Health Care Overhaul: Prescriptions For Change We have the most expensive health care system in the world, yet millions are uninsured. President Obama is asking Congress to find a way to extend coverage to every American. Can they do it?

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Health Care Overhaul: Prescriptions For Change

President Obama is asking Congress to find a way to extend coverage to every American.

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A Locksmith's Tale And Other Health Care Stories

Everynone

Krulwich Wonders...

A Locksmith's Tale And Other Health Care Stories

December 15, 2009 • Lou Padilla is good at fixing things. So when he broke his ankle, Padilla decided to set it himself. The locksmith didn't have health insurance, and he says he doesn't need it. Padilla tells us how he gets by without the safety net of insurance.

Regina Holliday prepares her supplies for a day of painting. Maggie Starbard/NPR hide caption

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Maggie Starbard/NPR

A Widow Paints A Health Care Protest

November 9, 2009 • As Congress debates health care overhaul, Regina Holliday is using her paintbrush to protest the current medical system. Her 50-foot-long mural depicts the problems her family encountered while her husband was fighting stage IV kidney cancer.

A Widow Paints A Health Care Protest

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For One Senior, Medicaid Provides Model Care

October 5, 2009 • When Gracie Scarrow, 94, was diagnosed with congestive heart failure she didn't have the money to pay for the care she needed. She turned to Medicaid — which covers the long-term care in a nursing home — and she couldn't be happier.

For One Senior, Medicaid Provides Model Care

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President Obama talks with a group of small-business owners following a town hall meeting on health care in Raleigh, N.C., on July 29. Sara D. Davis/Getty Images hide caption

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Sara D. Davis/Getty Images

Public Baffled By Health Care Arguments

August 3, 2009 • Lawmakers back home for the August recess will find voters left deeply confused about the health care overhaul still being hammered out in Congress. The delays in reaching an agreement — and big federal spending elsewhere — have fueled skepticism.

Stacks Of Medical Bills Afflict The 'Underinsured'

Martha Martin of Durham, Maine, works three jobs and still can't keep up with her family's medical bills. She has medical insurance, but she and her husband can't make all of the payments. Emilie Sommer for NPR hide caption

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Emilie Sommer for NPR

Health Care

Stacks Of Medical Bills Afflict The 'Underinsured'

September 28, 2009 • Martha Martin and her husband spent nearly 45 percent of their income on medical costs for their family last year. Like millions of other Americans, they have some insurance, but it doesn't cover enough of their needed care.

Stacks Of Medical Bills Afflict The 'Underinsured'

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Rural Medical Camp Tackles Health Care Gaps

Sherry Casey attended the Remote Area Medical Expedition in Wise, Va. Coburn Dukehart/NPR hide caption

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Coburn Dukehart/NPR

Health Care Innovations

Rural Medical Camp Tackles Health Care Gaps

July 27, 2009 • About 2,700 people lined up outside the county fairgrounds in Wise, Va., to receive free vision, dental and medical treatment at a volunteer-run medical camp. Some arrived three days early to make sure they wouldn't be turned away.

Rural Medical Camp Tackles Health Care Gaps

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Faces From Wise, Va.

July 26, 2009 • About 2,700 uninsured and under-insured people received free vision, dental and medical treatment at the county fairgrounds in Wise, Va., the weekend of July 24-26.

Dr. Jack Wennberg in his Dartmouth office in Lebanon, N.H. John W. Poole / NPR hide caption

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John W. Poole / NPR

Patient And Provider Perspectives

The Telltale Wombs Of Lewiston, Maine

October 8, 2009 • In the mid-1970s, a health researcher discovered an unusually high rate of hysterectomies in a small town in Maine. If the rate continued, nearly 70 percent of Lewiston women, like Carol Bradford (above), who had a hysterectomy, would be without their wombs by age 70. A major driver of health care costs: a system that pushes doctors to deliver unnecessary care.

The Telltale Wombs Of Lewiston, Maine

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Health Care

Money And Influence

September 21, 2012 • The White House and Congress are attempting to overhaul an industry that makes up one-sixth of the economy. Health care has hundreds of different interest groups, each specialized on a different issue, each with its own war chest, each giving money, and each seeking to protect its interests. What do they want a new health care system to look like?

Health Care

Patient And Provider Perspectives

November 3, 2010 • Medical bills are the No. 1 cause of personal bankruptcy in the United States. And in nearly 80 percent of those cases, patients had health insurance. A look at the problems patients face within this complicated and at times inadequate health care coverage, and also the solutions they've found.

