Health insurance
Judge denies injunction in health care lawsuit
SEATTLE -- A King County judge has denied a motion to force Republican Attorney General Rob McKenna to alter his filings with the U.S. Supreme Court on the multistate lawsuit seeking to overturn the federal health care law.
Date: 05/29/2012 | Northwest
Ruling: Calif. pension fund must offer long-term care coverage to same-sex couples
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- In a major case involving gay rights at CalPERS, the nation's largest public pension fund has been ordered to offer its long-term care insurance program to same-sex partners of California workers.
Date: 05/25/2012 | Nation & World
Insurers pay $479M in dog-bite claims
Dog bites man does not get a lot of attention in the news, but it costs insurance companies hundreds of millions in claims every year.
Date: 05/19/2012 | Business
House panel would raise a few, not all, Tricare fees
The House Armed Services Committee has voted to raise drug co-payments for Tricare beneficiaries who have brand-name prescriptions filled at retail pharmacies or through the Tricare mail order program.
Date: 05/14/2012 | Business
Tricare fee increases blocked, but that’s not likely to last long
The House armed services subcommittee on military personnel has declined to give the Obama administration the new authority it sought to phase in higher Tricare fees on military retirees over the next four years and to peg future Tricare fee hikes to medical inflation nationwide.
Date: 04/30/2012 | Business
Consult a financial planner before buying long-term care insurance
Paying for long-term care is a worry for many, particularly aging baby boomers. Certified financial planner Kevin Young, of Young Wealth Management in Davis, Calif., offers the following advice on whether it's wise to invest in a long-term care insurance.
Date: 04/29/2012 | Business
Obamacare rule delivering rebates to 3 million
WASHINGTON -- More than 3 million health insurance policyholders and thousands of employers will share $1.3 billion in rebates this year, thanks to President Barack Obama's health care law, a nonpartisan research group said Thursday.
Date: 04/26/2012 | Business
Tactics of hospital debt collector assailed
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- A medical debt collection company routinely pressured patients in Minnesota hospitals to pay for services before treatment was given, going so far as to collect at a patient's bedside and in some cases leading patients to decide to skip treatment, according to a report.
Date: 04/26/2012 | Nation & World
Ranks of uninsured grow as employers drop coverage
We know that most people get their health insurance coverage through their jobs or through a family member's employer. But a report just released by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute found that the percentage of the population with employment-based health benefits has been...
Date: 04/26/2012 | Business
25% of adults in U.S. lack health insurance
WASHINGTON -- With the future of the health care law emerging as a major campaign issue this fall, a new survey has found that more than a quarter of adults ages 19 to 64 in the United States lacked health insurance for at least some time in 2011.
Date: 04/20/2012 | Nation & World
Supreme Court misunderstanding on health reform?
WASHINGTON -- A possible misunderstanding about President Barack Obama's health care overhaul could cloud Supreme Court deliberations on its fate, leaving the impression that the law's insurance requirement is more onerous than it actually is.
Date: 04/14/2012 | Nation & World
Study: Obama's health care law would add $340B to deficit
WASHINGTON -- Reigniting a debate about the bottom line for President Barack Obama's health care law, a leading conservative economist estimates in a study to be released Tuesday that the overhaul will add at least $340 billion to the deficit, not reduce it.
Date: 04/09/2012 | Nation & World
House approves Republican deficit-cutting plan
WASHINGTON — Republicans pushed an election-year, $3.5 trillion budget through the House on Thursday that relies on biting spending cuts and a revamping of Medicare to curb massive federal deficits, drawing a sharp contrast with how President Barack Obama and Democrats would tackle the...
Date: 03/29/2012 | Nation & World
Will high court gut health reform bill?
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court, after three days of arguments on President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, appeared ready to strike down not just the requirement that individuals have insurance, but the entire law, invalidating a major piece of domestic legislation for the first time since...
Date: 03/29/2012 | Nation & World
Conservative justices question health care law
WASHINGTON -- Sharp questioning by the Supreme Court's conservative justices cast serious doubt Tuesday on the survival of the individual insurance requirement at the heart of President Barack Obama's historic health care overhaul.
Date: 03/27/2012 | Nation & World
U.S. Supreme Court to take up health care law
The U.S. Supreme Court today begins an extraordinary three days of legal examination of the federal health care law prompted by a challenge brought by 26 states, including...
