The continued decline in employer-sponsored insurance has led to an increasing number of uninsured, according to reports released at a Capitol Hill forum. The reports, prepared by the Urban Institute for the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, found that employer-sponsored coverage fell from 81 percent in 2001 to 77 percent in 2005. Read more »
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley traveled to Pennsylvania to say he'll seek an extension of statutory language to ensure that Medicare payments to hospitals accurately reflect local wage rates. Read more »
A new survey published in Health Affairs found that 43 percent of Americans surveyed named high costs as one of the two most important health care issues for government to address, while 34 percent flagged the lack of insurance and access. Read more »
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released an analysis comparing Medicare drug plan formularies for 2007 and 2006, concluding that more drugs will be covered next year but that limits on their use will be somewhat greater. Read more »
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., announced that it's expanding its $4 generic prescription drug program to 14 more states in addition to Florida. The program makes up to 30-day supplies of 314 generic prescription medicines available to its customers and employees for $4, whether they are insured or not. Read more »
To an industry audience that has largely tuned out the liberal spectrum of the congressional airwaves the past dozen years, tuning into Pete Stark and his plans for the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee under Democratic control might have seemed like a tympanic explosion. Read more »