Health Care Reform

The Senate's $849 billion health care overhaul bill, presented here by Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., would be funded in part by tax increases on both drugmakers and the wealthy. Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images

• Health Care Reform and You
• Reid 'Optimistic' About Getting 60 Votes on Health Bill 
• Deep Divisions Linger on Health Care, Poll Finds
• First Lady Highlights Health Care Issues Affecting Older Women

Provisions in Health Care Reform Bills Would Offer Help With Long-Term Care
November 10, 2009: Americans could enroll in a new federal plan and receive cash benefits to help them age in place.

AARP Endorses House Health Care Reform Bill
November 5, 2009: The organization joins other consumer and physician groups, saying bill benefits older Americans.

Obama Turns Up Volume on Health Care
July 23, 2009: The issue is still far from resolved and will likely linger into fall.

July a Banner Month for Health Care Reform: Three Bills, Big Debates Loom
July 1, 2009: Three groups in Congress have been working for months to refashion America’s ailing health care system.

Health Care Reform Taking Shape
July 1, 2009: At stake is nothing less than a massive overhaul of the nation’s health care system that could vastly expand coverage; affect how doctors, insurance companies and businesses operate; and raise some taxes.

White House Reassures Medicare Beneficiaries
June 9, 2009: Reducing Medicare and Medicaid spending by an additional $300 billion over the next 10 years will not affect coverage or quality.

Health Care for All
June 1, 2009: Is an affordable, bipartisan bill possible?

New Health Care Reform Proposals Aim to Help Older Americans Too Young for Medicare
May 27, 2009: Without employer health coverage, millions of people ages 50 to 64 can’t buy affordable insurance.

Six Critical Health Care Reform Issues
May 13, 2009: What’s being said and who’s saying it in the debate on available, affordable, health care coverage.

Congressional Debate on Health Care Heats Up
May 5, 2009: Much of the debate Tuesday focused on whether the government should offer its own insurance plan in competition with private plans.

Congress Hopes to Fast-Track Health Care Reform
April 24, 2009: Adversaries work with advocates on legislation.

New Bill Would Clear the Way for Generic Biologics
March 11, 2009: While biologic drugs can help cure and calm diseases, for too many people, these life-saving medicines are simply out of reach because of their overwhelming price tags.

Health Care and the Stimulus Plan
February 18, 2009: AARP answers your questions.

Can Our New Leaders Fix the Health Care System?
January 7, 2009: There seems to be an emerging consensus among policymakers, consumers, business and health care stakeholders that now is the time to press for real change—even in the face of a recession.

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Bill to Fix Medicare Doctor Payments Blocked
October 21, 2009: Permanent repeal of problematic formula fails to muster support.

Proposed Bill Would Pay for Doctors to Make House Calls
October 5, 2009: Home visits to Medicare patients with chronic conditions could improve care, save money

How Health Care Reforms Would Affect Medicare
September 18, 2009: Controlling the rising costs of Medicare doesn’t mean cutting benefits.

Obama Vows No Cuts to Medicare Benefits
July 29, 2009: President talks about his own experiences with the health care system.

Cost of Doughnut Hole Drugs to Be Cut in Half
July 1, 2009: President Obama announced plans to slash the prescription drug expenses of Medicare beneficiaries who fall into the Part D coverage gap­—the doughnut hole.

New AARP Calculator May Help You Avoid the Doughnut Hole
June 24, 2009: The calculator offers a tool personalized to your own circumstances—the specific drugs you take and the Part D plan you’re enrolled in.

Obama Unveils 'Doughnut Hole' Solution
June 21, 2009: People who fall in the Part D coverage gap would only pay half the cost of brand-name medications.

Doing Away With the Doughnut Hole
May 19, 2009: AARP and consumer groups want it eliminated or at least narrowed.

New Legislation Seeks to Create a New Medicare Benefit
May 11, 2009:  Coverage for services to help patients move from hospital to home.

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Reform Bills Try to Rein In Health Insurance Costs for Older Americans
November 13, 2009: Companies could no longer charge people excessive amounts based on their age.

Critics Say 12-Year Protection Too Long for Biologics
October 19, 2009: Five years is enough time to recoup research and development losses, say researchers.

Rising Health Care Costs Mean Less Pay, Fewer Raises, Lost Jobs
October 16, 2009: These hidden costs have a huge effect on your financial well-being.

Insured but Not Really Protected
September 25, 2009: Tens of millions of Americans have coverage so skimpy a medical crisis could mean financial ruin.

Americans May Be Getting Too Many Imaging Tests
September 4, 2009: Radiation risks increase as CT and heart scans become increasingly common.

The Doctor Is In
July 26, 2009: Thousands line up for three days of free medical services in Wise, Va.

