Core and Group Health

Wealthy countries all over the world are dealing with debts and strained budgets as they mop up after the Great Recession and brace for the budget-busting retirement of the baby boomer generation. But the United States is in a bigger fix than almost anyone else.

Thwarted by conservatives in his own Republican Party, House Speaker John Boehner scrambled Tuesday to secure enough GOP votes to beat a fast-closing Aug. 2 deadline and stave off the potential financial chaos of the nation's first-ever default.

With enrollment lagging in new health care programs for people with pre-existing conditions, a nonprofit advocacy group is recommending that the waiting period for high risk pools be shortened or eliminated.

A variety of pressing economic and health issues were addressed at the National Association of Governors (NGA) annual 2011 meeting held in Salt Lake City, including elements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) as well as state budgets.

A new study suggests that Medicare's 5-year-old prescription drug plan is keeping seniors out of hospitals and nursing homes, saving the federal program an estimated $12 billion a year in those costs.

Benefits for about 3,000 Maytag Corp. retirees can be changed by Whirlpool in an effort to bring them in line with current employees, according to a federal judge's ruling.

California was scheduled Tuesday to borrow about $5 billion from private investors as a hedge against a possible default by the federal government.

GOP plan could provide leverage in forcing Democrats and President Obama to cut federal benefit programs.