A Maryland doctor lobbying for a bill to create a single-payer health care system in Maryland said one of the advantages of the approach is the ability to “prioritize” care if state money becomes tight.

The Maryland Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to hold a public hearing on a proposal to exceed the provisions of the federal health reform overhaul by creating a single-payer system in the state.

The Maryland General Assembly has scheduled a March 9 public hearing on a bill that would take a far more aggressive approach toward health reform in the state than passed at the federal level last year.

President Barack Obama said Americans “deserve a final vote on health reform” and called on leaders of the U.S. House and Senate to schedule a vote on his latest proposal “in the next few weeks.”

Several representatives of the health care industry told a Pennsylvania Senate committee that its bill to create a single-payer system in the state does not control costs or guarantee more people get health care.

A Pennsylvania legal organization is pushing to ensure federal health care reform covers all Pennsylvania residents, saying people have a faulty perception of the uninsured.

Four protesters, including two doctors, were arrested at a “single-payer health care plan” sit-in at the CareFirst insurance company office in Baltimore Oct. 29.

Private insurance companies will remain in “driver’s seat” if health care reforms being promoted by the president and Congress are approved, according to a prominent advocate for a single-payer system.

The health insurance division of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors is voicing its opposition to a government-sponsored health plan as a part of any national health care …  Read →

A national nursing group says a reform measure offered by two health insurance groups to cover all Americans despite pre-existing conditions is essentially “blackmail,” since it comes with strings attached.

The …  Read →