John R. Graham
Commentary
Doctors and Consumer-Driven Health Care: The Glass Is Half Full
The American Journal of Managed Care just published an article asking family doctors whether they were ready to practice in a consumer-driven environment. Call me an optimist, but I think the results are quite promising. The article cites a January 2007 survey from the health plans’ major trade association, AHIP, ...
Commentary
School-Based Health Centers: One Stop Shopping For Government Dependency
California Governor Schwarzenegger recently signed a bill (SB 564) to fund school-based health centers that will provide primary and associated care to K-12 students. According to the trade association (!) that lobbied for the bill, California currently has 153 school-based health centers, which appear to be mostly funded by local ...
Health Care
Presidential Prescriptions: Diagnosing the Candidates’ Health Reforms
Senator McCain proposes positive change, Senator Obama prefers business as usual—only more of it The Pacific Research Institute (PRI) released a voters’ guide to the health policies proposed by presidential candidates Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama. Presidential Prescriptions: Diagnosing the Candidates’ Health Reforms concludes that Senator McCain’s promise ...
California
Federal Appeals Court OKs San Francisco’s Tax-Mad Healthy Access Plan
I have written a lot about San Francisco’s Healthy Access Plan. SF HAP taxes small businesses, which cannot afford to provide health benefits, to fund the city’s public health bureaucracy. It’s a job-killer, gives no evidence of improving access to health care, and shakes down hospitals, too. The Golden Gate ...
Commentary
Patients need control to fix state’s health care system
To help fix Rhode Island’s budget mess, Gov. Don Carcieri has proposed an overhaul of the state Medicaid program. Such a move is certainly welcome. But Carcieri’s Medicaid overhaul won’t be able to cut costs unless policymakers relax their regulatory stranglehold on private insurance and address the state’s miserable medical ...
California
California budget has not solved the Medi-Cal crisis
Gov. Schwarzenegger has signed a budget that holds spending down to $103 billion. Unfortunately, the governor and legislators missed the chance to wrangle Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program, under control. Medi-Cal is a big part of the state’s deficit problem. It’s the second largest chunk of the general fund, after ...
Commentary
Will Illinois’ Hospital Uninsured Discount Act Protect Patients?
By a unanimous vote, Illinois legislators have passed the Hospital Uninsured Discount Act, which requires that hospitals charge uninsured patients their lowest rates. The Illinois Hospital Association (which supported it) has a good summary of the bill. Specifically, for patients in urban areas with household incomes up to 600% of ...
Commentary
Enrollment in Consumer-Driven Plans Doubles in Two Years
The newly released annual Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research & Educational Trust (KFF/HRET) Employer Health Benefits Survey is out! I’m about to criticize KFF’s spin, so let me start by congratulating them on another outstanding achievement. The annual publication is an invaluable resource for those of us who want to understand ...
Commentary
A Healthcare Fix for the Green Mountain State
As Vermont grapples with a projected $32-million budget shortfall, Gov. James Douglas and state lawmakers have been forced to consider cuts in several government health programs. Such cuts are critical, given that Vermont spends more per capita on health care than almost any other state. But yet another round of ...
California
Despite Budget Resolution, Medi-Cal Crisis Endures
Three months late, governor Schwarzenegger has finally signed a budget. Unfortunately, the governor and legislators missed the chance to wrangle Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program, under control. The budget agreement held the line pretty well on this gargantuan program for the short term appropriating 14.5 billion for 2008-2009 versus $14.2 ...
Doctors and Consumer-Driven Health Care: The Glass Is Half Full
The American Journal of Managed Care just published an article asking family doctors whether they were ready to practice in a consumer-driven environment. Call me an optimist, but I think the results are quite promising. The article cites a January 2007 survey from the health plans’ major trade association, AHIP, ...
School-Based Health Centers: One Stop Shopping For Government Dependency
California Governor Schwarzenegger recently signed a bill (SB 564) to fund school-based health centers that will provide primary and associated care to K-12 students. According to the trade association (!) that lobbied for the bill, California currently has 153 school-based health centers, which appear to be mostly funded by local ...
Presidential Prescriptions: Diagnosing the Candidates’ Health Reforms
Senator McCain proposes positive change, Senator Obama prefers business as usual—only more of it The Pacific Research Institute (PRI) released a voters’ guide to the health policies proposed by presidential candidates Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama. Presidential Prescriptions: Diagnosing the Candidates’ Health Reforms concludes that Senator McCain’s promise ...
Federal Appeals Court OKs San Francisco’s Tax-Mad Healthy Access Plan
I have written a lot about San Francisco’s Healthy Access Plan. SF HAP taxes small businesses, which cannot afford to provide health benefits, to fund the city’s public health bureaucracy. It’s a job-killer, gives no evidence of improving access to health care, and shakes down hospitals, too. The Golden Gate ...
Patients need control to fix state’s health care system
To help fix Rhode Island’s budget mess, Gov. Don Carcieri has proposed an overhaul of the state Medicaid program. Such a move is certainly welcome. But Carcieri’s Medicaid overhaul won’t be able to cut costs unless policymakers relax their regulatory stranglehold on private insurance and address the state’s miserable medical ...
California budget has not solved the Medi-Cal crisis
Gov. Schwarzenegger has signed a budget that holds spending down to $103 billion. Unfortunately, the governor and legislators missed the chance to wrangle Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program, under control. Medi-Cal is a big part of the state’s deficit problem. It’s the second largest chunk of the general fund, after ...
Will Illinois’ Hospital Uninsured Discount Act Protect Patients?
By a unanimous vote, Illinois legislators have passed the Hospital Uninsured Discount Act, which requires that hospitals charge uninsured patients their lowest rates. The Illinois Hospital Association (which supported it) has a good summary of the bill. Specifically, for patients in urban areas with household incomes up to 600% of ...
Enrollment in Consumer-Driven Plans Doubles in Two Years
The newly released annual Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research & Educational Trust (KFF/HRET) Employer Health Benefits Survey is out! I’m about to criticize KFF’s spin, so let me start by congratulating them on another outstanding achievement. The annual publication is an invaluable resource for those of us who want to understand ...
A Healthcare Fix for the Green Mountain State
As Vermont grapples with a projected $32-million budget shortfall, Gov. James Douglas and state lawmakers have been forced to consider cuts in several government health programs. Such cuts are critical, given that Vermont spends more per capita on health care than almost any other state. But yet another round of ...
Despite Budget Resolution, Medi-Cal Crisis Endures
Three months late, governor Schwarzenegger has finally signed a budget. Unfortunately, the governor and legislators missed the chance to wrangle Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program, under control. The budget agreement held the line pretty well on this gargantuan program for the short term appropriating 14.5 billion for 2008-2009 versus $14.2 ...
