Health Wonk Review – Rich and Varied Offerings

Maggie Mahar reviews other blogs on healthcare within the blogosphere

Joe Paduda has hosted the newest edition of Health Wonk Review, a bi-weekly roundup of some of the best healthcare posts in the blogosphere. You will find it at Joe’s blog, Managed Care Matters.:

Here are just a few highlights:

• Health IT is still a work in progress, and some people worry about privacy issues. But HealthcareTalent Transformation’s Peggy Salvatore makes a strong case for electronic health records as she explains how these records will help improve population health. Quite simply these records will give us the database we need to figure what works and what doesn’t for patients who fit a particular medical profile. h

• Over at HealthBusinessBlog David E Williams responds to a relative’s question : Why are Obamacare’s opponents so vehement?The bottom line, says David, is that “some opponents have whipped themselves into a lather over their revulsion to all things Obama and are living in an echo chamber where these views seem rational. It would be better for everyone if they went back to the Birther madness.”

  I agree. This is not about healthcare, and it is not about money. The Congressional Budget Office has told us that the ACA will not add to the deficit.. As David points out many of the ideas in the Affordable Care Act were originally Republican ideas. It is not a radical plan for health care reform; it is a moderate plan. And Obama himself is a moderate. Why then do they hate him with such a passion? I’ll leave it to you to answer that question.

• In a post titled “We’re all in this together” Louise Norris confides that under the Affordable Care Act, her family’s insurance premiums will rise sharply. (They had a high deductible plan with low premiums. The ACA outlaws such high deductibles because in too many cases, insurers sell them to low-income and lower-middle income families who then cannot afford to use them. So they put off getting healthcare until they are very, very sick.)Meanwhile, Louise and her husband earn too much to qualify for premiums. But they’re not angry. “We support [reform]” she explains, “because something like this isn’t supposed to be all about us. In the case of healthcare reform, our higher premiums will help ensure that our friends and neighbors and fellow citizens have access to affordable health insurance.” Joe writes: “Thanks for the reminder, Louise!” I agree wholeheartedly. (btw Louise is a health insurance broker.)

• At Workers’ Comp Insider, Julie Ferguson details the impact that the government shutdown is having on workplace health & safety and various regulatory and employment–related matters.
• Finally on healthinsurance.org former insurance executive turned whistleblower Wendell Potter offers some very useful advice on “How to Shop in the New Marketplace”