Date: 03/26/2012 | Local News
Veterans groups object to Tricare fee increases
A U.S. House subcommittee expected to vote soon on whether to recommend raising retiree Tricare fees sharply over the next five years heard some compelling testimony against the move Wednesday.
Date: 03/26/2012 | Business
Partisans turn up volume of health care noise
WASHINGTON -- America's national shouting match over health care will only get louder next week as the Supreme Court weighs the fate of President Barack Obama's overhaul.
Date: 03/24/2012 | Nation & World
Health care lawyer Clement a high court regular
WASHINGTON -- Paul Clement used to argue for the federal government's power until he started arguing against it.But he's no flip-flopping political candidate; he's a lawyer. Changes like this are part of his job.
Date: 03/24/2012 | Nation & World
Gregoire signs insurance exchange bill into law
OLYMPIA -- Gov. Chris Gregoire has signed into law a bill setting rules for insurers preparing for the state's online insurance exchange.
Date: 03/23/2012 | Northwest
Romney marks 2nd anniversary of Obama health law
METAIRIE, La. -- Mitt Romney on Friday looked to pre-empt Supreme Court arguments that will shine a spotlight on a key vulnerability for him in the Republican primary -- health care reform.
Date: 03/23/2012 | Nation & World
Court weighs federal power over states in health case
WASHINGTON -- Congress will help pay for your roads, but your state can't lower its drinking age below 21. There's federal money for colleges, but they can't discriminate against women in the classroom or on the athletic field.
Date: 03/23/2012 | Nation & World
Medicare rationing? An election-year House vote
WASHINGTON -- House Republicans resurrected the specter of Medicare rationing Thursday in an election-year vote to repeal cost controls in President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.
Date: 03/22/2012 | Nation & World
Teachers blast Senate bill on health care change
SNOHOMISH -- They worried about proposed changes in their health care. They fretted about the potential loss of their ability to bargain.Nearly 1,000 teachers rallied Tuesday evening at Glacier Peak High School to let state lawmakers know how they feel about those issues.
Date: 03/22/2012 | Local News
Birth control a hot topic
Rep. Rick Larsen gets an earful in Everett over divisive issue
Date: 03/14/2012 | Local News
Military considers some consolidation of health services
Defense officials have asked Congress to approve a new structure for the military health care system that, as with higher Tricare fees, would help to curb runaway medical costs.
Date: 03/12/2012 | Business
Concerns about health care reform are in decline
WASHINGTON — Attacked as a rationing scheme and praised as a lifesaver, President Barack Obama's health care law remains as divisive and confusing as ever. But a new poll finds Americans are less worried that the overhaul will undermine their own care.
Date: 03/08/2012 | Nation & World
Legislature passes rules for insurance exchange
OLYMPIA -- The Washington state Legislature has passed a bill setting rules for insurers preparing for the state's online insurance exchange.
Date: 03/05/2012 | Northwest
Heading off Tricare fee increases may force cuts elsewhere in military, defense officials warn
If Congress blocks Defense Department plans to raise Tricare fees for military retirees and beneficiary co-pays on drug prescriptions filled off base, the services will make even deeper cuts in force strength than now planned, the military's top health official told lawmakers Tuesday.
Date: 03/05/2012 | Business
Abortion insurance bill dies in state Senate
OLYMPIA -- A bill to require insurance plans covering maternity care to also pay for abortions is likely stalled for this legislative session after it failed to advance to the floor Friday in the Washington state Senate.
Date: 03/02/2012 | Northwest
Dems denounce Republican 'war on women'
WASHINGTON -- Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., says some Republicans are "waging war" against women by opposing insurance coverage for contraceptives, but, she said, there's an easy way to fight back: Send $5 or $10 to help get more Democratic women elected to the Senate.
Date: 03/02/2012 | Nation & World
Democrats hear from woman snubbed by GOP
Washington -- Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke was given her chance to talk to Congress Thursday, even though lawmakers were on a break and just a few Democratic allies were there to cheer her on.But what a difference a week makes.
Date: 02/24/2012 | Nation & World
Documented success
Everett facilities in PBS film about health care that works
Date: 02/22/2012 | Local News
Military retirees can expect to pay more for insurance, medication under proposed budget
Out-of-pocket health care costs for military retirees and for users of the Tricare retail pharmacy network could jump in October if Congress approves the budget request President Barack Obama delivered Monday.
