The Health Care Blog

Why AHIP needs the public option

By Matthew Holt It’s been a fun week. After years of THCB explaining that neither could AHIP do genuine research nor could its venerable President open her mouth without lying, the rest of the world has caught on. I won’t...
October 16, 2009 in Charlie Baker, Health Plans, Matthew Holt, Policy, Policy/Politics | Permalink | Comments (37)

Musings on Payment Reform

By CHARLIE BAKER Charlie Baker is the president and CEO of Harvard Pilgrim, a nonprofit health plan that covers more than 1 million New Englanders. Charlie is a regular contributor to THCB, where he has authored posts on national health...
July 12, 2009 in Charlie Baker, Costs, Massachusetts, primary care, Quality, Reform | Permalink | Comments (38)

A Costly Wrinkle in the Merged Market

By CHARLIE BAKER One of the more controversial elements of health care reform in Massachusetts is the so-called “merged market.” In most states, individual health insurance is bought and sold under one set of rules, and small group insurance (for...
June 26, 2009 in Charlie Baker, Marketplace, Massachusetts, Reform | Permalink | Comments (20)

Is Massachusetts a model for national reform?

By Charlie Baker I get asked this question a lot these days, which shouldn’t be that surprising. Harvard Pilgrim is headquartered in Massachusetts, and the Massachusetts health care reform plan is already a couple of years old. More importantly, it...
December 30, 2008 in Charlie Baker, Medicare, Obama administration | Permalink | Comments (18)

Shifting costs from public to private payers

By Charlie Baker The other day, the American Hospital Association, the Blue Cross / Blue Shield Association, Premera Blue Cross and America’s Health Insurance Plans (FYI - HPHC is a member and I’m on the Board of AHIP) released a...
December 12, 2008 in Charlie Baker, Economics, Policy, The Industry | Permalink | Comments (22)

More on the 5 myths of U.S. health care

By Charlie Baker A good friend sent me a recent op-ed from the Washington Post that discussed the 5 myths of health care reform by Shannon Brownlee and Ezekiel Emanuel. I’ve written about both of them before (here & here)....
December 2, 2008 in Charlie Baker, Policy/Politics | Permalink | Comments (1)

Going Green In Health Care…

By CHARLIE BAKER I’m pretty sure that most public policy types believe they are doing the right kinds of things to encourage a greener and more resource sustainable economy. And in many cases, I’m sure that translates into a set...
November 6, 2008 in Charlie Baker | Permalink | Comments (0)

Be careful what you wish for

By Charlie Baker Charlie Baker is the president and CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care. This post first appeared on his blog, Lets Talk Health Care. The show is pretty much the same - every time. Public sector entity gets...
October 28, 2008 in Charlie Baker, Policy | Permalink | Comments (15)

The never ending stent-bypass debate

By Charlie Baker A new study - a big one ($50 MM) - was recently released that compared the short and long term effects of drug eluding stents to bypass surgery for patients with serious heart disease. The headlines --...
September 10, 2008 in Charlie Baker, evidenced-based medicine, Physicians | Permalink | Comments (2)

Inappropriate ER use across the board

By Charlie Baker Charlie Baker is the president and CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care. This post first appeared on his blog, Lets Talk Health Care. A few months ago, the New England Healthcare Institute (NEHI) issued a report on...
August 15, 2008 in Charlie Baker, Economics, The Industry | Permalink | Comments (15)

The affordability factor must accompany discussions on health care coverage

By Charlie Baker Charlie Baker is the president and CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Inc., a nonprofit health plan that covers more than 1 million New Englanders. Baker blogs regularly at Let's Talk Health Care. I was in a...
July 31, 2008 in Charlie Baker, Economics, Marketplace | Permalink | Comments (42)

Determination of need rule only goes partway

By Charlie Baker Charlie Baker is the president and CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Inc., a nonprofit health plan that covers more than 1 million New Englanders. Baker blogs regularly at Let's Talk Health Care. I usually spend some...
July 21, 2008 in Charlie Baker, Economics, Hospitals, Policy | Permalink | Comments (1)