | Business


Nov. 10 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Congress should extend a health-care subsidy that helps the unemployed before it ends for some recipients this month, ...

Point 3: We Need an Orbitz for Health

George Halvorson | Posted 11.11.2009 | Living


George Halvorson

Consumers and patients in America need to be able to make health care choices in a data-rich environment with clear information about care outcomes, caregiver performance, effectiveness and price.

Tort Reform Does Not Reduce Health Care Costs--Never Has, Never Will

Miles J. Zaremski | Posted 11.13.2009 | Politics


Miles J. Zaremski

Anyone opposed to robust health care reform because it fails to include tort reform needs to examine their premise. We should be more concerned with patient safety.

Dems on Health Bill: Oops! We Forgot to Cut Costs

New York Times | SHERYL GAY STOLBERG | Posted 11.10.2009 | Politics


As health care legislation moves toward a crucial airing in the Senate, the White House is facing a growing revolt from some Democrats and analysts wh...

Scott Hawkins: $29,000 For 5 Minutes In The ER

McClatchy | Bobby Caina Calvan | Sacramento Bee | Posted 11.09.2009 | Politics


SACRAMENTO -- For five desperate minutes, emergency room doctors at UC Davis Medical Center frantically tried to revive Scott Hawkins....

A Little Perspective on the Cost of Health Care Reform

Aaron E. Carroll | Posted 11.03.2009 | Politics


Aaron E. Carroll

People are saying that health care reform is going to break the bank. No. Health care costs are what might bankrupt us. I am all in favor of reducing those, but railing against the cost of reform while ignoring all the rest is willful ignorance.

The Public Option in Congress Is Now a Sham. Who Cares If Lieberman Kills It?

Miles Mogulescu | Posted 10.30.2009 | Politics


Miles Mogulescu

With or without a fraudulent public option, millions of Americans who will be required to buy insurance or pay a fine will see their premiums skyrocket.

Tearing Down the Barriers to Competition

Rep. Diana DeGette | Posted 10.29.2009 | Denver


Rep. Diana DeGette

Potentially egregious anti-trust violations in the insurance industry should not be permitted, and the government should be given the power to protect the public from harmful behavior that drives up prices.

Ambulances Charging Extra For Obese Patients

AP | HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH | Posted 10.23.2009 | Business


TOPEKA, Kan. — The memory still bothers Ken Keller: A panicked ambulance crew had a critically ill patient, but the man weighed more than 1,000 ...

The Public Option Is Not Where You Draw the Line

Aaron E. Carroll | Posted 10.20.2009 | Politics


Aaron E. Carroll

Many are rallying around the public option like it's a singular opportunity to save the world. It's not; it's not even close.

Wilford Brimley Is the Problem With Health Care

D. Brad Wright | Posted 10.19.2009 | Politics


D. Brad Wright

The ad encapsulates everything that's wrong the health care system: consumers are insulated from the costs of their care, providers are motivated to make a profit, and Wilford Brimley looks like a walrus.

Shuffling the Deck Chairs on Reform

Aaron E. Carroll | Posted 10.14.2009 | Politics


Aaron E. Carroll

I was wrong to think that no Republican would vote for reform. I was wrong to think that Baucus had been wasting his time. I was wrong to assume that there was no point to negotiating or giving up anything.

Why the Savings From Health Care Reform Are Underappreciated

Sima Gandhi | Posted 10.14.2009 | Business


Sima Gandhi

The American people have two choices: Implement health care reform now, when the future benefits outweigh the current costs, or wait as rising health care costs slowly drain our bank accounts.

Louis Sullivan Backs Health Bill: We Need To Come Together

ABC News | Jake Tapper | Posted 10.12.2009 | Politics


"We need to come together towards the middle and this is what the Baucus bill represents," said the former Secretary of the Department of Health and H...

Americans Dying Too Soon: U.S. Behind Other Nations In Preventable Deaths

Washington Post | Ceci Connolly | Posted 10.06.2009 | Politics


As Congress presses forward with landmark legislation to revamp the nation's health-care system, lawmakers are grappling with a troubling question: A...

Health Care Pizza

D. Brad Wright | Posted 10.02.2009 | Politics


D. Brad Wright

Solomon really nailed it on the head when he wrote "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." One of the "old" things under the sun, is health care costs.

Intolerable Cruelty: Our Sick Children's Indebted Future

Robyn O'Brien | Posted 09.30.2009 | Living


Robyn O'Brien

In 1946, Harry Truman said, "A nation is only as healthy as its children." What have we done to ours?