It's the kind of headline I would have expected to see in the New York Times instead of the Wall Street Journal but there it was in Tuesday's edition.Vanessa Fuhrmans' article seems to have unleashed some pent-up frustration in the health benefits market on the subject of health savings accounts (HSAs) specifically and consumer-driven care generally. It is as if it represents a turning point for
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Can We Control Health Care Costs Without Universal Coverage?
My good friend, Joe Paduda, over at his blog, "Managed Care Matters" has responded to my recent post: The Mandate Myth--Health Reform Plans Don't Have to Mandate Coverage to Work But They Do Have Be Affordable.Joe has made the point that it might be important to mandate coverage in order to prevent cost shifting. He is pointing out that unless we mandate that everyone is in the health care
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Latest "Health Wonk Review" is Up
David Williams is hosting the latest edition of Health Wonk Review over at his site, "Health Business Blog."It is the bi-weekly compendium of some of the best posts in the health blog world!
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Why Does Health Insurance Cost So Much in New England?
I guess the easy answer is because health care itself costs so much in New England.As I travel around the country, I continue to hear that plan sponsors and insurers are all frustrated by the comparatively high health care (and insurance) costs in New England. For example, according to CMS, health care spending for Massachusetts residents exceed the national average by more than $1,500, or 33% in
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McCain to Propose a Health Care Reform Plan--Both Democrats and Republicans Becoming Predictable on Health Care
Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain said this weekend that he is working on a health care reform proposal. He gave no time for its release but did mention a number of components:His plan will not include tax increases.It will not include any coverage mandates--presumably individual or employer mandates.He would make greater use of health care information technology.It will
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The Mandate Myth--Health Reform Plans Don't Have to Mandate Coverage to Work But They Do Have Be Affordable
As the presidential candidates, Republican and Democratic, begin to come forward with their health reform plans, a side debate is heating up about whether any meaningful health care reform plan has to have a mandate, individual or employer.The reasoning goes that for health care reform to work we need to get about everyone in the pool--both in order to solve the uninsured problem and to be able
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Giuliani Set to Announce a Health Care Proposal--But He Has to Make it Affordable for Everyone
Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani is set to announce a new health plan this summer that would provide incentives to shift private health insurance from the employer group model to the individual health insurance model, according to an article in Thursday's Wall Street Journal.Details are sketchy. We understand that it would still allow the traditional employer plans to continue, it
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New Ideas in Medical Liability Reform: Health Courts
Today, our guest contributor is Brynna Pietz of Common Good. Common Good has been a leader in arguing that it isn't enough to simply cap medical malpractice damages and call it reform. Instead, they believe we need to fundamentally change the health care tort system to one that does a better job of more quickly compensating the injured patient--and perhaps more importantly--improving the quality
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Barack Obama on Health Care Reform and the Insurance and Drug Industries--a Healthy Cynicism
Earlier this week I wondered why Hillary Clinton continues to try to isolate and demonize the insurance and pharmaceutical industry in her comments about health care reform: Hillary Clinton on Health Care--Trying the Divide and Conquer Strategy Once AgainI pointed out that you would think she would have learned from her failed divide and conquer tactics in 1994.It is interesting to contrast
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Hillary Clinton on Health Care--Trying the Divide and Conquer Strategy Once Again
In Sunday's Democratic presidential debate, Hillary Clinton once again tried to isolate the insurance industry (as well as the pharmaceutical business) as a means to advance her health plan.On health care Senator Clinton said, "What's important, and what I learned in the previous effort is you've got to have the political will--a broad coalition of business and labor, doctors, nurses, hospitals..
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