http://www.middleclasspoliticaleconomist.com/2013/08/republicans-market-oriented-health-care.html Republicans’ “Market-Oriented” Health Care Reforms Won’t Work, Part 1 This has been a week of Republicans saying they have actual ideas for replacing Obamacare, rather than just repealing it. The centerpiece has been an article by Karl Rove in the Wall Street Journal (paywalled) detailing all the swell ideas Republicans have. In addition, a […]

by Linda Beale The Elderly May Not Be As Taxing As Generally Thought One of the common assumptions about health care costs (and the costs of benefit programs like Medicare) has been that the increasing life spans of Americans will result in significantly greater health care expenses.  It is common knowledge that much of the […]

by Maggie Mahar A New IOM Report Reveals Why Medicare Costs So Much (Hint–It’s Not Just the Prices) (reposted with authors permission) George W.  Bush is 67. Chances are Medicare paid for the stent operation that I describe in the post above. For years, medical researchers have been telling us that this procedure will provide no […]

by Maggie Mahar George W. Bush’s Recent Stent Surgery—Two Perspectives (re posted with author’s permission) Last week, when former President George W. Bush underwent stent surgery, the procedure was declared a great success. What is surprising is that not everyone in the mainstream media applauded. From Bloomberg News “Former President George W. Bush’s decision to allow […]

U.S. Population Distribution by Age, 1900 through 2060 (Bill McBride,Calculated Risk) Animated wonder.

In another setback for President Obama’s health care initiative, the administration has delayed until 2015 a significant consumer protection in the law that limits how much people may have to spend on their own health care. The limit on out-of-pocket costs, including deductibles and co-payments, was not supposed to exceed $6,350 for an individual and […]

Is Obamacare “Medicaid for the Middle Class?” –A Muddled Argument by Maggie Mahar Yet another catchy phrase, “Medicaid for the middle class,” is popping up in conservative propaganda. What are Obamacare’s opponents trying to say? Those who have latched onto this catchphrase make two very different arguments. The arguments actually contradict each other, but they […]

by Tom aka Rusty Rustbelt Health Care Thoughts: The Other Side of the Equation Obamacare is in the news every day, with much discussion of jobs and exchanges and insurance and many other topics. My beat is the other side, the provider side, and a great deal of confusion and chaos lives there. What are providers […]

 by Maggie Mahar Under Obamacare, Will You Receive a Subsidy to Help You Buy Your Own Insurance? We Now Have Real Numbers That Will Let You Calculate How Much You Will Receive Note to Readers: A longer version of this post appeared yesterday on HealthInsurance.org. Up until now, when Obamacare’s supporters and reform’s opponents squabbled over […]

by Tom aka Rusty Rustbelt Health Care Thoughts: What is a “health care economist.” During the past three years I have met several young “health care economists.” Clearly this is a hot topic. I try to be helpful when appropriate, but I often become quite skeptical, and often subtly ask some questions to test expertise. The […]