The High Cost of Biologics
July 17, 2009: Congress is moving to allow generic versions of expensive biologic drugs but fierce, multimillion-dollar lobbying fights have erupted over just how long it will take to bring the less expensive drugs to market.

Biologic Drugmakers Quickly Recoup Investments
May 22, 2009: Report challenges industry arguments against generic versions of these expensive medicines.

The Trillion-Dollar Question: How to Pay for Health Care Reform?
May 14, 2009: Senators hear proposals to tax everything from worker health insurance benefits to sugary drinks.

Lessons From Massachusetts
May 1, 2009: After two years, the state’s ambitious plan gets mixed reviews. 

The New Face of Health Care
April 1, 2009: A new system rewards doctors and hospitals for taking better care of patients at lower costs. 

Economic Distress: Patients Delay Doctor Visits, Skimp on Meds
December 19, 2008: Paying for medical care has long been a struggle for many...but as budgets tighten because of economic crunch, more patients are skimping on needed treatment.

Million-Dollar Medicines
October 1, 2008: New “specialty” drugs—many of them biologics, therapies derived from natural sources​—treat complex, chronic diseases.

Soaring U.S. Health Costs Are Driving More Americans Abroad for Medical Care
September 2, 2007: As U.S. health care and insurance costs soar, more people are opting for medical and dental care in unfamiliar surroundings and thousands of miles from their families and doctors.

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The Health Care ‘Gang of Six’
September 1, 2009: Three Democrats and three Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee hold outsize power over the fate of health care reform as they try to fashion a bipartisan bill that will pass both houses.

Key Players in Health Care Reform Debate
June 9, 2009: Who’s who in the health care reform debate.


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One Health Care Option: The Moral Choice
September 21, 2009: Writer tracks the dynamics of 21st-century health care and concludes that basic care and coverage are essential

Butter Sculptures, a Pork Tent and Health Care Reform in Iowa
August 21, 2009: At the state fair in Des Moines, opinions on reform abound.

Health Care Reform: The Assault on Truth
August 14, 2009: This summer something new has entered the political arena—a tsunami of rumors and misinformation about the proposals that surges around the Internet in nanoseconds.

AARP Telephone Town Hall Meetings on Health Care Reform Draw 400,000
July 24, 2009: Members ask what reforms would mean to them.

Town Hall Meeting on Health Care Reform for Older Americans
July 16, 2009: The Obama administration sent three of its top officials—including Vice President Joe Biden—to a small community auditorium in Alexandria, Va., where they assured a group of older Americans that health care reform is real, imminent and in their best interests.

The Difficult Details of Health Care Reform
July 1, 2009: AARP’s priority is Medicare–—narrowing the so-called doughnut hole and creating a new “transitional benefit” to provide care and support for Medicare recipients returning home after a hospital stay. 

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Little Noticed Actions Spotlight the Relentlessness of Cost Pressures on Health Reform
October 11, 2009: The hyperventilating rhetoric from the political extremes is receding as the legislative process moves ahead on health reform.

GOP Must Support Medicare's Promise
October 8, 2009: Medicare is built on a promise: If you work hard and pay your taxes, you will have an insurance program for your medical care that will free you from the threat of poverty in your retirement years

The Death of Nursing Homes
September 28, 2009: Elders often tell their adult kids to shoot them rather than send them off to the nursing home.

One Health Care Option: The Moral Choice
September 21, 2009: Two years ago, Reid, an author of seven books and foreign correspondent for the Washington Post for more than three decades, wanted to understand why Americans pay twice as much as other industrialized nations for their health care, yet get far less in return.

Where We Stand: Health Reform—The Time to Act Is Now
September 1, 2009: While America’s health care system is known for research and innovation, it unfortunately costs too much, wastes too much, makes too many mistakes and gives us back too little value for our money.

Why Seniors are Health Reform Winners, Not Losers
August 31, 2009: Opponents of health reform have targeted seniors with a blunt message: You will be big losers if “Obama-care” is enacted.

Health Care Reform Advertising Wars Heat Up
August 7, 2009: Millions of dollars spent on campaigns are aimed at influencing public and lawmaker opinion.

Where We Stand: Health Reform Now
July 1, 2009: For too many people, lack of affordable, quality health care is closing the door on the American dream.

Opinion: Add Long-Term Care to the Health Reform Debate
July 1, 2009: It’s not just the uninsured who need coverage.

Doctors on Health Care Reform—Many Voices, Many Views
June 19, 2009: Many doctors are now assessing a variety of new ideas to transform the country’s antiquated health care system.

From the Editor: Health Care Reform Is Essential Even If Predicting Costs Is Complicated
June 1, 2009: Projecting the cost of health care is no easy task. That adds an unsettling but essential ingredient to the effort to overhaul the nation’s health care system.

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