Recently in Health Care Reform Category
What happens when a law is enacted that most experts think is good and much of the public sees as bad? We may soon have an interesting test case in the health reform legislation passed earlier this year. Many voters don't like it. That segment is likely to grow in the months and years ahead, for reasons I'll describe later that go beyond Republican rhetoric. Those with expertise tend to ...
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Health reforms won't work until Americans are convinced they'd be happier and healthier if they consumed less medical care.I've written repeatedly about how difficult it will be to sell this new conservation effort that is based on two basic insights - people who take care of themselves(think diet and exercise)tend to require less care and much of the care delivered today-- respected experts say the number may exceed 25% -- isn't ...
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Here's a recent joke that came from a Washington think tank unenthusiastic about the health reforms recently enacted:New Health plan at work. The phone rings and the lady of the house answers. "Hello?" "Mrs. Sanders, please." "Speaking." "Mrs. Sanders, this is Dr. Jones at St. Agnes Laboratory." When your husband's doctor sent his sample to the lab last week, a sample from another Mr. Sanders arrived as well. We are now uncertain which one belongs to your husband. ...
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Like dog who continues to chew on a familiar bone that's long been bare, politicians and pundits can't seem to walk away from health reform legislation. They're right that the game's not yet over, but wrong to think they can accelerate the start of the next phase, which won't begin until new provisions are implemented and have public impact.Candidates who think that promises of total repeal are a winning issue ...
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The new health reform law won't succeed unless Americans adopt a conservation ethic and reduce their consumption of medical services. Encouraging such a major attitude change is a big challenge that won't come easily. Not surprisingly, the finger-pointing - among two writers who are usually right and on the same side -- has already begun about where to focus.It started with the David Leonhardt column suggesting that patients should start ...
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Amid the celebrations as President Obama signs health reform legislation into law, it is worth taking stock of where we are and where we're going.First, this is clearly a very big deal. That's one thing everyone who spoke during the House debate agreed on. It is a big political victory for the President that will have a positive impact on the lives of millions of Americans in decades ahead.Second, the ...
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Today, Dennis Kucinich announced that he was going to support the Health Care Bill, saying "I have to make a decision on the bill as it is, not on the bill as I would like to see it." (via @markknoller). This is a step in the right direction. Democrats are starting to gain a sense of maturity and wisdom. There was never any likelihood that the process of creating a Health ...
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I have a simple theory to explain why health reform legislation has stalled -- it is an echo of why the Clinton plan failed -- most Americans are ultimately unwilling to abandon today's imperfect system for a new one that would require them to adapt to changes that ultimately could prove more uncomfortable than the status quo.This has nothing to do with partisan bickering, timing, communications campaigns or any of ...
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Are health insurers interested in building a better mousetrap? If they came up with one, would consumers beat a path to their door?These questions are provoked by a recent Massachusetts study concluding that health insurance costs are rising because insurers are being forced to pay what seem to be abnormally high reimbursement rates to hospitals that have banded together to get greater bargaining power. It is fleshed out by health ...
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And has evidence based medicine become the third rail of health reform?Consider what President Obama said to ABC News's George Stephanopoulos: "We know that we need insurance reform, that the health insurance companies are taking advantage of people," ..."We know that we have to have some form of cost containment because if we don't, then our budgets are going to blow up, and we know that small businesses are going to need ...
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