Date: 02/20/2012 | Business
Soldier lawsuit: Iraq War ended before deployment
PORTLAND, Ore. -- An insurance company that denied benefits to a military veteran faces a federal lawsuit that argues its reasoning was groundless because the U.S. wasn't at war with Iraq in 2008.
Date: 02/18/2012 | Northwest
State House OKs bill tying abortion to maternity care
OLYMPIA -- The Washington state House has passed a bill requiring health insurers covering maternity care to also cover abortions.
Date: 02/13/2012 | Northwest
Catholic bishops dismiss Obama's change on contraceptives
WASHINGTON -- Catholic bishops say they remain opposed to President Barack Obama's plan to require insurers to provide free birth control, even if religiously affiliated employers such as Catholic hospitals and universities aren't forced to pay for it.
Date: 02/12/2012 | Nation & World
Conservatives shrug at Obama's birth control rewrite
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's political shifting over contraception coverage has united conservative Republicans in protest even as they split over which GOP presidential hopeful should face him in the general election.
Date: 02/11/2012 | Nation & World
Under fire, Obama adjusts his birth control policy (Video)
WASHINGTON — Under fierce election-year fire, President Barack Obama on Friday abruptly abandoned his stand that religious organizations must pay for birth control for workers, scrambling to end a furor raging from the Catholic Church to Congress to his re-election foes. He demanded that...
Date: 02/10/2012 | Nation & World
State lawmakers weigh new abortion rules
OLYMPIA -- Washington state lawmakers considered proposed legislation Thursday that will require most health insurers offering maternity care to also cover elective abortions.
Date: 01/19/2012 | Northwest
Obama health reforms working to cover young adults, data show
A report released by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute notes what could be some really good news: The health care reform signed into law by President Barack Obama, which has been criticized by Republicans and challenged in court, appears to be improving the health insurance...
Date: 01/19/2012 | Business
A safe harbor for health
Volunteers at Stanwood clinic care for the uninsured
Date: 01/17/2012 | Local News
Wash. Dems file brief to defend Obama health law
OLYMPIA -- A group of Democratic lawmakers in Washington state asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to uphold President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.
Date: 01/12/2012 | Northwest
Legislature to consider abortion insurance
SEATTLE -- In the session that begins next week in Olympia, the Washington Legislature will consider a bill that would require private insurance companies the cover maternity care to also pay for abortions.
Date: 01/06/2012 | Northwest
Congress needs to fix formula for paying Medicare and Tricare doctors
Congress has known for a decade that the formula it set in 1997 for adjusting physician payments under Medicare -- and by extension the fees paid to civilian doctors under Tricare, the military's health insurance program -- is seriously flawed and can't be allowed to take effect.
Date: 12/31/2011 | Business
Coloradans are paid to reduce weight
Insurance company Kaiser Permanente Colorado is offering cash to Coloradans to lose weight and keep it off.
Date: 12/29/2011 | Business
New fee to aid medical research
WASHINGTON -- Starting in 2012, the government will charge a new fee to your health insurance plan for research to find out which drugs, medical procedures, tests and treatments work best. But what will Americans do with the answers?
Date: 12/27/2011 | Nation & World
97,100 in Snohomish County are without health insurance
In this season of hope there is one wish that math, if not compassion, suggests we all should get behind -- even those with hearts as dark and cold as a December night.Here's to good health, especially for those among us without medical insurance.
Date: 12/22/2011 | Need to Know
Millions of young adults benefit from health care reform
WASHINGTON — The health care law signed by President Barack Obama last year has now helped as many as 2.5 million young adults get health insurance, despite the lagging economy, new data released by the federal government indicate.
Date: 12/14/2011 | Nation & World
Report: 1 million in state lack health insurance
OLYMPIA -- One million residents in the state don't have health insurance and unpaid costs have risen to $1 billion a year, insurance commissioner Mike Kreidler said Tuesday.
Date: 12/13/2011 | Northwest
Feds to allow use of Medicare data to rate doctors
WASHINGTON -- Picking a specialist for a delicate medical procedure like a heart bypass could get a lot easier in the not-too-distant future.
