By Michael Halasy Super Committee and GME funding SO, about that super committee. Surely you remember, the gang of 12 that was created by the showdown over the debt ceiling this summer. Well, they’re hard at work but among the proposals out there, is one that is causing some grave concerns. As a health workforce […]

Does committed funding — as in the Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes — protect programs from cuts ? It is often argued (sometimes here) that the committed funding makes it harder to cut Social Security OASDI pensions. Certainly recipients stress the (perceived) fact that they just want their money back and that it isn’t […]

Guest post by Michael Halasy AMA backs the mandate… The AMA has its annual House of Delegates meeting last week, and boy, are they concerned. Recent evidence has suggested that they have lost 12,000 members since 2009. Much of this has been due to the AMA’s support of the PPACA. Today, the HOD voted to […]

Guest post by Michael Halasy Practicing Emergency Medicine PA, Health Policy Analyst, and Health Services Researcher Massachussetts leads the way We have talked about bundled payments here, and getting rid of the antiquated and inefficient fee for service model. It looks like Massachussetts is on board suggests The Washington Post. Blue Cross is not alone. […]

by Michael Halasy Health Policy Analyst and Emergency Medicine PA Regional Disparities in Health Spending… Jason Shafrin, over at the Healthcare Economist, brings up an interesting paper examining the data from the Dartmouth Atlas. For those that are unfamiliar, the Dartmouth Atlas is a compendium of data examining Medicare spending per beneficiary, and then comparing […]

Via Forbes the new report by United Health Foundation notes that the health of the population of each state are: …published by the United Health Foundation and funded by insurer UnitedHealth Group ( UNH – news – people ), measures residents of all 50 U.S. states on 22 activities that can predict future health, such […]

The panel is preceded by this video. Dr. Sanjay Gupta (Chief Medical Correspondent, CNN) leads the panel, featuring: Charles-Patrick Almazor, Director, Public Sector Partnership, Artibonite Department, Partners In Health Lance Armstrong, Founder and Chairman, LIVESTRONG Paul Farmer, Co-Founder, Partners In Health; Chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Chief […]

by Linda BealeExcerpt from Ataxingmatter The post in its entirety can be found at Linda’s Ataxingmatter Health Care Reform: the Virginia opposition given standing in federal district court: The judge states that the “central issue” in the case is Virginia’s interest in upholding it’s “health care freedom act”–a declaration that Viriginia citizens do not have […]

Robert Waldmann One strange thing about the health care reform debate is that insurance companies claim to support reform. I have tended to suspect that they are just playing possum. Now I find positive proof that WellPoint is willing to do what it takes to make sure health care reform passes — they sued the […]

Health Affairs tells the truth and shames…well… Unlike for-profit firms, a public plan has no incentive to cut corners and prevent providers from giving their patients quality evidence-based care, because its ultimate goal is public health, not private profit. Nor does it have any interest in sideswiping regulations and shortchanging consumers. Free market proponents argue […]