States consider their own health reform ideas

The Associated Press/Boston Globe: "Supporters of a bill that seeks to bar lifetime and annual payment caps on health insurance plans in Maine say they expect a large crowd at a legislative committee's hearing on the proposal." The same topic has been considered by the U.S. Congress as part of Democrats health overhaul (2/3).

The Baltimore Sun: "Major insurance trade groups in Maryland say the state doesn't need a new [insurance exchange] program, like the one Massachusetts created ahead of federal reform to help provide universal coverage there." Insurance agents and brokers are bracing to fight such proposals, even though Congress's bill is stalled and no local version is expected in the state legislature during this session (Cohn, 2/3).

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This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.