News

2009

September

16

• No public option in Senate health plan. Amid fresh signs of tensions among Democrats over healthcare, a leading senator today released the last major proposal that Congress will consider as it attempts to refashion the American healthcare system, a $856-billion bill that

14

• Tools let doctors see patients via Internet. When Robyn Broomell was pregnant a few years ago, she needed advice from a specialist at the University of Maryland Medical Center because she is a diabetic. But Broomell, 35, of Rising Sun, never set foot

• Nonprofits excluded in health care reforms. Nonprofit organizations say they are upset that Congress and the Obama administration have not addressed their rising health care costs in the various health care proposals being floated on Capitol Hill. The main bill in

13

• Health care advocates help find answers. When Kathleen Henry’s uncle was told he had bladder cancer in May, she knew she needed help. Even though Ms. Henry has a nursing degree, she worried about deciphering treatment options and picking the

12

• Delinquency and credit scores. When you do a short sale of a house, or modify the mortgage, is there much of an effect on your credit score? What if you walk away from the mortgage altogether? A scoring company

10

• Health Care Reform (Chinese). 歐巴馬總統9日晚在國會的健保改革演講中，鄭重表示，他將會終結近百年來歷屆總統徒勞無功的健保改革，今天不做，明天絕對會後悔。他在國會和朝野大眾重新開始辯論改革方向的關頭，清晰解釋他的改革目標，首先不影響已有保險者的既有利益，但會讓無保險者獲得健保，提高健保品質、降低醫保費用，所有人都必須買基本醫療保險；但他同時強調，健保利益不惠及非法移民。

• Push to digitize patients’ records. On one proposal for health care reform at least, there is a rare bipartisan consensus: the push to computerize patient records. The goal of moving paper medical records into the digital age has been championed

• Playing investment games with life and death. Even in the best of times, some investors are always looking for that golden, seemingly risk-free investment that will net them fabulous returns. But the farther afield they look, the more likely they are to

08

• When your insurer says you're not covered. The untimely disappearance of Sally Marrari's medical coverage goes a long way toward explaining why insurance companies are cast as the villain in the health-care reform drama. "They said I never mentioned I had a

• Health compromise floated before Obama speech. As President Obama and top advisers drafted his eagerly awaited health care speech to Congress, new details emerged Monday about fees and coverage limits under a proposal being floated by the chairman of a crucial

• Groups try to protect buyers in clunker deals. Consumer groups are collecting data on cash-for-clunker deals that became clunkers for buyers and plan to bring the data to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to make sure buyers are treated fairly. Auto website

07

• Healthcare ideas losing out to ideology. The big mystery of the Democrats' loss of the commanding heights in the national healthcare debate is how they managed to let ideologies trump ideas. The difference between these two terms is crucial. Ideas arise

06

• Managing dental costs. MUCH has been said and written about the tens of millions of Americans without health insurance. But often overlooked in these discussions is another vital medical statistic: more than 100 million Americans go without dental coverage.

• In case a disaster strikes. The wildfires in California are a reminder that disaster can strike at any time, and it pays to be prepared. Howard Mills, chief adviser of Deloitte & Touche's Insurance Industry Group and a former New York

03

• Stay on top of new mortgage rules. Over the next two years, consumers may feel like an overscheduled soccer mom when trying to keep track of the effective dates of new rules and regulations written to give them greater protections. There are

01

• How to lower health costs. More coverage. More choice. Better care. And lower costs. Those are the four goals of health reform. None are easy. But reducing costs is probably the toughest of all, particularly in light of the first

August

31

• Highway safety officials urge texting ban. An organization of state highway safety officials on Monday plans to call for a ban on texting while driving, joining a growing chorus of legislators and safety advocates endorsing such a policy. The group, the

• Health care: Cost vs fairness. Chris Denny, who runs a small marketing firm in Santa Rosa, Calif., buys his own health insurance for $117 a month. An avid gardener, Denny, 27, describes himself as healthy and fit. Yet the same policy, from

30

• Chrysler takes responsibility for pre-bankruptcy claims. DETROIT - Chrysler Group LLC agreed to assume legal responsibility for injuries drivers suffer from defects in vehicles produced before the auto maker emerged from bankruptcy protection on June 10, the company said in a statement.

• Majority rule on health reform. The talk in Washington is that Senate Democrats are preparing to push through health care reforms using parliamentary procedures that will allow a simple majority to prevail in their chamber, as it does in the