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 […]
by divorced one like Bush So I’ve been thinking: What, since the passage of Medicare has the federal government implemented that actually reduced the risk of living for the US citizen? No, tax cuts do not count. They do not reduce risk. We have reduced risk for business all over the place. NAFTA, CAFTA, exemption […]
rdan I read the Op-Ed in the Boston Globe and asked Doug to write a piece or pieces in a more detailed fashion. There have been allusions to this issue as a cost factor, but no policy consideration here to date. Post by Doug Brown Due to the complexity of organizations today, there is commonly […]
rdan Taunter explains how the .5% rescission rate figure discussed in the hearings on health insurance premiums and coverage is used to dismiss Congressional concerns as inconsequential and actually is a good business practice that will not change. It is worth going to the post to accurately follow the train of thought. Taunter concludes that […]
Science Friday aired a show on 12/14/07 discussing national health insurance. Guests were: Uwe Reinhardt James Madison Professor of Political Economy,Princeton, New JerseyJ. Fred Ralston, Jr Chair, Health and Public PolicyCommittee American College of Physicians, Fayetteville, Tennessee Donald Berwick President and Chief Executive OfficerInstitue for Healthcare Improvement, Cambridge, Massachusetts Here is a real example (as […]
Paul Krugman and Robin Wells review three books on the US health care system
All I could say when I read Kevin Drum today on single-payer health care was “YES”: [F]or tactical political reasons, [prominent Democratic politicians] think it’s more effective to talk about incremental solutions. I disagree. …The alternative, I think, is to continue supporting improvements to the current system but to make it absolutely clear that our […]
This Knight-Ridder piece about Bush’s Health Savings Accounts raises an interesting question: do people have too many financial choices in their life already? WASHINGTON – President Bush’s proposed expansion of Health Savings Accounts depends on a premise that research shows is questionable: that Americans want more financial choices in their lives. Experts point to a […]
Mark Thoma and Andrew Samwick discuss problems with and potential solutions for the social safety net in this week’s WSJ Econoblog. They cover several important points, but following up on some posts from last week, let me highlight their discussion of the pros and cons of a single-payer health insurance system. Mark Thoma argues that […]