The Health Care Blog

Pay (Only) for Health Care that Works

Charles Silver & David A. Hyman Health care is expensive partly because governmental payers and insurers foot the bill for large quantities of medical services that are ineffective, unnecessary, or unproven. According to a RAND report, studies of clinical efficiency...
November 11, 2009 in Congress, Costs, Health Plans, Policy, Reform | Permalink | Comments (30)

Modest step in the reform journey shows the idiocy of our political system

By Matthew Holt It does seem to take a health care bill to remind us all how incredibly screwed up the political process is in these here United States. The Medicare Modernization Act was railroaded through by Tom Delay and...
November 8, 2009 in Congress, Democratic Party, Policy/Politics, Reform | Permalink | Comments (14)

Will We Get a Health Care Bill in 2009?

By ROBERT LASZEWSKI It’s decision time. The Congress will or won’t pass a major health care bill during the next few weeks. Will we get health care reform in 2009? Almost certainly not. As I have been saying for months,...
October 14, 2009 in Congress, Reform, Robert Laszewski | Permalink | Comments (33)

Taxing Health Insurance Companies to Pay for Health Care

By ROBERT LASZEWSKI The Congress has investigated about every conceivable way to tax people to pay for the health care proposals—a millionaire’s tax, bigger taxes on home mortgages and charitable contributions, and a couple of dozen more ideas. Now Congress...
September 14, 2009 in Congress, Health Plans, Taxes | Permalink | Comments (9)

10,000 US physicians have something to say and we're not wasting time.

By DANIEL PALESTRANT, MD Today, as Congress returns to session, all 100 Senators will be listening to physicians on SERMO when they deliver the “US Physician’s Appeal” on Capitol Hill. Wasting no time, my physician colleagues and I, armed with...
September 8, 2009 in Congress, Physicians, Reform, Sermo | Permalink | Comments (46)

What Obama Must Demand from Congress on Health Care

By ROBERT M. REICH Congress returns this week to one of the fiercest and most important debates in recent memory -- whether and to what extent the nation will provide health care to all Americans, and how we will reign...
September 8, 2009 in Congress, Obama, Public Option | Permalink | Comments (22)

No Alternative: An Analysis of the GOP Plan

By HARRIS MEYER Congressional Republicans have been blasting away all summer at the Democrats’ health reform legislation. But they might face heavy blowback if more Americans took a close look at two ambitious health reform bills sponsored by GOP lawmakers....
September 8, 2009 in Congress, GOP, Reform | Permalink | Comments (37)

Healthcare Reform: Strangled In Its Bed

By JOE FLOWER Follow the bouncing ball here: Health care was a mess, cost way too much, sick people getting dropped by insurance companies and left to die and bankrupted and all that. The obvious solution: Go to a single-payer...
September 8, 2009 in Congress, Health Plans, Policy/Politics, Public Option, Reform | Permalink | Comments (3)

Transcript of Obama's Health Care Speech (and the GOP response)

Transcript of the GOP Response to Obama's Speech The full text of President Obama's address on health care to the Joint Session of Congress: --------- Madame Speaker, Vice President Biden, Members of Congress, and the American people: When I spoke...
September 7, 2009 in Congress, Obama administration, Reform, Videos | Permalink | Comments (3)

Will Republicans Be Spoilers Or Problem Solvers on Health Care Reform?

By BRIAN KLEPPER and DAVID C. KIBBE In theory Congress' return from recess next week could offer a new beginning to the health care reform process, giving everyone a chance to take a deep breath and recalibrate the components of...
September 2, 2009 in Brian Klepper, Congress, David Kibbe, Reform | Permalink | Comments (12)

Time for a Closer Look (and Lower Costs)

By ROGER COLLIER One of the effects of the exaggerations, misinterpretations, distortions, and downright lies about Congressional health care reform proposals—mostly from far-right politicians and their hangers-on—has been to deter more objective analysis. In fact, two key features of the...
September 1, 2009 in Congress, Medicaid, Medicare, Public Option, Reform, Roger Collier | Permalink | Comments (3)

Innovation and Absence of Evidence vs. Evidence of Absence

By Joshua Seidman Jon Gabel from the National Opinion Research Center has an excellent op-ed piece in today’s New York Times. The basic argument is summarized in his conclusion: “The Congressional Budget Office’s integrity is beyond questioning. But the record...
August 28, 2009 in Congress, Economics, Information Therapy, Reform | Permalink | Comments (0)

