Health Care's Tougher Problem--Solving the Access Problem Isn't Enough If We Don't Deal With Costs

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Today we honored to have Brian Klepper post for the first time. Brian's posts have been appearing on some of the leading health care blogs and I finally pestered him long enough that he agreed to begin doing some here. Today, he reminds us that solving our health care access problem is far from enough if we don't get costs under control:Health Care's Tougher Problemby Brian KlepperHealth care
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The Nursing Shortage--Important Data On Why

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Brian Klepper has another one of his great posts up—this time over at “The Health Care Blog.”We all know there is a nursing shortage but Brian sheds a new light on just why.Here is a small sample from his post, “Benign Neglect and the Nursing Shortage:”"Almost three-quarters of Nursing schools surveyed said the main reason that they can't train enough new nurses is a lack of qualified faculty.
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"Undue Advantage"--The Washington Post Calls for Medicare Advantage Cuts

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Tuesday's Washington Post had an editorial on the debate over whether HMOs should be paid more than Medicare receives for the same senior's health care.Originally, the Congress decided to pay private health plans more as a means to "prime the pump" to encourage both private health plan insurers and seniors to give the new Medicare Advantage plans a try. Both had some bad experiences in the late
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Medicare Will Stop Paying Hospitals for Errors--Will Private Health Plans Follow?

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Medicare will stop paying for the costs associated with "hospital errors." These can include the costs for treating infections, falls and other things Medicare deems the hospital should have been able to prevent.Health plans tend to follow Medicare policy in their payment practices. Many believe the private sector is going to follow suit.On its face, the new policy makes sense. If you get your
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Fred Thompson—Too Good to Be True? Thompson Says He Will Shake Things Up In the Health Care Debate

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The Washington Post’s David Broder is one of those people I have only the greatest respect for. So his recent column, recounting an interview with soon to be Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson, caught my eye.Broder described a Fred Thompson that sounds too good to be true:“When Fred Thompson makes his long-delayed entrance into the Republican presidential race, he will not tiptoe
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Democratic Presidential Candidate Bill Richardson Announces a Health Reform Plan

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Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson recently announced his health reform plan.Richardson's health care proposal follows the general outline offered by other Democratic candidates in that it focuses first on getting everyone insured and falls short in getting at the fundamental problem creating so many uninsured--health care costs.Bill Richardson's health plan also builds on existing
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Good Riddance to Karl Rove--How Part D Left an $8 Trillion Debt and Got Them Nothing

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It seems to be the Washington summer sport to pile on Karl Rove in the wake of his announcement that he will be leaving the White House.Let me add my own good riddance.America’s health care dilemma is one of our greatest problems. Our inability to provide basic health care services at an affordable cost to all of our people is nothing to play around with.Politicians—Democrats and Republicans
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The Latest Health Wonk Review is Up!

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Julie Ferguson over at "Workers'Comp Insider" has done her usually astute job of compiling the best from the health policy and market blog world in the latest edition of "Health Wonk Review."Her digest makes for great summer reading!
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Rudy Giuliani Announces a Health Care Proposal That Would Provide Tax Incentives for Consumers to Purchase Individual Insurance

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Rudy Giuliani announced that he will be proposing a system of individual tax incentives to enable consumers to purchase individual health insurance in addition to any employer options they might have. His proposals are also designed to shift the U.S. health insurance system away from employer-sponsored coverage.Under the proposal:Giuliani is proposing a $15,000 family/$7,500 individual standard
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Why Is President Bush So Willing to Veto Spending Bills All of a Sudden?

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This President didn’t veto a single spending bill during the first six years of his presidency when the Republicans were in control. You might recall John McCain’s characterization of the Republican Congress when he said they spent money “like drunken sailors” all with the concurrence of President Bush.Now, with the Democrats in control, the President seems more than ready to confront
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SCHIP Reauthorization and High Stakes Politics

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Everyone agrees that the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) needs to be reauthorized.But Washington couldn’t have made such a simple idea any more complicated or controversial.So far:The Senate has come to a bipartisan agreement, supported by lots of Republicans, that would increase spending by $35 billion, add another three million kids to the six million already covered, pay for
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