New Tool Allows Easy Comparison of Reform Plans

The Kaiser Family Foundation just launched a cool new interactive tool that allows a side-by-side comparison of the different health care reform plans (and specific topics within the plans) now being debated in Congress. For instance, you can compare Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden's plan with the Senate Finance Committee plan and look at how each proposal deals with cost containment or employer mandates or premium subsidies or any number of different topics.

Another, unrelated, story published today by Kaiser Health News is particularly troubling. Reporter Jenny Gold details the struggles that victims of domestic violence often face trying to get health insurance. She writes:

Advocates say it's not uncommon for people who have been abused to be denied insurance on the individual market. While the majority of states have barred insurance companies from using abuse as grounds for denying coverage, eight states and the District of Columbia don't prohibit denying coverage for that reason. And even when states do have a law, it doesn't necessarily prevent carriers from initially rejecting applicants who are victims of violence.