Bernanke: Reform needed to help the uninsured
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said America needs to find a better way to help the estimated 47 million people who don’t have affordable healthcare. Speaking at the Senate Finance Committee Health Reform Summit in mid-June, Bernanke said the healthcare sector represents a major segment of the nation's economy, and spending on services exceeds 15 percent of the gross domestic product. He also questioned whether the nation should encourage insurance mandates. DATE: 06/18/08
Young adults most likely to lack health insurance
A brief released by the Commonwealth Fund says young adults who are 19 to 29 years old are one of the largest and fastest-growing segments of the U.S. population without health insurance. In 2006, some 13.7 million young adults lacked coverage, up from 13.3 million in 2005, the brief said. Young adults accounted for 17 percent of the increase in the number of uninsured Americans under age 65 between 2005 and 2006, according to the study. Young adults often lose coverage at age 19 or when they graduate from college. DATE: 06/03/08
Mass. Health reform sees results in first year
In the first year of an effort to move Massachusetts to universal healthcare coverage, a report by the Commonwealth Fund finds that the number of working-age adults in Massachusetts without insurance has been reduced by almost half – from 14 percent in 2006 to 7 percent in 2007. The survey found that in adults with incomes below 300 percent of the poverty level, the rate of uninsured dropped by nearly 11 percentage points to 13 percent in late 2007. DATE: 06/04/08
IBM urges new approach to delivering care
Information technology and the ability to share health information are key to transforming the broken and costly U.S. healthcare system to one that keeps costs down by putting the patient and wellness at its core, said speakers from IBM Corp. on its new study for reforming the system. IBM called on U.S. and international health systems to collaborate in defining, measuring and delivering healthcare value and helping consumers become increasingly responsible for their own healthcare. The emerging care delivery models must focus on promoting wellness and preventing illness rather than reacting to disease, the IBM study states. DATE: 06/12/08