by run 75441 The Medicare Sky is Falling Part of the Medicare Sky Falling story is a claim that doctors are refusing to accept new Medicare patients because of low payments. It is common for politicians and pundits to pontificate declaring Medicare is broken. A doctor himself, Wyoming Senator Barrasso made the claim to CNN’s […]
by run75441 The Medicare Sky Is Falling (Part 2) Chicken Little, Courtesy of “EW.Com Entertainment Weekly” Over at The Health Beat Blog, Maggie Mahar explains why the collapse of Medicare HI is less likely with the passage of healthcare reform. The Medicare “Crisis: A Shaggy Wolf Story. Potentially heading off the shortfall of Medicare funding […]
by run75441 “The Medicare Sky Is Falling” Chicken Little, Courtesy of “EW.Com Entertainment Weekly” A recently released Medicare Trustees report detailing the insolvency of Medicare HI has been used by conservatives and supporting news media to call again for an overhaul or privatization of Medicare to save healthcare for those on Medicare. “The gravest threat […]
Besides her comments on the growing lack of influence of the AMA on Healthcare reform Maggie Mahar at Health Beat Blog writes about Medicare breaking the cost curve of the healthcare industry. Medicare Breaks the Inflation Curve Today, S&P released data tracking the growth of health care costs which showed that over the year ending […]
Various congressional representatives held town hall meetings recently, and the news channels and print media were abuzz with the lively give-and-take, including shouting matches. See, e.g., House G.O.P. Members Face Voter Anger Over Budget, New York Times, Apr. 26, 2011; Republicans facing tough questions over Medicare overhaul in Budget Plan, Washington Post, Apr. 22, 2011. […]
Guest Post From Robert Bowman, M.D. No Assumptions for a Change Assumptions are often incorrect and the assumptions are incredibly inaccurate in primary care and in basic health access. When one starts with the assumption of more pay, then it is easy to rationalize more training or more complexity of care – even when there […]
Guest post by Michael Halasy Latest from Cato… Kaiser Health News carries an article from Michael Cannon from Cato Institute on the benefits of Ryan’s proposal on Medicare. Cannon is wrong. First, he begins by advocating for repeal by comparing the roughly 500 billion in cost of the program to the overall debt and deficit, […]
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 […]
For years we have been regaled with scary, scary numbers about how Medicare’s projected unfunded liability was in the TENS OF TRILLIONS. And sure enough if you consulted the Medicare Report and examined the actuarial projections for Medicare Part A you would find that number. But a funny thing happened with the 2010 Report and […]
by Tom aka Rusty Rustbelt HEALTH CARE: The Durable Medical Equipment (DME) mess So you go to an orthopedic surgeon with a complaint of back pain, and the surgeon orders a lumbar back brace for support. Can you stop at a counter and buy the brace on the way out the door? Probably not. Years […]