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Weekly News Digest
RWJF Study Shows Health Care Costs Are Rising Faster Than Workers’ Pay
According to a study by the State Health Access Data Assistance Center at the University of Minnesota that was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, health insurance premiums increased 10 times faster than earnings from 2001 to 2005, with incomes rising 3 percent and premiums rising 30 percent, reports the Los Angeles Times.
Source(s): Girion, Los Angeles Times, 4/30/08
McCain Pushes a Market-Based Approach for Health Care System
Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain "rejected calls by his Democratic opponents for universal health coverage, instead offering a market-based solution with an approach similar to a proposal put forth by President Bush last year," reports the Washington Post.
Source(s): Shear, Washington Post, 4/30/08
Bipartisan Universal Health Coverage Plan Would Pay for Itself
According to the Congressional Budget Office and Joint Committee on Taxation, the bipartisan universal health coverage plan that is being sponsored by Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Robert Bennett (R-Utah) "could be fully operational by 2012 and become ‘budget-neutral’ by 2014," meaning that it "would bring in as much revenue as it costs to implement," reports the Associated Press.
Source(s): Daly, Associated Press, 5/1/08
Rising Unemployment Increases the Burden on Public Health Programs
"Leading health researchers projected Monday that each percentage-point rise in unemployment during the economic downturn would swell the uninsured by 1.1 million, stoking demand for government health coverage just as states face pressure to cut benefits," reports the New York Times.
Source(s): Sack, New York Times, 4/29/08
People Are Marrying for Health Insurance
According to a survey commissioned by the Kaiser Family Foundation, "7% of Americans said they or someone in their household decided to marry in the last year so they could get healthcare benefits via their spouse," reports the Los Angeles Times.
Source(s): Alonso-Zaldivar, Los Angeles Times, 4/29/08
OPINION: Republican and Democratic Health Care Plans Are Moving to the Middle
While there are major differences between the health care plans of Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain and his Democratic rivals, Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, "in some key areas, the two sides are inching away from their traditional corners toward the middle of the ring, a change that's a necessary step toward getting something done," writes columnist David Wessel in the Wall Street Journal.
Source(s): Wessel, Wall Street Journal, 5/1/08
OPINION: Editorials and Commentaries Highlight the Need to Cover the Uninsured
Newspapers around the nation published editorials and commentaries in support of Cover the Uninsured Week and the need to provide health care coverage to the 47 million Americans who lack access to medical care.
Source(s): Bentsen, Austin American-Statesman, 4/30/08; Garrett, Battle Creek Enquirer [registration required], 4/27/08; Editorial, Kansas City Star, 4/30/08