John R. Graham

Mr. Wulsin reports the Congressional Budget Office’s conclusion that private insurers pay providers 20 percent to 30 percent above their costs; Medicare’s payments lay somewhere above or below the line; and Medicaid pays about 20 percent below costs. We call this the cost-shift, which increases private health insurance premiums by ...

In the May 10 New York Times Sunday magazine, President Obama reflected on his elderly grandmother’s hip replacement. This episode, portrayed in a touching manner, turns out terribly enlightening about the hard questions all Americans face under his regime. Obama’s grandmother had already been diagnosed with cancer, and the fall ...

There was a bit of a flap in the liberal media this month when someone leaked a copy of a presentation on health reform that Dr. Frank Luntz, the Republican pollster and strategist, delivered to the Republican congressional caucus.1 In the Huffington Post, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) wrote an ...

Right off the bat, the reporter notes the key difference in outcomes for the two unemployed men: the American lost his health benefits and the German did not. I’m no fan of employer-based health “benefits”, largely because they artificially inflate the number of uninsured. So, I have long advocated tax ...

The Institute of Medicine released a report excoriating drug and medical-device makers for sponsoring medical education and the like. Specialist medical societies immediately collaborated on a joint press release, where they basically prostrated themselves in apology for accepting funding from these industries. They would much prefer to be dependent on ...

“Covering the uninsured” through more government power is a misplaced priority. It gives politicians, instead of patients, control of health-care dollars. Nevertheless, many Americans understandably view the fact that the U.S. is the only developed country that does not have so-called “universal” coverage as a national disgrace. Furthermore, many believe ...

While health insurers pay for diagnosis, surgery, and intravenous chemotherapy for cancer patients, they balk at paying for oral anticancer pills dispensed by pharmacies, according to a New York Times story. Although the new drugs are expensive, the journalist figures that they are surely cheaper conventional alternatives. So here’s the ...

I enjoy the research, news, and commentary produced by the Pacific Business Group on Health, with whose Executive Director for National Health Policy, Peter Lee, I’ve had the privilege of sharing a podium. PBGH represents fifty large, corporate purchasers of health care. have not yet met PBGH’s other executives, but ...