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(CBS)  Every medical study ever conducted has concluded that 100 percent of all Americans will eventually die. This comes as no great surprise, but the amount of money being spent at the very end of people's lives probably will. Last year, Medicare paid $50 billion just for doctor and hospital bills during the last two months of patients' lives - that's ...

WASHINGTON -The government paid more than $47 billion in questionable Medicare claims including medical treatment showing little relation to a patient's condition, wasting taxpayer dollars at a rate nearly three times the previous year. Excerpts of a new federal report, obtained by The Associated Press, show a dramatic increase in improper payments in the $440 billion Medicare program that has been ...

WASHINGTON -- The Democratic-controlled House has narrowly passed landmark health care reform legislation, handing President Barack Obama a hard won victory on his signature domestic priority. Republicans were nearly unanimous in opposing the plan that would expand coverage to tens of millions of Americans who lack it and place tough new restrictions on the insurance industry.

One of the animating principles (or should I say ideologies) of the Obama Administration’s health reform effort is the notion that Americans who have health insurance “like their insurance.”  To genuinely address the underlying problems in our health care system in ways even the President admits would be the most effective — like having some form of national, tax supported health ...

I recently wrote a letter to the president of the United States- Barack Obama. This letter was a plea to reexamine the proposed health care reform. There is  a better way to rectify our fractured "unhealthy" system. He responded with a form letter that, in essence, gave himself a "pat on the back" for his proposed plan. I would like to ...

Because of its size and cost, Medicaid has been called the "workhorse" of the U.S. health system. Now it's front and center in the debate on overhauling the U.S health system and expanding coverage to the uninsured. With 60 million enrollees, Medicaid dwarfs other insurance programs, including its cousin, Medicare, which covers 44 million elderly and disabled people. Do you ...

This week's questions focus on the House Democrats' health care bill unveiled Thursday by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. Q: Would the House Democrats' bill raise my taxes more than the other bills making their way through Congress? A: It depends on your income. The House bill would impose a "surcharge" on individuals who make more than $500,000 and couples who make ...

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama's willingness to consider alternatives to medical malpractice lawsuits is providing a boost for taking such cases out of the courtroom and letting experts, not juries, decide their merits. The idea of appointing neutral experts to sift malpractice facts from allegations appeals to conservatives in both political parties. They want to address medical liability as part of ...

WASHINGTON - In its assaults on a Democratic health care overhaul bill, the insurance industry uses facts selectively and mixes accurate assertions with misleading spin and an embrace of worst-case scenarios. Take the 30-second TV spot that America's Health Insurance Plans, the industry's trade group, was running this week in six states as the Senate Finance Committee approved overhaul legislation. With ...

WASHINGTON -- Supporters of President Barack Obama's drive to remake health care are pushing back against a dire report from the insurance industry warning of hefty new costs for consumers from the latest legislation.   "I really don't think it's worth the paper it's written on," AARP Executive Vice President John Rother told reporters Monday. "If anyone believes it, that's a ...

Orthopedic surgeons who received payments from device makers often failed to follow disclosure policies required by their chief professional society, researchers said. Nearly 30 percent payments to surgeons serving as board and committee members of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS), and to presenters at its 2008 annual meeting, went unreported, according to Dr. Kanu Okike, of Harvard University. ...

WASHINGTON - Limits on medical malpractice lawsuits would lead doctors to order up fewer unneeded tests and save taxpayers billions more than previously thought, budget umpires for Congress said Friday in a reversal that puts the issue back in the middle of the health care debate. The latest analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that government health care programs ...

 The debate in Washington about health care changes is generating a lot of heat and strong language, dividing families and turning neighborhood barbecues into backyard brawls. But on one point, there's little debate: Workers will pay more for health insurance next year.

WASHINGTON - Health care legislation is taking shape in the House and Senate as President Barack Obama pushes to overhaul the system to cover millions of uninsured Americans and contain rising costs. Details are still being negotiated and any final health care bill would have to meld proposals from the House and Senate. The Associated Press takes a look at various ...

WASHINGTON - Shona Holmes is the Harry and Louise of this year's health care debate, only unlike the fictional folks who memorably trashed the Clinton-era health plan in advocacy ads 15 years ago, Holmes is real. But her story? It's not quite the slam-dunk indictment of socialized medicine that's been portrayed by Republican lawmakers and their allies. Holmes, a Canadian living ...

This article originally appeared on Monster Career Advice. An EMT instructed to transport a woman to an abortion clinic declines, citing personal beliefs. A nurse ordered to administer a large dose of morphine to a terminal cancer patient in pain refuses, saying the medication could hasten death. A physician turns away a gay patient, apparently on the basis of his sexual ...

Sep. 28--During last year's presidential campaign, polls showed that most Americans wanted the new president to reform the nation's health-care system. The evidence is overwhelming: 47 million people are uninsured, health-care costs continue to climb, people are putting off care because of costs, medical bills are the top reason to file bankruptcy, and the nation spends more than $2.2 trillion a ...

TEMPLE, Texas – Quality medical care without Dallas' high costs exists. It's a two-hour drive away, at Scott & White Healthcare, a physician-run company in Central Texas. The company controls costs by managing all aspects of medical care, including health insurance, outpatient clinics and hospice centers.

The American Hospital Association wants to ban doctors from referring patients to hospitals they own, because "the effect on health delivery and costs in communities can be devastating."

Up to one-third of Dallas-area residents don't have health insurance, and the number is rising. Everybody in North Texas pays the cost, through taxes and higher insurance costs – as much as an estimated $1,800 per family. Illegal immigrants pump up the numbers. But even if there weren't any here, Texas still would virtually lead the nation in percentage of ...