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  • Health check (Part 5): Baucus bill may test the limits of the politically possible

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    Posted 12:38 p.m. Fri., Oct. 16 - This week, the Senate Finance Committee voted out its health-care reform bill, with the much ballyhooed support of Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine. While a different Senate committee bill passed earlier this summer -- and the House has yet to pass a bill -- the Senate Finance bill probably bumps up against the limit of what's politically possible. Here's a look at what it includes. (Illustration from sxc.hu)

  • Health check (Part 4): All the presidents' plans

    pills100onmoneysxc.jpg Posted 10:50 a.m. Wed., Oct. 14 - By making the case for a health-care overhaul, Barack Obama joins the ranks of seven other American presidents who grappled with the issue. Of the seven earlier presidents, only one (Lyndon Johnson) carried the day -- and only with Medicare and Medicaid, programs for the elderly and the needy.  The other presidents came away with empty hands. 

  • Health check (Part 3): How the richest industrial countries compare to the U.S.

    pills100onmoneysxc.jpg Posted 11:44 p.m. Sun., Oct. 11 - Historians often write about "American exceptionalism" -- the feeling among Americans that their country stands apart from  the rest. But when it comes to health care, America stands under all the rest. Among major industrialized countries, America spends the most on health care -- more than $7,000 a year a person, about double what the other countries lay out. Even so, America gets the sickest results.

  • Small business, big decisions: Should we offer health insurance?

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    Posted 4:52 p.m. Fri. Oct. 9 - Some of the bills being considered in Congress would force owners of small business to confront new questions: Should they continue to offer a prized fringe benefit to a loyal workforce, despite the cost? Or should they pay a penalty that might be less than what the insurance premiums cost and cut workers loose to find the best policy they can on the open market? (Illustration from iStockphoto)

  • Health check (Part 2): Why health care costs so much

    pills100onmoneysxc.jpg Posted 1 p.m. Thurs., Oct. 8 - In an average year, inflation nibbles away more than 3 percent of our buying power. But for health care, inflation takes a big bite -- about 6 percent a year. Why does American health care cost so much? Here's a summary of the top reasons for health care's spiraling costs? (Photo by willsun | sxc.hu )

  • Health check (Part 1): How we got to where we are now

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    Posted 10:36 a.m. Mon., Oct. 5 - Numbers help tell the extent of the health-care crisis. Today, health care eats up $1 of every $6 -- $2.2 trillion a year, the single biggest slice of America's economic pie. Ten years from now, it could snatch $1 of every $5. In 2025, it's projected to be $1 of every $4. How did health care get to be so costly? (Photo by willsun | sxc.hu )


On the radio

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Editors' Picks

 

About these stories

How did we end up with the health-care system we have? Why do its costs keep going up? How good are the options for change -- and what are the consequences of not changing? As the national debate unfolds, the Beacon is exploring these and other questions. This page will highlight health care reform, but we're keeping an eye on other health stories too -- and for a daily dose of health news, check out Cindy Haines and HealthDay TV .

Topics

Health Check | Race, Frankly | Facing the Mortgage Crisis | Uneasy Street: Granite City, O'Fallon MO, Maplewood

Voices

  • Some bombs create red glare; others, red ink
    Beacon Columnists

    Posted 9:30 a.m. Thurs., 03.18.10 - The University of Chicago is a prestigious institution and the intellectual home of both the atomic bomb and the bombastic economic and political theories that caused the great financial meltdown in 2008, writes columnist M.W. Guzy, who wonders which "bomb" caused the most damage.

  • If no one else will require ethical politicians, the voters should
    In the News

    Posted 2:45 p.m. Mon., 03.15.10 - The congressional ethics committee can't be trusted to demand high standards. The Supreme Court says wide-open corporate spending cannot be curtailed in elections. And President Barack Obama raised more than anyone else. D.C. can't say no to money, so Matt Vianello says the people should say no to the big spenders

  • Will Illinois end its redistricting lottery?
    Beacon Columnists

    Posted 6 a.m. Sun., 03.14.10 - Mike Lawrence calls for support for amending the Illinois constitution to do away with the draw-from-the-hat mechanism that for three consecutive decades has permitted the lottery winner to dictate the new boundaries required after every census.

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The Lens

  • The little movie database that couldn't...

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    Posted 6 a.m. Thurs., 03.18.10 - It's called Anyclip (www.anyclip.com ), and according to its publicity, it will "empower you to find and relive any moment from any film, instantly."  It sounded promising, but a search of the site itself, which launched on March 15 proved to be far less successful.

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