Health Care Reform's Deeper Problems

By BRIAN KLEPPER and DAVID C. KIBBE Congress' health care reform debate has highlighted how American governance is broken and the difficulty of addressing our national problems. Take, for example, whether health care is in crisis at all. Conservative commentators...
August 27, 2009 in Brian Klepper, Congress, David Kibbe, Democratic Party, Reform | Permalink | Comments (56)

The Case for Taxing “Cadillac” Healthcare Coverage

By CLAYTON MCWHORTER With President Obama’s plan for healthcare reform recently being dealt a tough blow by the Congressional Budget Office over soaring federal deficit projections, I am beginning to wonder if it is time for the President to modify...
August 4, 2009 in CBO, Congress, Policy/Politics, Reform | Permalink | Comments (38)

Say we get some sausage--then what?

By MICHAEL PAINTER J.D., M.D sausage (sô´sǐj) n. A highly seasoned minced meat usually stuffed in casings of prepared animal intestine. Congress is obviously in the thick of the sausage making. The August recess is pending. Bills may or may...
August 1, 2009 in Congress, Policy, Reform | Permalink | Comments (8)

Health Care Reform Coming Out of Senate Finance?

By ROBERT LASZEWSKI We’ve been getting lots of news these past few days leading to optimism that a bipartisan health care bill will soon emerge from discussions between the “Coalition of the Willing.” That term refers to the three Republicans...
July 29, 2009 in Congress, Policy/Politics, Reform, Robert Laszewski, Senate Finance Committee | Permalink | Comments (20)

Op-Ed: Sustainable Healthcare Reform

By LAWRENCE W. ARRINGTON President Obama made a risky wager when he decided to let Congress take the lead on crafting health care legislation, rather than presenting his own reform package. Congress is not known for taking bold, decisive leadership...
July 29, 2009 in Congress, Obama, Policy, Policy/Politics, Public Option, Reform | Permalink | Comments (12)

Speculators Bet Reform Won’t Hurt Industry

By DON JOHNSON Speculators seem to be betting that a watered down health insurance reform bill won't hurt health insurers, hospitals, drug makers or medical device and supply manufacturers. Stocks for almost all of these health sectors and for exchange...
July 27, 2009 in CBO, Congress, Economics, Public Option, Reform | Permalink | Comments (18)

A Health Insurance Premium Tax Would be a Chicken Tax

By ROBERT LASZEWSKI The Congress has looked at taxing about everyone and everything to pay for half the cost of a health care bill. They’ve considered sugary soft drinks, beer, “millionaires,” and “gold plated” health benefits to name a few....
July 27, 2009 in Congress, Policy, Policy/Politics, Reform, Robert Laszewski | Permalink | Comments (6)

Live from Aspen: the moderates' view on Obama health reform

By Matthew Holt Paul Krugman’s article today excoriates the Blue Dogs and a former dog Billy Tauzin in particular. He also (as I did a week or so back) wonders where the Dogs were when the Bush tax cuts were...
July 27, 2009 in Congress, Democratic Party, Matthew Holt, Medicaid, Policy, Policy/Politics, Public Option | Permalink | Comments (11)

Health Reform and Obama's Leadership

By RAHUL PARIKH By all accounts this is crunch time for President Obama on health care reform, and things couldn’t be more tenuous. In the past several weeks, we’ve seen unified Republican opposition to his ideas, a revolt against reform...
July 26, 2009 in Congress, Obama, Policy/Politics, Rahul Parikh | Permalink | Comments (13)

The Case for Home Health Care

By Dr. George Taler While Congress is debating health reform and struggling to accomplish the apparently competing goals of reducing costs while improving quality, I am part of a program that does both. As co-director of the Washington Hospital Center’s...
July 25, 2009 in Chronic conditions, Congress, Costs, Home Health Care, Long Term Care, Medicare, Physicians, primary care, Reform | Permalink | Comments (8)

Commentology

By ANONYMOUS I'm retired now, but as a former lawyer, I simply must speak out in opposition to the various health care proposals that are being bandied about. It used to be said that what was good for GM was...
July 24, 2009 in Commentology, Congress, Health Plans, Lawyers, Malpractice | Permalink | Comments (8)

Can HR 3200 Be Fixed?