Health Care

Tracking The Overhaul

June 15, 2010 • "This is about as historic as it gets for all of us. One hundred percent of our fellow citizens will be affected by what we do in the area of health care. Every consumer, every business, every provider as well." Those words are from Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), member of the Senate health committee. A look at the proposals before Congress.

Deciphering what the new health care law means for you can be tricky. iStockphoto.com hide caption

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iStockphoto.com

What The Health Law Means To You

KFF Health News

May 26, 2010 • The new health law signed by President Obama this spring contains the most sweeping changes to the American health system in a generation. Find out how to get help paying for insurance, what your employer can do, and more.

Health Care

Health Care Innovations

March 10, 2010 • Some counties in the U.S. are trying to provide health coverage for all their residents. And at least one state -- Massachusetts -- has taken up the challenge. There are also current working models for nearly every proposal before Congress, from single-payer systems in Europe to health co-ops in Minnesota.

How Health Overhaul Would Affect The Uninsured

KFF Health News

February 9, 2010 • More than 15 percent of Americans are uninsured, and more than three-quarters of them are in working families. Overall, the uninsured are less healthy and cost the country and the medical industry billions of dollars a year.

Health Care Innovations

IRS Faces Tough New Duties Under Health Overhaul

KFF Health News

January 8, 2010 • The tax agency would be responsible for checking whether individuals get required insurance, distributing billions of dollars in subsidies and collecting new taxes and penalties.

Patient And Provider Perspectives

House Health Bill Would Help Pacific Island Migrants

KFF Health News

January 6, 2010 • Legislation would restore Medicaid rights to citizens of the Marshall Islands and two other nations who have the unique ability to travel and work freely in the United States.

House Health Bill Would Help Pacific Island Migrants

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Tracking The Overhaul

A Consumer's Guide To Health Reform

KFF Health News

December 24, 2009 • Now that the Senate has passed a hotly debated health care bill, Congress is headed to the next step: House-Senate negotiations in January to try to hammer out a final version. Here's where things stand and how you might be affected.

Tracking The Overhaul

Next Step: Getting A Health Bill To Obama's Desk

December 24, 2009 • As exhausted but jubilant Senate Democrats scramble home for the holidays, one more obstacle stands between them and final passage of the massive health care overhaul bill: merging their bill with the House of Representatives'.

Tracking The Overhaul

Charting The Future Of The Health Overhaul Bill

December 24, 2009 • The Senate approved the landmark health bill early Christmas Eve, a key step for President Obama and the Democrats in moving forward with health overhaul. But the debate is far from over. The Senate and the House will have to reconcile their different versions.

Tracking The Overhaul

Senate Says Yes To Landmark Health Bill

December 24, 2009 • In the early hours of Christmas Eve, senators voted in favor of sweeping health care legislation that would expand insurance coverage to millions of Americans. The House passed its version in November; next up, a conference to reconcile the two bills.

Obama Defends Health Bill Against Attacks From Left

President Obama defended the health care overhaul during an NPR interview Wednesday. Official White House Photo by Pete Souza hide caption

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Official White House Photo by Pete Souza

Tracking The Overhaul

Obama Defends Health Bill Against Attacks From Left

December 23, 2009 • In an interview with NPR, the president said that those from the left of his party who criticize the bill are ignoring the "real human reality that this will help millions of people."

Obama Defends Health Bill Against Attacks From Left

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Senate Is One Vote Away From Passing Health Bill

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) speaks at a rally of Democratic senators following a final series of procedural votes on the health bill Wednesday. Win McNamee/Getty Images hide caption

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Win McNamee/Getty Images

Tracking The Overhaul

Senate Is One Vote Away From Passing Health Bill

December 23, 2009 • The Senate is set to approve a landmark health bill early Thursday morning that would bring President Obama and Democrats a step closer to the most sweeping change in the nation’s health system since Medicare was created more than four decades ago.

On Health Bill, Reid Proves The Ultimate Deal Maker

Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada listens as Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd (left) speaks during a Democratic health care rally on Capitol Hill on Tuesday. Harry Hamburg/AP hide caption

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Harry Hamburg/AP

Tracking The Overhaul

On Health Bill, Reid Proves The Ultimate Deal Maker

December 23, 2009 • Advocates are hailing Harry Reid for rounding up 60 votes to pass the Senate's massive health care overhaul bill. But on the way to 60, the majority leader made many compromises, which Republicans are slamming as "sweetheart deals."

On Health Bill, Reid Proves The Ultimate Deal Maker

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Tracking The Overhaul

Sen. Graham: Democrats' Health Care Deals A 'Joke'

December 22, 2009 • But the GOP lawmaker says lessons learned may spur bipartisanship on a bill to cut greenhouse gases.

Sen. Graham: Democrats' Health Care Deals A 'Joke'

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