Canada seeks a way to limit health-spending increases

2011-12-14T14:30:20Z

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's top finance officials will try at a meeting next week to come to grips with the thorny problem of how to limit the rising costs of the country's universal public health-care system in the face of an aging population.

Health care in Canada is a responsibility of the provinces, a...

More Americans than not want health law repeal: poll

2011-11-16T15:00:10Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As the Supreme Court prepares to review President Barack Obama's healthcare reform, more Americans want to see it repealed than want to keep it, a poll released on Wednesday shows.

A Gallup survey of more than 1,000 U.S. adults found that 47 percent favor the repeal of health...

Organizing care for special needs kids saves money

2011-10-20T12:30:42Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Families with special needs kids can save up to a third of their out-of pocket medical expenses by having a so-called "medical home" coordinate the care for their child, a news study suggests.

A medical home could be a primary care doctor's office that incorporates the family in medical decision-making and coordinates and follows up on visits to specialists.

Wells Fargo gives staff tough choices for healthcare

2011-10-12T14:00:23Z

(Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co, one of the largest U.S. employers, plans to cut costs by moving its workers into insurance plans that encourage them to spend less on healthcare.

The bank confirmed to Reuters that it's rolling out a new insurance plan next year that will give employees accounts to help cover medical expenses. Th...

U.S. health insurance premiums climb faster in 2011

2011-09-27T09:00:28Z

(Reuters) - The cost of health insurance continues to climb for U.S. companies and workers, with annual family premiums this year growing at a pace triple that of 2010 and outpacing wage increases, according to a survey.

As the United States continues to grapple with a stubbornly weak economy, family premiums in employer-sponsored hea...

U.S. unveils ambitious plan to reduce heart attacks

2011-09-13T13:00:13Z

(Reuters) - U.S. health officials are teaming up with insurance companies, pharmacies, health providers and community groups in a campaign to prevent 1 million heart attacks and strokes over five years.

The plan announced on Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services<...

Ad hoc efforts help cut U.S. healthcare costs

2011-07-15T09:02:01Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - At Utah-based Intermountain Healthcare, comparative research made physicians realize that inducing early childbirth in healthy women created unnecessary and costly risks for newborns.

Artificially induced deliveries had become an accepted way to make childbirth fit busy personal schedules. The practice has health ris...

Medicare will keep covering Roche's Avastin

2011-06-30T10:30:18Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Medicare will continue coverage of Roche Holdings' drug Avastin for breast cancer regardless of what U.S. health regulators decide about...

Healthcare battle unfolds in Atlanta court

2011-06-08T14:31:02Z

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Lawyers for President Barack Obama sought on Wednesday to stave off the biggest legal challenge yet to healthcare reform, his signature domestic policy achievement.

The administration presented oral arguments as it appealed a ruling by a Florida judge who dec...

McConnell says Medicare will be part of deficit deal

2011-05-27T09:00:16Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said on Friday that the Medicare healthcare program will be part of any bipartisan agreement to reduce the U.S. deficit and incr...

Stents: How new technology drives health costs

2011-04-25T15:30:08Z

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Heart devices known as drug-eluting stents have added as much as $1.57 billion to U.S. health costs since their introduction in 2003, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

The study offers an illustration of how new technology can drive health costs, the researc...

US drug spending slows; hits $307 bln in 2010: report

2011-04-19T09:00:32Z

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. spending growth on prescription drugs slowed to 2.3 percent in 2010 - the second lowest level in 55 years, according to a report by consulting firm IMS Health.

Even with the slowing growth rate, spending on prescription medicines reach...

Obama targets $4 trillion cut in deficit

2011-04-13T10:30:37Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama proposed cutting ballooning U.S. budget deficits by $4 trillion over 12 years on Wednesday and called for talks with Democratic and Republican lawmakers to address the worsening fiscal woes.

Obama, who has been criticized by both Democrats and Republicans for taking...

As boomers age, a soul-searching budget battle

2011-04-06T22:30:04Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In 1983, a civil servant named Robert Ball worked a political miracle: he convinced Republican Ronald Reagan to raise taxes and Democrat Tip O'Neill to accept trims to

Affluent women worry about outliving money

2011-01-31T06:00:11Z

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Affluent women expect to be more active than their male counterparts in retirement, but they are also more worried about outliving their money, according to a Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Obama says will not refight battle over healthcare law

2011-01-28T10:00:19Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Friday his healthcare overhaul is an important part of efforts to cut the budget deficit and insisted he will not "refight" the battle to pass the law.

With emboldened Republicans vowing to repeal or replace the healthcare law he signed last March, Obama rei...