Date: 12/05/2011 | Nation & World
High court justices urged to abstain in health reform case
WASHINGTON -- As the Supreme Court prepares to consider one of the most closely watched cases in its recent history, two of its nine justices -- one on the left and one on the right -- are being urged to step aside and let their colleagues determine the fate of President Barack Obama's health care...
Date: 12/02/2011 | Nation & World
Generic Lipitor is here
But it will be months before the price falls much
Date: 12/02/2011 | Local News
Study: Fewer children in U.S. lack health insurance
MIAMI -- Even with more children living in poverty because of the rough economy, the number of children without health insurance in the U.S. has dropped by 1 million in the past three years, according to a report released Tuesday by Georgetown University.
Date: 11/28/2011 | Nation & World
Trial over Plan B prescriptions begins Monday
OLYMPIA -- A four-year legal fight over who must provide "morning-after" contraceptives such as Plan B lands in a federal courtroom Monday, testing Washington state Pharmacy Board rules requiring pharmacies to dispense any medication for which there is a community demand.
Date: 11/26/2011 | Northwest
Gay military troops seek health equality
The dismal failure by the congressional supercommittee to deal with the nation's debt crisis leaves the Department of Defense facing automatic $55 billion a year spending cuts from 2013 through 2021.
Date: 11/26/2011 | Business
Save a Buck Online, tips to cut health care costs
Health care gets more and more expensive. Still, there are things you can do to limit costs, starting with staying healthy. These sites have tips for keeping a handle on drug and doctor bills:
Date: 11/20/2011 | Business
Plenty of uncertainty about looming debt decisions
The supercommittee that Congress and President Barack Obama created in August to make tough budget choices and slow America's runaway debt has left military people confused and divided over whether to cheer for its success or pray for its failure as its Thanksgiving deadline nears.
Date: 11/19/2011 | Business
Higher copays seen for Medicare brand-name drugs
WASHINGTON -- With three weeks left for seniors to change their Medicare prescription plan for 2012, a study released Wednesday finds that copays for brand-name drugs are going up -- sharply in some cases.
Date: 11/16/2011 | Nation & World
Some myths on Obamacare in GOP campaign
WASHINGTON -- To hear some Republican presidential candidates tell it, the president's pen is a magic wand that can make "Obamacare" vanish in one day and sweep in cheaper health care, economic growth and lots of jobs in businesses freed from the health care law's heavy hand.
Date: 11/04/2011 | Nation & World
Lawmakers open to changes in military health benefits
WASHINGTON -- The government's promise of lifetime health care for the military's men and women is suddenly a little less sacrosanct as Congress looks to slash trillion-dollar-plus deficits.
Date: 10/23/2011 | Nation & World
Key senators support boost in Tricare fees
Sens. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and John McCain of Arizona, its ranking Republican, endorse President Barack Obama's call to establish next year a $200 enrollment fee on Tricare for Life, the prized supplement to Medicare for 2.1 million elderly military...
Date: 10/22/2011 | Business
Wal-Mart trims health benefits for workers
NEW YORK -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the nation's largest private employer, is scaling back the eligibility of health care coverage offered to future part-timers and dramatically raising premiums for many of its full-time workers. Industry observers say the changes could have implications for millions...
Date: 10/22/2011 | Business
Reform doesn't address soaring health costs
In keeping with the Halloween tradition, CLASS, the federal government's new long term health care insurance program, has been zombified -- not dead, but not really alive, either. Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of Health and Human Services, announced in her blog that, "... we have not identified a...
Date: 10/21/2011 | Business
For some, free medical clinic is the only Safe Harbor
There are 39 free medical clinics in Washington state.Our state picks up the tab for malpractice insurance for the doctors and nurses who donate their time to care for patients at these clinics.
Date: 10/05/2011 | Local News
Wash. doctors suing over Medicaid ER visit limits
OLYMPIA -- A group of doctors is suing the state of Washington over its plan to limit Medicaid coverage to three nonemergency visits a year to an emergency room.The American College of Emergency Physicians says it's filing the lawsuit Friday in Thurston County Superior Court.
Date: 09/30/2011 | Northwest
Military retirees to pay higher health premiums
WASHINGTON — Military retirees will pay slightly more for their health care starting Saturday, and more cost increases are on the way.
