John R. Graham

Commentary

80% of Employers Concerned About Health Reform’s Administrative Obligations; 30% Think Exchanges Will Offer Worse Coverage

A new survey by Lockton, Inc.’s Health Reform Advisory Practice reports that 80 percent of respondents are concerned about federal health reform’s additional administrative obligations (figure 2). The respondents cover a wide portfolio of industries. On the surface, it looks like fewer employers than anticipated by previous surveys (especially McKinsey ...
Health Care

Health Insurance Exchanges: What If They Issued 347 Pages of Regulations and Nobody Cared?

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has issued regulations governing Health Benefits Exchanges and Small-Business Health Options Exchanges under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). • These regulations are poorly defined, confirming that the exchanges will empower state functionaries to reduce choice and competition in health ...
Business & Economics

Big Government and Health-Care Stocks: A Happy Marriage?

Please read the entire column at Forbes.com: The Apothecary.
Health Care

Bust or Bailout? The Future of Private Health Plans Under ObamaCare

A new research study released by the Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a California-based free-market think tank, shows how ObamaCare threatens the solvency of private health plans, which will significantly reduce consumer choice and increase costs. The ultimate result will likely be either a massive taxpayer bailout of private health plans ...
Commentary

Washington’s Medicaid Reform Could Benefit Every State in the US

It’s a short law with big potential: SB 5596, signed by Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire at the end of May, is only three pages long. Nevertheless, it puts Washington state on a path to Medicaid solvency and sets an example for California and the nation. Remarkably, the law, sponsored by ...
Commentary

Leavitt: Most States Won’t Have Exchanges By Deadline

My readers have known this since April 8. Read more here.
California

Lesson for California: Washington State’s Bipartisan Medicaid Reform Will Benefit Taxpayers and Patients

It’s a short law with big potential: SB 5596, signed by governor Christine Gregoire at the end of May, is only three pages long. Nevertheless it puts Washington State on a path to Medicaid solvency and sets an example for California and the nation. Remarkably, the law, sponsored by conservative ...
Commentary

Congress Should Apply Clinton-era Reform to Medicare

A successful welfare reform from the 1990s offers a model to reform a currently out-of-control program many Americans assume to be an entitlement, but which is actually welfare. The program is Medicaid, which should be easier to fix, politically, than the so-called entitlements of Social Security and Medicare. The politicians ...
Commentary

Path Dependency in Medicare Reform

Arguments will not change this fact: People change when the pain of not changing becomes greater than the pain of changing, but not before. This can be the only explanation for the majority of respondents to polls (described here) which ask the foolish question whether “Medicare should remain as it ...
Business & Economics

Federal Health Reform and Stock Market Returns of Health Insurers

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) would not have passed without the support of business interests in the health sector. • Stock prices of for-profit health plans have significantly outperformed the broader stock market since President Obama’s election in 2008, but also since the Republican “wave” of 2010. ...
Commentary

80% of Employers Concerned About Health Reform’s Administrative Obligations; 30% Think Exchanges Will Offer Worse Coverage

A new survey by Lockton, Inc.’s Health Reform Advisory Practice reports that 80 percent of respondents are concerned about federal health reform’s additional administrative obligations (figure 2). The respondents cover a wide portfolio of industries. On the surface, it looks like fewer employers than anticipated by previous surveys (especially McKinsey ...
Health Care

Health Insurance Exchanges: What If They Issued 347 Pages of Regulations and Nobody Cared?

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has issued regulations governing Health Benefits Exchanges and Small-Business Health Options Exchanges under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). • These regulations are poorly defined, confirming that the exchanges will empower state functionaries to reduce choice and competition in health ...
Business & Economics

Big Government and Health-Care Stocks: A Happy Marriage?

Please read the entire column at Forbes.com: The Apothecary.
Health Care

Bust or Bailout? The Future of Private Health Plans Under ObamaCare

A new research study released by the Pacific Research Institute (PRI), a California-based free-market think tank, shows how ObamaCare threatens the solvency of private health plans, which will significantly reduce consumer choice and increase costs. The ultimate result will likely be either a massive taxpayer bailout of private health plans ...
Commentary

Washington’s Medicaid Reform Could Benefit Every State in the US

It’s a short law with big potential: SB 5596, signed by Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire at the end of May, is only three pages long. Nevertheless, it puts Washington state on a path to Medicaid solvency and sets an example for California and the nation. Remarkably, the law, sponsored by ...
Commentary

Leavitt: Most States Won’t Have Exchanges By Deadline

My readers have known this since April 8. Read more here.
California

Lesson for California: Washington State’s Bipartisan Medicaid Reform Will Benefit Taxpayers and Patients

It’s a short law with big potential: SB 5596, signed by governor Christine Gregoire at the end of May, is only three pages long. Nevertheless it puts Washington State on a path to Medicaid solvency and sets an example for California and the nation. Remarkably, the law, sponsored by conservative ...
Commentary

Congress Should Apply Clinton-era Reform to Medicare

A successful welfare reform from the 1990s offers a model to reform a currently out-of-control program many Americans assume to be an entitlement, but which is actually welfare. The program is Medicaid, which should be easier to fix, politically, than the so-called entitlements of Social Security and Medicare. The politicians ...
Commentary

Path Dependency in Medicare Reform

Arguments will not change this fact: People change when the pain of not changing becomes greater than the pain of changing, but not before. This can be the only explanation for the majority of respondents to polls (described here) which ask the foolish question whether “Medicare should remain as it ...
Business & Economics

Federal Health Reform and Stock Market Returns of Health Insurers

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) would not have passed without the support of business interests in the health sector. • Stock prices of for-profit health plans have significantly outperformed the broader stock market since President Obama’s election in 2008, but also since the Republican “wave” of 2010. ...
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