Health Care Website and Blog

Dennis Hastert, former US House Speaker, took credit for pushing through Medicare reform during the Bush years. He was speaking at Aurora University, Illinois.

He said, "One of the toughest votes I ever had was Medicare reform...That vote went on for three hours. The Democrats were holding off 20 votes because they didn't want us to have a victory."

But he opposes the single-payer healthcare system. Rev. Geri Solomon of Aurora, a member of the Aurora Peace and Justice group protested Hastert's visit to the campus, and said Hastert's policies would make healthcare a privilege.

Seniors expecting to graduate from college this year say that next to compensation, they look for health insurance benefits when they consider a job, according to a 2008 study by Accenture, a management consulting company.

More than a quarter of 18- to 24-year olds in the United States are without health insurance. Some of them are students whose parents have lost their jobs and with it the family health-coverage. Others are in low-paying jobs without benefits.

Children above 18 can be covered under the health insurance of their parents if the parents' emplyoyer agrees. But if parents lose their jobs and COBRA coverage also, young people are left without health insurance till they find a job with those benefits.