U.S. sues Boston Scientific over heart devices

2011-01-27T15:00:17Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday that it sued Boston Scientific Corp and Guidant, which it acquired in 2006, for selling defective heart devices implanted in

Geithner says healthcare repeal bad for U.S. economy

2011-01-19T09:30:12Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Wednesday said repealing healthcare reforms would damage the economy, as the House of Representatives debated the law's repeal.

"Repealing the

Government liabilities rose $2 trillion in FY 2010: Treasury

2010-12-21T16:00:37Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government fell deeper into the red in fiscal 2010 with net liabilities swelling more than $2 trillion as commitments on government debt and federal benefits rose, a U.S. Treasury report showed on Tuesday.

The Financial Report of the CHICAGO (Reuters) - Many people believe devices that allow doctors to monitor patients' vital signs in their homes offer a potential way to save health costs and allow older people to stay out of nursing homes.

The trick is proving it, according to a RAND Corp survey com...

Germany passes unpopular healthcare reform

2010-11-12T15:01:26Z

BERLIN (Reuters) - The German parliament passed healthcare reform on Friday to overhaul the country's cash-strapped insurance system and plug a threatened 11-billion-euro shortfall in the public health system next year.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's center-right...

Health reform to worsen doctor shortage: group

2010-10-01T10:15:20Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. healthcare reform law will worsen a shortage of physicians as millions of newly insured patients seek care, the Association of American Medical Colleges said on Thursday.

The group's Center for Workforce Studies released new...

Obama sends pick for Medicare post back to Senate

2010-09-13T17:30:10Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama resubmitted his pick to run the Medicare and Medicaid programs to the Senate on Monday, two months after bypassing the body with a recess appointme...

U.S. workers see higher health costs, less care

2010-09-02T08:20:48Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. companies are cutting healthcare costs further amid a continuing sour economy, scaling back benefits and shifting a greater share of the expense to employees.

The findings, published on Thursday, come as the U.S. congressional campaign heats up over the nation's stagnant economic growth and whether recently passed healthcare reforms should be repealed.

Such ...

Obama to bypass Senate to fill Medicare post: White House

2010-07-14T13:52:43Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, frustrated by Republican obstruction of key administration staffing appointments, will use his power to appoint his pick to run Medicare and Medicaid while the U.S. Congress...

CVS overcharged some prescription care customers: report

2010-05-27T19:30:10Z

NEW YORK (Reuters) - CVS Caremark Corp has been charging some customers of its SilverScript Medicare prescription-drug programs higher prices than they were promised when they signed up for the plans in late 2009, the

Medicare to pay for "fillers" in HIV patients

2010-03-23T15:00:27Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Medicare program will pay for the use of facial filling treatments in certain HIV patients with sunken cheeks and other similar problems who are also depressed, the government said on Tuesday.

The move impacts dermal fillers such as BioForm Medical's CHICAGO (Reuters) - Republican attorneys general in at least 12 states warned on Monday that lawsuits will be filed to stop the federal government's healthcare reform bill from encroaching on states' sovereignty.

The lawsuits were widely expected with announcements coming from the states' top legal officials less than 24 hours after the CHICAGO (Reuters) - As the Congress once again rallies to pass healthcare reform legislation, momentum is growing in many states to pass laws to block the changes -- a move that could lead to a legal battle over states' sovereignty.

Bills and resolutions have been introduced in at least 36 state legislatures seeking to limit or oppose various aspects of the ref...

Lawmakers could agree on healthcare cost savings

2010-04-16T06:57:35Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus on Thursday said Republicans and Democrats are not that far apart when it comes to ways to control soaring Reuters Health) - Cuts in reimbursement to hospitals made by Taiwan's universal healthcare system in recent years may have slowed a decade-long decline in stroke deaths, hints a new study.

What the findings could mean for the U.S. and other countries wrestling with the question of how to control healthcare ...

Economy tops U.S. poll of public policy priorities

2010-04-16T07:21:26Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Strengthening the U.S. economy and improving the job situation are the top domestic political priorities of Americans, according to a poll released on Monday.

The poll by the non-partisan Pew Research Center for the People &amp; th...

Fifteen states may sue over healthcare reform

2010-06-25T18:56:46Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than a dozen U.S. state attorneys general visited Washington on Wednesday threatening to sue the U.S. government if the so-called "Cornhusker Kickback," a special subsidy offered to Nebraska, is included in pen1ding healthcare ref...

Americans may live longer and cost more: study

2010-04-16T08:24:13Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Americans may live significantly longer in the future than current U.S. government projections, and that could mean sharply higher costs than anticipated for Medicare and other programs, researchers reported on Monday.

