The Health Care Blog

Are Cooperatives a Reasonable Alternative to a Public Plan?

By TIMOTHY S. JOST First, a word about history. We have tried cooperatives before. During the 1930s and 1940s, the heyday of the cooperative movement in the United States, the Farm Security Administration encouraged the development of health cooperatives. At...
August 20, 2009 in Cooperatives, Health Plans, History, Public Option, Reform | Permalink | Comments (9)

Health-Care Reform and the “Culture Wars”

By MAGGIE MAHAR Friday, Politico.com editor Fred Barbash posed this question to “Arena” contributors: “Does the ongoing debate about healthcare reform reflect a :"kind of culture war” that can be traced to a “fundamental difference in world views?” Barbash then...
August 4, 2009 in History, Maggie Mahar, Reform | Permalink | Comments (13)

A Brief History of the R Word

By BOB WACHTER Princeton ethicist Peter Singer’s article in this week’s NY Times Sunday Magazine is creating lots of buzz. It is a classic utilitarian description of the case for rationing – QALYs and all – and a plea for...
July 22, 2009 in Bob Wachter, History, Media, New York Times, Rationing | Permalink | Comments (64)

GOP to Uninsured: Drop Dead

By MICHAEL L. MILLENSON “We are now contemplating, Heaven save the mark, a bill that would tax the well for the benefit of the ill.” No, that’s not Senate Minority Leader John Boehner, Rush Limbaugh or any of the other...
July 16, 2009 in Annals of Journalism, GOP, History, Michael Millenson, Wall Street Journal | Permalink | Comments (16)

Preventing Extortion

By JACK CHURCHILL The debate about a public health insurance option mirrors the debate about public power in the 1920’s and 30’s. The arguments then were very similar to the arguments we hear today. The principal issue then was whether...
July 2, 2009 in AMA, Economics, History, Supreme Court, The Industry | Permalink | Comments (4)

The Message Is The Medium

By MERRILL GOOZNER Emory University psychologist and political consultant Drew Westen in the weekend Washington Post offers a troubling view of the public's role in health care reform. While reform's reality involves complicated technical issues like insurance exchanges, public plan...
June 28, 2009 in Annals of Journalism, History, Media, Merrill Goozner | Permalink | Comments (4)