Story Archives of 'health insurance'

For Small Customers, Health Care Dollars Don't Buy as Much Medical Care

By Elaine Grant on Monday, September 21, 2009.

Everyone knows that health insurance premiums are particularly expensive for small businesses and individuals.

One reason: considerably more of their premium dollars pay for insurance companies’ administration.

NHPR’s health reporter Elaine Grant has the story.

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State Health Insurance Rates Among Highest, Fastest Growing in the US

By Elaine Grant on Friday, September 4, 2009.

New Hampshire residents pay the third highest health insurance premiums in the U.S.
It hasn’t always been this way. Our insurance premiums skyrocketed between 2003 and 2008, growing faster than those of any other state in the nation.

NHPR’s health reporter Elaine Grant has more.

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New Hampshire Health Care Voices Debate Public Option

By Elaine Grant on Tuesday, August 18, 2009.

On Sunday, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius suggested that the Obama administration was backing off from what’s become known as the public option for health insurance.
Her comments sparked strong protests from liberal Democrats who feel that a public option is fundamental to a health care overhaul.
Since Sunday, the administration has been trying to reassure supporters that it is committed to a public option.
Congress may be on recess, but as NHPR’s Elaine Grant reports, New Hampshire lawmakers and health care advocates are continuing the debate.

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The Health Care Debate Hits The Granite State

By Laura Knoy on Sunday, August 9, 2009.

As Portsmouth prepares for a health care town hall with President Obama, Congress continues to weigh several approaches to the issue. We’ll untangle all of them, from health care co-ops to a public option, and we’ll hear what questions you’d ask the President.

Guests

  • Dean Spiliotes, New Hampshire political scientist and author of NHpoliticalcapital.com
  • Trudy Lieberman, contributing editor to the Columbia Journalism Review and blogger on the media coverage of health care in the presidential campaign

We'll also hear from

  • Andy Smith, professor of Political Science at the University of New Hampshire and Executive Director of the UNH Survey Center
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Health Care Lessons From The Bay State

By Laura Knoy on Thursday, August 6, 2009.

What can Massachusetts teach us about health care? As the debate rages on Capitol Hill, politicians of all stripes have been pointing to that state’s system of universal care as an example of both what to do and what not to do. We’ll look at how the Massachusetts reforms are faring and find out which parts, if any, might work well on a nationwide scale.

Guests

  • Martha Bebinger, reporter for WBUR in Boston
  • Jonathan Gruber, health care economist at MIT, board member of the Massachusetts Health Connector Program and health care advisor to former Governor Romney and President Obama
  • TBA
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New Hampshire Businesses Weigh In On Health Care Reform

By David Darman on Friday, July 24, 2009.

President Barack Obama is pushing hard to get a plan through Congress that would restructure the country’s healthcare system.

As lawmakers debate what might eventually wind up in the legislation, lobbyists in Washington push their own interests.

And here in New Hampshire businesses are anxiously watching.

NHPR’s David Darman has more.

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Health Care Gets Hot in Washington

By Laura Knoy on Monday, June 22, 2009.

President Obama has made health care reform his top domestic priority, and now Congress is hashing out the details, including a controversial “public option” which would be a government health plan that would compete with private insurers. We’ll get the latest from Capitol Hill reporters who’ve been following the story.

Guests

  • Carrie Budoff Brown, staff reporter for Politico who has been following the health care reform debate in Congress
  • Jeff Young, staff writer for The Hill newspaper who’s been covering the health care debate in Washington
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Lawsuit Could Add to State Budget Woes

By Elaine Grant on Friday, June 19, 2009.

In a budget season marked by squabbling between the House and the Senate, lawmakers have agreed on one source of revenue.

They are counting on using $110 million from a medical malpractice fund.

But that money may be tied up in court.

NHPR’s Elaine Grant has more.

No-Insurance Clubs

By Virginia Prescott on Thursday, April 16, 2009.

More than 47 millions Americans are living without health insurance. If you’re out of work or working without benefits, finding a doctor who will see you without health insurance is no mean feat.

A group of Arizona physicians is developing a new model for treating uninsured patients. It’s called the "no insurance club" and it gives patients up to 12 visits a year for a fixed fee of $480. They opened enrollment in January, and with us to explain this outside-the-box health care system is "no insurance club" co-founder Chad Harris.

(Photo by romanlily via Flickr/Creative Commons)

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Small Business Owners Struggle with Record-High Health Insurance Costs

By Elaine Grant on Thursday, February 19, 2009.

No one is happy about the cost of health insurance in New Hampshire.
Especially small business owners, who are struggling with record-high health costs.
And one state rep wants to do something about it.
NHPR health reporter Elaine Grant has more.

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