The researchers say that by 2050 Americans may live as much as eight yea...

Medicaid coverage no barrier to mammography access

2010-04-16T08:45:41Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women on Medicaid have a harder time scheduling a timely appointment for a diagnostic mammogram than women with Medicare coverage, new research shows.

But the difference is small, and can't explain why women with Medicaid insurance -- which covers poor and disabled people -- are less likely to g...

Consumer ads pump up prescription drug costs

2010-04-16T08:54:50Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Medicaid pharmacy costs for the blood-thinning drug Plavix jumped at around the same time the drug's maker started advertising it to consumers -- even though the number of people prescribed the drug didn't change, new research shows.

In the current issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine,

Trauma especially deadly for uninsured

2010-04-16T09:06:35Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - As the U.S. continues to watch Congress thrash out a plan to try to cover those without health insurance, a new study shows that people admitted to the hospital for trauma are almost twice as likely to die from their injuries if they are uninsured.

A co-author of the study said she and her colleagues weren't surprised at the dispari...

White House targets insurers over healthcare premiums

2010-04-16T10:11:56Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House kept insurance companies squarely in its sights Tuesday in the push for healthcare reform by releasing research showing that health insurance premiums have risen far faster than inflation in every U.S. state.

U.S. states have experienced premium growth of 90 percent to nearly 150 percent in the past decade, while wage...

Katrina brought out best in hospital, profits fell

2010-04-16T10:24:05Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Hurricane Katrina brought many changes to hospitals that remained open throughout the hurricane and during its aftermath. More surgeries were performed with fewer staff, but income fell due to increased numbers of uninsured patients.

According to senior author Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers returning next week to work on major healthcare legislation need to focus on insurance market reforms, consumer rebates and other measures that will curb soaring costs over time, economic and health experts said on Tuesday.

The group of academics outlined dozens of changes in their report, from restructuring payments under...

Humana profit up, shares rise

2010-09-22T13:12:34Z

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Health insurer Humana Inc &lt;HUM.N&gt; posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Monday as an improved performance in its Medicare plans for the elderly offset a decline in earnings from its business serving employers.

The company also backed its 2009 profit forecast and ...

UnitedHealth shows diversity as profit beats views

2010-09-22T13:13:18Z

NEW YORK (Reuters) - UnitedHealth Group Inc &lt;UNH.N&gt; posted stronger-than-expected second-quarter profit on Tuesday, helped by growth in the insurer's plans for elderly and low-income Americans and in its drug benefit business, and its shares rose 2 percent.

The largest

2010-04-16T11:17:04Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Monday that spiraling healthcare costs were battering American families and it is time for the Congress to take action to reform the $2 trillion U.S. healthcare system.

"Even as America's families have been battered by spiraling healthcare costs, healt...

CBO says costs will rise as healthcare expanded

2010-06-25T21:27:31Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congressional Budget Office director Douglas Elmendorf told lawmakers on Thursday legislation to expand health care coverage would increase federal healthcare costs "to a significant degree" and revenue will need to be found to keep from inc...

Deal with hospitals to save gov't $155 bln: W.House

2010-04-16T11:26:52Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration announced a deal with three hospital groups on Wednesday that will save $155 billion in healthcare spending over 10 years, mainly by lowering charges for health services to the poor and elderly.

Vice President Joe Biden said associations representing thousands of

Healthcare costs for U.S. companies seen rising 9 percent: survey

2010-04-16T11:44:25Z

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Healthcare costs for U.S. businesses are seen rising by 9 percent in 2010, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey, which showed that employers will expect workers to pay more of the bill.

PwC's annual "Behind the Numbers: Medical Costs Trends for 2010," released on Thursday, showed that one of the factors dr...

U.S. 2010 healthcare costs to jump 9 pct: study

2010-04-16T11:44:37Z

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. employers will see healthcare costs rise 9 percent in 2010 and they expect their workers to pay a greater share of their health plans, consultant PricewaterhouseCoopers said on Thursday.

PwC's annual medical costs trends report also said more workers a...

High health costs hit women hardest

2010-06-26T05:32:32Z

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Most working-age women in the United States have too little health coverage, and often forgo needed care because of cost, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

They found that seven out of 10 women have no insurance, not enough insurance or are in debt because of medical bills.

"More families a...

Wikileaks Berkeley

2010-12-14T22:31:11Z

Beverly Dove holds a sign as she speaks during a city council meeting in Berkeley, Calif., Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2010. The council in this famously liberal city is considering a resolution Tuesday night bestowing hero status on Pfc. Bradley Manning, the soldier at the center of the

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