By ROGER COLLIER Health care reform looks like it’s stalled. And rightly so, based on the provisions of the House Democrats’ health care reform bill. The grossly misnamed America’s Affordable Health Choices Act (HR 3200) combines the worst of all...
July 23, 2009 in Congress, Medicare, Policy/Politics, Public Option, Reform, Roger Collier | Permalink | Comments (54)

Op-Ed: Reform- Why have our objectives been abandoned?

By DR. ALBERT WAXMAN In the campaign of 2008 and the first six months of 2009, the call for healthcare reform has been a refreshing and important theme. It has been widely recognized that 1. Healthcare costs are out of...
July 22, 2009 in Congress, Obama administration, Policy/Politics, Reform | Permalink | Comments (23)

A Wild Pitch: HR3200 Brushes Back Health Reform

By JEFF GOLDSMITH On May 12, the flame throwing Chicago White Sox pitcher Bobby Jenks was fined for throwing behind an opposing player, Texas Rangers second baseman, Ian Kinsler. When Jenks, who can throw a 102 MPH fastball, was asked...
July 20, 2009 in Congress, Economics, Hospitals, Jeff Goldsmith, Medicaid, Medicare, Physicians, Policy/Politics, Reform | Permalink | Comments (24)

House Health Care Reform: Ignoring the Elephant?

By ROGER COLLIER After some frantic last minute political gyrations and a lot of pressure from the President, House Democrats have announced details of their draft health care reform bill. Much as expected, the 852-page bill emerging from three House...
July 15, 2009 in Congress, Health Plans, Policy/Politics, Reform, Roger Collier | Permalink | Comments (26)

The Tri-Committee Health Reform Bill: Implications for Children

By JOCELYN GUYER A little more than two weeks ago the three major committees in the House with jurisdiction over health reform put out a draft legislative proposal, known as "The Tri-Committee bill." We've now read the 852-page document a...
July 6, 2009 in CHIP, Congress, Medicaid, Policy/Politics, Reform | Permalink | Comments (7)

HELP! IS THE CBO GETTING SUCKERED?

By ROGER COLLIER In a comment on my previous post on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions reform bill, tcoyote explained some of the political thinking behind what seem like totally spurious cost projections. While I can readily accept...
July 6, 2009 in CBO, Congress, Reform, Roger Collier, Senate HELP | Permalink | Comments (8)

Broad Agreement that Worker's Comp Program for War Zone Workers Needs Fixing

By T. CHRISTIAN MILLER Congressional hearings generally follow a script. Lawmakers publicly vent their outrage, administration officials offer plausible defenses, and the outcome is inconclusive. But this month's airing of complaints about the government's system for taking care of civilian...
July 4, 2009 in Congress, Military, ProPublica, Worker's Comp | Permalink | Comments (6)

Careful What You Wish For

By THE INCIDENTAL ECONOMIST On the left are those who would like health reform to include a strong public plan, one that could negotiate large provider discounts, driving down the cost of medical care. On the right are those who...
July 4, 2009 in AMA, CMS, Congress, Economics, Medicare, Reform | Permalink | Comments (25)

HELP! This is Unbelievable

By ROGER COLLIER Key members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee announced on Thursday what they claimed were dramatically improved cost and coverage estimates for the latest version of their health care reform bill. Headed by Democratic...
July 4, 2009 in CBO, Congress, Medicaid, Reform, Roger Collier, Senate HELP | Permalink | Comments (36)

MedPac on Steroids

By MAGGIE MAHAR Maggie Mahar is an award winning journalist and author. A frequent contributor to THCB, her work has appeared in Barron's and Institutional Investor. She is the author of Money-Driven medicine: The Real Reason Why healthcare costs so...
June 5, 2009 in Congress, Medicare, Obama administration, Policy, Reform, Senate Finance Committee | Permalink | Comments (13)

Connecting finance to coverage

By Matthew Holt Repeating his message that Health Costs Are the Real Deficit Threat OMB Director Peter Orszag goes into the not exactly friendly territory of the WSJ Opinion pages and explains that practice variation is unnecessary and wasteful, comparative...
May 15, 2009 in Congress, Policy, Policy/Politics, Senate Finance Committee, Wall Street Journal | Permalink | Comments (16)