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Money And Influence 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?
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Money And Influence

Need For Campaign Cash Opens Door For Lobbyists

Lawmakers juggle the work of crafting legislation with their other big job — raising money to get re-elected. And that money often comes from the industries that will gain or lose from that legislation. Is it just the way the system works, or is it bribery?

Need For Campaign Cash Opens Door For Lobbyists

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The Costs Of Health Care: Finding Ways To Save

In Howard County, Md., health care providers are seeking ways to save costs. Howard County General Hospital's CEO says getting people to go to primary doctors instead of the emergency room is one way. Other doctors say costs can be saved through electronic record keeping and a single-payer system.

The Costs Of Health Care: Finding Ways To Save

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A Lot At Stake For Employers In Health Overhaul

U.S. businesses spend a tremendous amount of money on health care coverage for their employees, so there's broad support for an overhaul. But some oppose mandates requiring employers to insure workers. Others are still studying the issues.

A Lot At Stake For Employers In Health Overhaul

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Who Has Access To Max Baucus?

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus has the clout to determine winners and losers in the health-care debate. Several former staffers are now industry lobbyists with a unique brand of access to the man at the debate's center. In Washington, access is money.

Who Has Access To Max Baucus?

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Word Choice A Key Factor In Health Care Debate

Choosing which words to use is a key part of the health-care debate. For example, is it a "public option" or a "government plan"? Every side uses words calculated to persuade people before they even think about it. But can one side or the other win the debate simply by winning the war of words?

Word Choice A Key Factor In Health Care Debate

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Hoyer Says Health Care Overhaul Possible

Health care overhaul is issue No. 1 for Democrats in Washington. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer says President Obama's plan for a total overhaul of health care is on track. House Democrats moved one step closer Tuesday when they released a 1,000-page proposal for change. Hoyer discusses the Democratic proposals.

Rep. Steny Hoyer Tells NPR's Robert Siegel Obama's Plan For An Overhaul Is On Track

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Obama Pushes Health Care Overhaul

President Obama has said health care will top his agenda for the next several weeks in hopes of getting a bill through each house of Congress by the august recess. Although he praised lawmakers Wednesday for moving forward on health care overhaul, there is still a long way to go.

Obama Pushes Health Care Overhaul

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Visiting Sen. Grassley At Home in Iowa

Congress returns to Washington next week with health care on its mind. President Obama and the Democrats agree with Republicans that legislation overhauling health care should be bipartisan. And there may be no stronger advocate for bipartisanship on health care than Senator Chuck Grassley, the top Republican on the Finance Committee.

Visiting Sen. Grassley At Home in Iowa

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A Painless Way To Hold Down Health Costs?

While opponents of the overhaul proposals currently under consideration warn of long waits for care or draconian cuts in payments to doctors and hospitals, some experts say slowing the growth of health spending doesn't have to hurt. "You can deliver high-quality care for far fewer resources if you organize your processes right," says one expert.

A Painless Way To Hold Down Health Costs?

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Orszag Defends Health Care Overhaul Plan

The Obama administration is proposing an ambitious overhaul of the health care system. White House Budget Director Peter Orszag says the transformation of the $2 trillion sector is unlikely to occur without some jostling or concerns being raised.

Orzag Defends The Plan On 'All Things Considered'

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Budget Office Works Powerfully Behind The Scenes

The Senate Finance Committee has crafted a health care bill that won't add to the federal deficit, even though it's expected to cost a trillion dollars over the next 10 years. The senators went back to the drawing board after an even higher price tag was predicted by the Congressional Budget Office. The CBO is playing a powerful role in shaping the health care debate.

Budget Office Works Powerfully Behind The Scenes

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Tracking The Money In The Health Care Debate

As Congress prepares to overhaul the nation's health care system, anyone with a financial stake in the outcome wants to be in on the action. NPR's Dollar Politics series is tracking the lobbying money in the debate, and the interests at stake.

Tracking The Money In The Health Care Debate

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Congress Woozy With Health Care Sticker Shock

Guest Host Alison Stewart talks with NPR Senior Washington Editor Ron Elving about the upcoming week in Congress, and how it looks like it will be dominated by big numbers — many in red ink. The cost of overhauling the health care system is giving members of Congress sticker shock, and polls show the public is worried about the cost of multiple bailouts.

Congress Woozy With Health Care Sticker Shock

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T-Word Looms Large In Health Care Cost Debate

The preliminary price tag of $1 trillion for a health care overhaul bill has Republicans up in arms and one Senate committee back to the drawing board. But one expert says the figure is a drop in the bucket compared to how much the nation currently spends on health care.

T-Word Looms Large In Health Care Cost Debate

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Low-Income Serving Doctors On Health Care Reform

Speaking at the American Medical Association's annual conference in Chicago this week, President Obama outlined his plan to reform the nation's health care system. The president's pitch was met with mixed reaction, particularly on the point of a public health insurance option. A group of physicians advocating for health care in low-income and minority communities explain how their communities could benefit from a public insurance plan.

Low-Income Serving Doctors On Health Care Reform

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Kennedy Absent As His Health Bill Launches

As Congress prepares to tackle the daunting task of reforming the U.S. health care system, the absence of Sen. Edward Kennedy from the debate could alter the Democrats' influence of the so-called Kennedy bill.

Kennedy Absent As His Health Bill Launches

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Orszag Defends Health Care Plans Amid Criticism

President Obama is pushing to overhaul the nation's health care system, but doctors, hospitals and others are raising sharp concerns over his call for a government-run insurance plan to compete with private plans. White House budget director Peter Orszag and Rich Umbdenstock of the American Hospital Association offer opposing views.

Orzag Defends The Plan On 'All Things Considered'

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Critic Disappointed At Health Care Proposal

As part of its effort to overhaul the health care system, the Obama administration has called for billions of dollars in cuts in hospital reimbursements. Rich Umbdenstock, president and CEO of the American Hospital Association, has expressed disappointment and concern at the call.

Umbdenstock Expresses Concern About The Plan On 'All Things Considered'

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Spend More, Get Less? The Health Care 'Conundrum'

Fresh Air

In "The Cost Conundrum," his latest article for The New Yorker, staff writer Dr. Atul Gawande reports from McAllen, Texas, a border-town with the dubious distinction of spending more per person on health care than almost any other market in America.

Spend More, Get Less? The Health Care 'Conundrum'

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Critics Say Health Plan Lacks Competition

Opponents to President Obama's public health care proposal have been calling it a Trojan horse. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius says that the plan is not a trick to turn the current system into a single-payer health plan.

Critics Say Health Plan Lacks Competition

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Sebelius: Single-Payer Health Care Not In Plans

Republicans opposed to President Obama's plan to create a public health-insurance option warn that it would open the door to a single-payer, government-run system. But Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius says that's just not on the table.

Sebelius: Single-Payer Health Care Not In Plans

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