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Articles on US health care reform

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Senator Bernie Sanders, a strong advocate for the establishment of a public health insurance system in the United States. Brendan Smialowski/AFP

Fact check US: Can progressive and centrist Democrats finally agree on health care reform?

From Vice-President Kamala Harris to Senator Bernie Sanders, voices were raised during the campaign for a more accessible US health care system. What can we expect from the Biden administration?
A COVID-19 test in Utah. The country’s pandemic response has been politicized, making comprehensive changes to public health more difficult. AP Photo/Rick Bowmer

Poor US pandemic response will reverberate in health care politics for years, health scholars warn

Health policy and politics scholars expect political fallout from the federal response to the pandemic will play out for years, with trust in government taking a big hit.
Funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) has run out. stockcreations/shutterstock.com

Time to stop using 9 million children as a bargaining CHIP

Funding for a children’s health insurance program ran out at the end of last September. Despite the program’s clear benefits, plans to renew it have been caught in partisan bickering.
A computer screen showing the Healthcare.gov website for this year’s open enrollment. AP Photo/Alex Brandon

Surprise! How Obamacare is beginning to look a lot like Medicaid

With open enrollment for the Obamacare exchanges under way, big changes could occur. Insurers raised their premiums, but most Obamacare consumers won’t pay big increases. Taxpayers will.
Pres. Trump shows off an executive order he signed Oct. 12, 2017 to undo parts of the Affordable Care Act. AP Photo/Evan Vucci

Will Obamacare marketplaces suffer as open enrollment begins?

Frustrated with Congress for its failure to replace Obamacare, President Trump took matters into his own hands and issued an executive order to nix parts of it. How his order will play out is unknown.
Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, considered a powerful dealmaker, failed to get the necessary votes to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

US health care system: A patchwork that no one likes

Many Western, industrialized nations provide health insurance. The US has repeatedly balked at universal coverage. So what kind of system are we left with? A very unpopular one.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) flanked by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), left, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) as they addressed the unpopularity of their replacement bill. AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

How Obamacare has helped poor cancer patients

Poor people who have cancer are one of the most financially vulnerable groups in the US. Obamacare aimed to improve their access to care. A recent study shows how it did.
Close to 9 million children could be affected if funding for health insurance for them expires. Billion Photos/www.shutterstock.com

Clock running out on health program for 9 million kids

Funding for the children’s health insurance program is in jeopardy if Congress does not act by September 30. Here’s a look at what’s at stake, and how Congress could act to secure funding for CHIP.
From left, Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., hold a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017. AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

How the latest effort to repeal Obamacare would affect millions

A Senate vote in July seemed to signal the end of efforts to kill the Affordable Care Act. With a Sept. 30 deadline looming, though, a new bill has real possibilities. Here’s why that could be bad.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell at an Aug. 1 press conference, the first he held after the defeat of his health care bill. AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Why state-level single-payer health care efforts are doomed

With Obamacare in peril and no health care plan in sight, it’s logical to ask whether states could design their own single-payer health insurance plans. Efforts in California show why it’s unlikely.
As more and more seniors need care, their budgets will be strained. As a result, they may rely on Medicaid. gagliardiImages/Shutterstock.com

Why Medicaid matters to you

Medicaid, a state-federal entitlement program that people associate only with the poor, pays for care for more than six in 10 nursing home residents. That could be you, or someone you love.
For many, the heart of the health care debate is the ability of patients to choose their own health care, including whether to buy insurance and which doctor to see. Alpa Prod/Shutterstock.com

What does choice mean when it comes to health care?

The Republican position on health care has been based upon a belief in individual choice. Here’s how their own versions of health care bills eroded choice, however, and how they also did harm.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) cast the pivotal vote to nix the Senate version of a bill to repeal Obamacare, only days after returning to Washington after surgery. AP Photo/Cliff Owen

Trump isn’t letting Obamacare die; he’s trying to kill it

After the Senate nixed a repeal of Obamacare, Pres. Trump turned to Twitter, vowing to let the law die. But he’s actually doing much more. Here’s how he’s taking an active part in destroying the law.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) returned to the Capitol July 25 to cast what was a tie-breaking vote to proceed to debate a bill to repeal Obamacare. AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

Glioblastoma, a formidable foe, faces a ‘reservoir of resilience’ in McCain

A diagnosis of glioblastoma did not keep John McCain from the Capitol to cast a crucial vote that could end Obamacare. His actions are a reminder that stats are one thing but human beings, another.
A neighborhood in Huntington, West Virginia, where more than two dozen opioid overdoses occurred within four hours in August, 2016. AP Photo/Claire Galofino

How killing the ACA could lead to more opioid deaths in West Virginia and other Trump states

West Virginia favored Trump by more than 2:1 in the 2016 election, but Trump’s policies would particularly hurt the state. Its residents depend heavily on Medicaid to treat opioid addiction.
Health care personnel in all hospitals work hard to provide first-rate care, but academic hospitals carry an added responsibility. Some have questioned whether that dilutes clinical care. gpointstudios/Shutterstock.com

As academic hospitals lower mortality rates, should insurers reconsider excluding them?

Many academic medical centers are facing increasing financial pressure as insurers create so-called narrow networks, but a recent study of mortality data may lead insurers to reconsider.
North Carolina NAACP President Rev. William Barber, accompanied by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, Texas, left, as activists, many with the clergy, are taken into custody by U.S. Capitol Police on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 13, 2017, after protesting against the Republican health care bill. AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Why health savings accounts are a bust for the poor but a boost for the privileged

The latest Senate health care bill is still a hodgepodge of efforts to repeal Obamacare, critics say. One of their concerns is the focus on HSAs.

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