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News and Headlines - 2004 Archive

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• Survey Finds Businesses and Retirees Hit With Double-Digit Increases In Retiree Health Costs in 2004, With Higher Premiums Likely In Future
  Few Employers Say They Will Drop Coverage In 2006 When Medicare Drug Law Is Implemented
  December 14, 2004
  Source: Kaiser Family Foundation

• Health Insurance Coverage in America: 2003 Data Update
  December 8, 2004
  Source: Kaiser Family Foundation

• Kaiser Health Poll Report/ Finds Americans Worried About Health Care Costs
  The latest Kaiser Health Poll Report survey finds that more Americans are personally worried about their health care costs than about losing their job, paying their rent or mortgage, losing money in the stock market, or being the victim of a terrorist attack.
  November/December 2004
  Source: Kaiser Family Foundation

• Low-Income Medicare Beneficiaries Can Expect Substantial Help From Prescription Drug Law, But Others Will Get Less Assistance
  November 22, 2004
  Source: Kaiser Family Foundation

• Report of the Lieutenant Governor’s Commission On Small Business Health Insurance Costs (pdf)
  November 16, 2004
  Source: Lieutenant Governor’s Commission On Small Business Health Insurance Costs

• The Potential Impact of Eliminating Tenncare and Reverting to Medicaid: A Preliminary Analysis
  November 15, 2004
  Source: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

• As the Health Insurance Underwriting Cycle Turns: What Next?
  November 11, 2004
  Source: Center for Studying Health System Change

• Women's Health Insurance Coverage
  November 10, 2004
  Source: Kaisernetwork.org, Kaiser Family Fund

• Health Insurance Gap Persists Among Latino, Black and White Americans
  October 28, 2004
  Source: Center for Studying Health System Change

• Uninsured Individuals Pay Most for Prescription Drugs, Study Says
  October 22, 2004
  Source: Kaisernetwork.org, Kaiser Family Foundation

• Nearly 1.7M Veterans Were Uninsured, Lacked Access to Care in 2003, Study Says
  October 20, 2004
  Source: Kaisernetwork.org, Kaiser Family Foundation

• Two-Year Wait for Medicare Coverage Raises Concerns About Care,
  Independence for Uninsured Disabled
  October 20, 2004
  Source: The Commonwealth Fund

• Newspapers Examine Health Costs, HSAs, Consumer-Driven Plans, Other Coverage Issues
  October 18, 2004
  Source: Kaisernetwork.org, Kaiser Family Foundation

• U.S. Labor Force Sharply Divided: More Than Half of Low-Wage Workers Lack Health Benefits or Paid Sick Leave
  Posted: October 6, 2004
  Source: The Commonwealth Fund

• New Reports Show Progress on Health Coverage is Threatened as States
  Continue to Face Growing Pressures to Control Costs
  October 4, 2004
  Source: Kaiser Family Foundation

• Progress On Health Coverage Is Threatened As States Continue To Face
  Growing Pressures To Control Costs
  Oct 4, 2004
  Source: Kaisernetwork.org, Kaiser Family Fund

• New Report Shows Health Care Is Far Less Affordable Than It Was Four Years Ago (pdf)
  In 35 States, Workers’ Health Care Premiums Rose at Least Three Times Faster Than Their Earnings, Despite Reductions in Coverage
  September 28, 2004
  Source: FamiliesUSA

• U.S. Residents Spending More on Health Care as Employers Drop Coverage, Trim Benefits
  September 28, 2004
  Source: KaiserNetwork.org

• Arizona Small Businesses Increasingly Unable To Afford Employee Health Benefits, Study Finds
  September 28, 2004
  Source: KaiserNetwork.org

• Small Businesses Consider Health Plan Options To Address Increasing Costs of Employee Health Benefits
  September 28, 2004
  Source: KaiserNetwork.org

• Private Insurance Offering Less Protection Against Rising Health Costs For Low-Income, Chronically Ill, Working-Age People
  Proportion Spending More Than 5% of Income Out of Pocket on Medical Care Jumps
  September 23, 2004
  Source: Center for Studying Health System Change

• Coverage & Access | High Prescription Drug Costs Force Many Chronically Ill Patients To Limit Use, Study Finds
  September 16, 2004
  Source: Kaiser Family, kaisernetwork.org

• Health Care Marketplace | Some Federal Workers Will Have Option of Purchasing High-Deductible Health Plans, Using HSAs
  September 16, 2004
  Source: Kaiser Family, kaisernetwork.org
  
• Healthcare costs: big woe for small firms
  Of 45 million US uninsured, 60 percent work in small businesses
  September 15, 2004
  Source: Christian Science Monitor

• Election 2004 | Kerry Offers Defense Against Bush's Criticism of Health Care Proposal
  September 15, 2004
  Source: Kaiser Family, kaisernetwork.org

• HHS Enhances Medicare Drug Card Program to Help Seniors Choose Lower-Cost, Similar Drugs
  September 15, 2004
  Source: U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

• Rising Health Insurance Costs Key to Decline of Private Coverage for Children Health Affairs Study Examines 25 Years of Children’s Health Coverage
  September 14, 2004
  Source: Health System Change

• Initial Data on Individual Market Enrollment Fail to Dispel Concerns about Health Savings Accounts
  September 13, 2004
  Source: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