Date: 09/30/2011 | Nation & World
Obama appeals health reform setback to high court
WASHINGTON — Raising prospects for a major election-year ruling, the Obama administration launched its Supreme Court defense of its landmark health care overhaul Wednesday, appealing what it called a "fundamentally flawed" appeals court decision that declared the law's central provision...
Date: 09/28/2011 | Nation & World
Survey: Health insurance costs surge
INDIANAPOLIS -- The cost of employer-sponsored health insurance surged this year, snapping a trend toward moderate growth, but experts say these increases may slow again in 2012.
Date: 09/27/2011 | Nation & World
Major court decision coming soon on health care reform
WASHINGTON — Obama administration lawyers face a decision by Monday that carries a high political risk and will probably determine whether the Supreme Court decides on the constitutionality of the health care law before next year's presidential election.
Date: 09/24/2011 | Nation & World
Tricare users will share in government cuts
Military members who use Tricare would see out-of-pocket costs rise by $27 billion over the next decade under the administration's plan to address the massive debt.
Date: 09/24/2011 | Business
Percentage of uninsured young adults falls, survey finds
WASHINGTON — As many as a million young adults have signed up for health insurance in the last year, new data indicate, suggesting the success of an early benefit of the health care law President Barack Obama signed last year.
Date: 09/21/2011 | Nation & World
State insurance chief orders Regence to fix problems
OLYMPIA -- Washington state's insurance commissioner has ordered the state's largest health insurer to fix problems that have affected tens of thousands of people.
Date: 09/08/2011 | Northwest
Gregoire will not challenge McKenna on health law
OLYMPIA -- Attorney General Rob McKenna has the authority to lead Washington into a challenge against President Barack Obama's health care law, the state Supreme Court said Thursday.
Date: 09/01/2011 | Northwest
Slumping U.S. economy hard on kids
LOS ANGELES -- Coverage of the current economic crisis has focused on how it's affecting everything from the housing market to the global market, from our pocketbooks to our tax coffers. And of course there's been no shortage of coverage about how the crisis is affecting the White House -- and who...
Date: 08/18/2011 | Nation & World
Court grants key win to Obama health plan foes
ATLANTA — A federal appeals panel struck down the centerpiece of President Barack Obama's sweeping health care overhaul Friday, moving the argument over whether Americans can be required to buy health insurance a step closer to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Date: 08/12/2011 | Nation & World
Medicare drug premium prices to fall
WASHINGTON — Even as health costs continue rise, Medicare beneficiaries will see the average price of a Part D drug plan decline slightly next year, the Obama administration announced Thursday, offering some relief amid pressure to cut the federal health insurance program for the...
Date: 08/05/2011 | Nation & World
Bipartisan tax plan trims mortgage deduction
WASHINGTON — A new bipartisan plan to reduce government borrowing would target some of the most cherished tax breaks enjoyed by millions of families — those promoting health insurance, home ownership, charitable giving and retirement savings — in exchange for lowering overall tax...
Date: 07/21/2011 | Nation & World
Once taboo, calls to boost Medicare fees gain traction
WASHINGTON -- The heated debate over the federal deficit has pumped new life into controversial proposals for requiring Americans on Medicare to pay more for their health care, raising the possibility that seniors' medical bills could jump hundreds, or even thousands of dollars.
Date: 07/17/2011 | Nation & World
Appeals court backs Obama health care law
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's health care overhaul survived its first test before a federal appellate court, as the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati concluded that the law's insurance requirement is constitutional.
Date: 06/30/2011 | Nation & World
Military retirees will be paying a little more
Working-age military retirees will see a small increase in their health care enrollment fees after Congressional panels gave the OK recently.
Date: 06/25/2011 | Business
AMA to reconsider support for health insurance mandate
CHICAGO — A divided American Medical Association will consider withdrawing its support of a key tenet of the health overhaul law that requires Americans to purchase an insurance plan.
Date: 06/16/2011 | Nation & World
Health reform mandate questioned in court
ATLANTA — A top Obama administration lawyer defending last year's health care law ran into skeptical questions Wednesday from three federal judges here, who suggested they may be ready to declare all or part of the law unconstitutional.
Date: 06/09/2011 | Nation & World
Appeals court will hear health reform lawsuit
ATLANTA -- An Atlanta federal courtroom will soon become the latest battlefield in the ongoing fight over President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.
Date: 06/05/2011 | Nation & World
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