House panel airs Senate mental health bill.
Byline: David Steves The Register-Guard SALEM - A House panel listened for nearly four hours as parents and others told how their medical insurance plans lacked adequate coverage for mental illnesses - leaving them with huge bills to cover the costs of treating family members. ...

PACESETTERS.
Byline: Ethel Soliven Timbol A a60s SHINDIG. Thereas nothing like a fun shindig to celebrate the forging of a new partnership. This was what two corporate giants did when they came together as partners in "Travelplans" a" a comprehensive travel insurance coverage packaged specially for Mabuhay Miles...

Portable health plans.
Patients can take their health insurance coverage with them when they change or lose a job, under the final regulations that implement the last piece of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). According to a statement by the Health and Human Services Department, it is...

Universal health coverage favored.
Most Americans favor a continuation of the employer-based health insurance system and say they believe health insurance costs should be shared among individuals, employers, and the government, according to a Commonwealth Fund survey. More than two-thirds of surveyed Americans favor requiring individuals to obtain health insurance in...

McCainCare.
Byline: The Register-Guard Here's the acid test for Sen. John McCain's official entry in the presidential health care reform sweepstakes: McCain should voluntarily forgo his generous double coverage under the Federal Employees Health Benefit Plan and the military health care he's entitled to as a retired Navy...

Commentary--how to improve federal health data for coverage, access, and state-specific needs.
The health research and policy communities have made significant progress in recent years in improving the data and analysis needed by federal, state, and local officials to guide policymaking on the uninsured. If the United States provided universal coverage to all Americans and had implemented a uniform electronic medical...

The effect of private insurance on the health of older, working age adults: evidence from the health and retirement study.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 45 million Americans were without health insurance in 2003 and their numbers continues to grow. Health benefits in the U.S. remain heavily employer-based with about 60 percent of all insured individuals being enrolled through employer-sponsored plans. While the indigent can often qualify for...

The movement against health insurance benefit mandates: assessing the dangers.
America is facing a problem of ever-rising health care costs, consuming an ever-larger portion of families' income and the gross domestic product. These costs have contributed to another problem, the growing number of uninsured Americans. With conservative policymakers setting the agenda in the White House and in Congress, their...

Alternatives for states to improve health coverage: some favor a pay-for-performance system, allowing states to get grants based on their measured progress.
WASHINGTON -- Rewarding states based on quality is one way to cover more uninsured Americans, Henry J. Aaron said at the annual meeting of the National Governors Association. Following up on a trend that already has affected the physician community, Mr. Aaron proposed a "pay-for-performance" system, where...

Out-of-pocket financial burden for low-income families with children: socioeconomic disparities and effects of insurance.
Socioeconomic disparities have been documented for children and adults in access to and use of health care, and in health outcomes (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality 2003). Socioeconomic disparities may also exist in the financial burden of illness, particularly since low-income individuals are more likely to lack the...