Being Uninsured Remains a "Crisis" of Income

The number of Americans with health insurance grew by more than 2 million people last year, but the percentage of Americans without health insurance continues to grow among higher-income households, according to the latest report released today by the Census Bureau.

Unmet Challenge

Seventy seven million baby boomers are about ready to go from the paying-in window to the pay-me-now window; 77 million going from pushing strollers to using walkers. That flood of newly-retired persons will nearly double the number of people collecting benefits, putting unbearable strains on the system.

Patient Power: Over-the-Counter Drugs

Today's health consumers are taking a more active role in diagnosing and treating themselves. With new tools to assist them – from Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) that allow patients to control some their health care dollars to an unprecedented wealth of information on Internet Web sites – consumers are more empowered than ever to understand their health condition(s) and participate in decisions about their treatment.

South Carolina: Proposes Creating Personal Medicaid Accounts

The AP/Las Vegas Sun on Monday examined South Carolina's proposal to establish personal health accounts for most of the state's 850,000 Medicaid beneficiaries to help encourage them to be more conscious of health care spending. The accounts would be used to purchase private health insurance or pay for care directly, with the amount of money allocated to each account determined by the beneficiary's age, sex and physical condition.

S.C. Proposing to Redefine Medicaid

On the left, they're calling it radical. On the right, the buzzword is bold. Either way, South Carolina is proposing major changes in Medicaid, the giant federal-state health insurance program for the poor and disabled.

Balancing Act

In order to provide medical assistance to more poor people, Tennessee had put all of its Medicaid beneficiaries into HMOs, a strategy that kept costs down for a
while.

Climate Studies Cannot Be Free From Oversight

Scientific progress depends on the free flow of ideas and data, which let researchers independently confirm, refute or improve the findings of a specific course of inquiry. And policymakers often rely on scientific research, much of which is funded by federal and state governments, in making policy decisions. Thus, transparency of scientific data and methods is critical as faulty research can result in bad policy.

Income Distribution: Stagnant or Mobile?

The problem for the Democrats is that the American people don't believe in class warfare. They don't hate the rich because they are rich. On the contrary, they want nothing more than to emulate them. And many Americans believe that they have a good shot at joining the ranks of the rich. The data confirm that such hopes and expectations are not unrealistic.