health care costs

Express Scripts and Medco Health Services manage the prescription drug coverage that health insurance companies offer to large organizations.

The two firms say their plans for a $29 billion merger will help control health care costs for consumers.

But will bigger really be better?

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The Wash Post’s Ezra Klein interviewed the CEO of Kaiser Permanente and found massive differences when looking at health care costs in the US and other countries.

Yes, it’s not even close.

New York City is one of the first places in the country to take into consideration child and health care costs as well as geographic differences when measuring poverty.

Backers of New York's method want the federal formula to reflect these real world costs.

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Some Massachusetts policymakers want to end a time-honored tradition of paying health care providers a separate fee for every service they provide.

They say paying fees for every visit, test and procedure ordered is one of the driving forces behind Massachusetts' health care costs — the highest in the nation.

As a way to cut health care costs, President Obama's proposes creating an independent commission to force Congress to vote on pay increases or cuts to doctors and hospitals.

Some think the plan would keep spending in check, others are worried about meeting costs.

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I do not pretend to understand the minute details of the health care overhaul bill that the Senate has been working on for the last few weeks, but the latest news on it is disconcerting to say the least.

He’s repeating a lot of what he said earlier in the year, but I still think selling idea of passing health care reform as essential to our long term economic strength is a tough pill to swallow for Independents.

What’s more, if this editorial would have dropped a few weeks ago it would have held a lot more weight because it wouldn’t be seen as a response to criticism.

But now it feels defensive, and that’s not where Obama wants to be in this fight.

It’s still an outline right now, so more details will be coming soon.

Still, we’re going back to the same basic argument of tax credits and increased privitization, which hasn’t worked for the past two decades to curb costs or get everybody insured.

So why they think it would be able to do it this time is beyond me.

President Obama has announced that health companies are agreeing to cut costs to save the public more than $2 trillion over the next ten years.

Peter Orszag, director of the Office of Management and Budget, is the administration's point-man on health care costs.

He talks with Steve Inskeep about the costs savings which will help the president pass an overhaul plan.