Nearly two million American jobs have been lost in the past year, and hundred of thousands of people will likely be laid off or have their hours scaled back in 2009.
If you think you might be one of them, know this: You’re almost certain to lose your employer-sponsored benefits with your full-time job. That’s why you need an action plan, stat. Make sure you know your health-insurance rights and options, because once you get that pink slip you have no time to lose. Here’s what you need to do within… Read the rest of this entry »
Uninsured patients with traumatic injuries, such as car crashes, falls and gunshot wounds, were almost twice as likely to die in the hospital as similarly injured patients with health insurance, according to a troubling new study.
The findings by Harvard University researchers surprised doctors and health experts who have believed emergency room care was equitable.
“This is another drop in a sea of evidence that the uninsured fare much worse in their health in the United States,” said senior author Dr. Atul Gawande, a Harvard surgeon and medical journalist. Read the rest of this entry »
Handing President Obama a hard-fought victory, the House narrowly approved a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s health care system on Saturday night, advancing legislation that Democrats said could stand as their defining social policy achievement.
After a daylong clash with Republicans over what has been a Democratic goal for decades, lawmakers voted 220 to 215 to approve a plan that would cost $1.1 trillion over 10 years. Democrats said the legislation would provide overdue relief to Americans struggling to buy or hold on to health insurance. Read the rest of this entry »
In a victory for President Barack Obama, the Democratic-controlled House narrowly passed landmark health care legislation Saturday night to expand coverage to tens of millions who lack it and place tough new restrictions on the insurance industry. Republican opposition was nearly unanimous.
The 220-215 vote cleared the way for the Senate to begin debate on the issue that has come to overshadow all others in Congress.
A triumphant Speaker Nancy Pelosi likened the legislation to the passage of Social Security in 1935 and Medicare 30 years later. Read the rest of this entry »
Senator Tom Harkin, the chairman of the Senate health committee, predicted on Friday that Congress would pass sweeping health care legislation before Christmas. And he said it would include a new government insurance plan — the so-called public option — which would compete with private insurers.
“The vast majority of the Senate Democratic caucus is for the public option we have in our bill,’’ which was approved by the health committee in July, Mr. Harkin said.
A competing bill approved this week by the Senate Finance Committee does not include a public insurance plan, but would set up private nonprofit insurance cooperatives across the country. Read the rest of this entry »
Nearly two million American jobs have been lost in the past year, and hundred of thousands of people will likely be laid off or have their hours scaled back in 2009. 