• Election 2004 | Kerry, Bush Discuss Issue of Health Care Costs at Campaign Events
  September 10, 2004
  Source: Kaiser Family, kaisernetwork.org

• Coverage & Access | Report Finds Most Uninsured Texas Residents Work Full Time, Calls for Insurance Law Reform
  September 10, 2004
  Source: Kaiser Family, kaisernetwork.org

• More Companies Offering Health Savings Accounts, High-Deductible Health Plans
  September 09, 2004
  Source:Kaisernetwork.org

• Health Insurance Premiums See Double-Digit Increase
  September 9, 2004
  Albert B. Crenshaw
  Source: Washington Post

• Survey Shows Private Health Insurance Premiums Rose 11.2% in 2004
  Premiums Increased at five times the rate of growth in workers' earnings and inflation. About five million fewer workers covered by their own emplyer's health insurance since 2001.
  Source: Kaiser Family Foundation

• Health Care Marketplace | Anthem To Offer Health Savings Accounts to Businesses, Individuals in Virginia
  September 07, 2004
  Source:Kaisernetwork.org

• Prescription: reduce numbers by making insurance more affordable for small businesses
  September 2004
  Source: Virginia Business

• Automakers Bemoan Health Care Crisis
  They estimate health care costs account for $1,400 of the cost of every car
  Source: CoverTheUninsuredWeek.org

• Healthcare Premium Costs Lower, But Still Significant
  September 1, 2004
  Source: Virginia Chamber of Commerce

• Rural Uninsured Continues to Rise
  August 27, 2004
  Source: The National Rural Health Association

• Kaiser Studies, Webcast Discuss Uninsured Statistics
  August 28, 2004
  The U.S. Census Bureau released its annual update of health insurance coverage Thursday - and Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured materials provide background on policy challenges and public opinion associated with the uninsured problem. The number of uninsured Americans increased to 45 million in 2003. A webcast of the Census Bureau's news conference and the resources are available at http://www.kff.org/uninsured/resources.cfm

• Health Care Marketplace | Small Businesses Seek Solutions to Rising Health Insurance Premiums
  August 26, 2004
  Source: KaiserNetwork.org Daily Health Policy Report

• Virginia Department Of Health And Lt. Governor's Commission Launch Resource For Covering The Uninsured
  August 26, 2004
  Source: Virginia Department of Health

• Income Stable, Poverty Up, Numbers of Americans With and Without Health Insurance Rise, Census Bureau Reports
  August 26, 2004
  Source: U.S. Census Bureau

• CPS Press Conference
  August 26, 2004
  The Census Bureau plans to release the annual CPS estimates of health insurance coverage at a press conference on Thursday, August 26 at 10 a.m. The report and press release will be available from the Census Bureau at
  http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/

• Coalition of Clinics Gives Hope to Uninsured
  August 25, 2004
  Cameron Barr
  Source: The Washington Post
  
  They came to a church basement in Silver Spring to celebrate health care for the uninsured in Montgomery County: West African women in neon-bright cotton prints; robed and collared clergy from Bangladesh, Canada and Vietnam; business-suited doctors and elected officials.
  
  To view the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com (registration required)

• Kaine team tackles cost of health care Promises nonpartisan solution
  August 21, 2004
  Christina Bellantoni
  Source: The Washington Times
  
  Virginia Lt. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine has teamed up with Republicans to try to reduce the high cost of health care, which he considers the biggest problem facing Virginia residents. Read more at the Washington Times website.

• Unicare Health Insurance offers immediate coverage for those times between jobs, after graduation, or while waiting for individual or employer coverage.
  August 20, 2004
  Source: PR Web

• Key Resources on Health Coverage and the Uninsured
  As the U.S. Census Bureau prepares to release its annual update on health insurance coverage and the number of uninsured Americans, we have compiled several resources that analyze America’s health insurance coverage, as well as policy issues and public opinion regarding the uninsured.
  Source: Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured

• Employment Slump Linked to High Health Insurance Costs
  August 19, 2004
  Businesses cannot afford to hire workers and pay benefits
  Source(s): Eduardo Porter, The New York Times
  Archived on the Cover the Uninsured Week website

• Enrollment Opens for Program Providing Savings on Pfizer Medicines for 43 Million Uninsured
  August 18, 2004
  Source: Pfizer Press Release

• Uninsured Patients Flood U.S. Emergency Rooms
  August 9, 2004
  Source: WASHINGTON (Reuters)

• Coverage & Access: 9 Million Fewer People Received Health Insurance Through Employers in 2003 than 2001; Public Health Insurance Program Enrollment Grew in Same Years, Study Says
  August 3, 2004
  Source: KaiserNetwork.org Daily Health Policy Report

• New Survey Reports Children's Enrollment in SCHIP Coverage Dropped for the First Time in the Six-Year History of the Program
  July 23, 2004
  Source: Kaiser Family Foundation Press Release

• Will the insured sacrifice to help cover the uninsured? New study suggests the answer may be yes
  July 13, 2004
  Source: University of Michigan Health System

• Health Insurance Tax Credit Proposals Would Do Little to Increase Coverage
  Health Affairs Study: Most Lower-Income Uninsured Would Spend Much More
  Despite Credits
  February 25, 2004
  Source: Center for Studying Health System Change

Last Updated on April 12, 2005