Related topics: health care , barack obama , health care system , children , medicare



Health insurance

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Health insurance is insurance that pays for medical expenses. It is sometimes used more broadly to include insurance covering disability or long-term nursing or custodial care needs. It may be provided through a government-sponsored social insurance program, or from private insurance companies. It may be purchased on a group basis (e.g., by a firm to cover its employees) or purchased by individual consumers. In each case, the covered groups or individuals pay premiums or taxes to help protect themselves from high or unexpected healthcare expenses. Similar benefits paying for medical expenses may also be provided through social welfare programs funded by the government.

By estimating the overall risk of healthcare expenses, a routine finance structure (such as a monthly premium or annual tax) can be developed, ensuring that money is available to pay for the healthcare benefits specified in the insurance agreement. The benefit is administered by a central organization such as a government agency, private business, or not-for-profit entity.

For more information about Health insurance, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with health insurance

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Cellphone powers back pain chip in Taiwan

Technology / Engineering

created Nov 27, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Taiwanese researchers have developed a chip to treat backpain that is powered by mobile phone, a member of the team said Friday.


House passes health care bill on close vote (AP)

Landmark health bill passes House on close vote

Medicine & Health / Health

created Nov 08, 2009 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (11) | comments 6

(AP) -- The Democratic-controlled House narrowly passed far-reaching health care legislation, handing President Barack Obama a hard-won victory on his chief domestic priority though the road ahead in the ...


Lack of insurance may have figured in nearly 17,000 childhood deaths, study shows

Medicine & Health / Health

created Oct 29, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (4) | comments 1

Lack of health insurance might have led or contributed to nearly 17,000 deaths among hospitalized children in the United States in the span of less than two decades, according to research led by the Johns Hopkins Children's ...


45,000 excess deaths annually linked to lack of health insurance: study

Medicine & Health / Health

created Sep 17, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (7) | comments 4

A study published online today estimates nearly 45,000 annual deaths are associated with lack of health insurance. That figure is about two and a half times higher than an estimate from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in ...


Illness, medical bills linked to nearly two-thirds of bankruptcies

Medicine & Health / Health

created Jun 04, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Medical problems contributed to nearly two-thirds (62.1 percent) of all bankruptcies in 2007, according to a study in the August issue of the American Journal of Medicine that will be published online Thursday. The data w ...


Sources: Senators weigh 3 government health plans (AP)

Sources: Senators weigh 3 government health plans

Medicine & Health / Health

created May 09, 2009 | popularity 2 / 5 (5) | comments 3

(AP) -- Senators are considering three different designs for a new government health insurance plan that middle-income Americans could buy into for the first time, congressional officials said Friday. Officials ...


Insurers shun those taking certain meds and secretly keep blacklist

Medicine & Health / Health

created Mar 30, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (7) | comments 1

Trying to buy health insurance on your own and have gallstones? You'll automatically be denied coverage. Rheumatoid arthritis? Automatic denial. Severe acne? Probably denied. Do you take Metformin, a popular drug for diabetes? ...


Understanding the pros and cons of health overhaul (AP)

Understanding the pros and cons of health overhaul

Medicine & Health / Health

created Nov 28, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

(AP) -- Maybe you've been reading the health care bill in your spare time. Then perhaps you can answer this question:


Drug ads ineffective for boosting sales, could cost taxpayers: study

Medicine & Health / Health

created Nov 23, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

US Taxpayers may be on the hook for the high cost of drug advertising that does little to boost sales, according to a new study led by a University of British Columbia health policy researcher.


Children who lack continuity with a regular health care provider miss needed services

Medicine & Health / Health

created Nov 23, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Low-income children who don't access health care from the same place or provider over the long term are significantly more likely to have unmet health care needs compared with those do, according to a new study published ...


Over 2,200 veterans died in 2008 due to lack of health insurance

Over 2,200 veterans died in 2008 due to lack of health insurance

Medicine & Health / Health

created Nov 10, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0

A research team at Harvard Medical School estimates 2,266 U.S. military veterans under the age of 65 died last year because they lacked health insurance and thus had reduced access to care. That figure is ...


Costs of expanding health care coverage partly offset by future Medicare savings

Medicine & Health / Health

created Oct 05, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Expanding health coverage might not cost as much as policymakers assume.


New study reveals taxing job-based health benefits would hit working families hardest

Medicine & Health / Health

created Aug 20, 2009 | popularity 1 / 5 (1) | comments 0

As the debate over health care reform continues to unfold in town hall meetings and on Capitol Hill, a new study by two Harvard researchers has found that taxing job-based health benefits would heavily penalize insured, working ...


From Mass.: Health care reform 'dos and don'ts'

Medicine & Health / Health

created Jul 24, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

(AP) -- Three years into its experiment with near-universal health care, Massachusetts has some "dos and don'ts" for the nation as it grapples with the best way to cover tens of millions of uninsured Americans.


White House, hospitals reach deal on health care

Medicine & Health / Health

created Jul 08, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

(AP) -- The nation's hospitals will give up $155 billion in future Medicare and Medicaid payments to help defray the cost of President Barack Obama's health care plan, a concession the White House hopes will boost an overhaul ...