Health Care
Business & Economics
The Canadianization of America
Here comes ‘no-vote’ unionism In Canada, worrying about being Americanized is a national pastime, particularly in political and media circles. It seldom occurred to me the United States could become Canadianized until I moved here, in an election year, no less, and found Americans obsessed with many Canadian ideas at ...
Commentary
Rhode Island’s Medicaid Waiver Promises Positive Reform
Last month, I made encouraging remarks to the Heartland Institute’s outstanding monthly Health Care News about Rhode Island governor Carcieri’s evolving proposal to reform Medicaid. Well, the proposal is fully formed, and the state has just submitted its application for a waiver to the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ...
Business & Economics
California Health Insurance Rescissions: Trial Lawyers Lose Out?
I’ve written a lot about the political gyrations around California health plans “rescinding” policies of individual policyholders. (Most recent post in the thread here.) A refresher: regulators, legislators, and the media piled onto the plans for “post-claims underwriting”. That is, plans asked overly complicated questions on the applications, wrote the ...
Commentary
Why No SCHIP Vote This Fall? Because It’s Expanding Without It
Between last September and December, State Policy Network bloggers invested a lot fighting Congress’ irresponsible effort to drive more kids out of health plans that their parents (or at least their parent’s employers) choose, and into government-controlled programs (SCHIP), by increasing the Federal Poverty Line cut-off under which kids qualify ...
Health Care
Bush Administration Threatens to Cut Low-income Parents from SCHIP in Minnesota
More news on the Bush administration’s efforts to crack down on SCHIP is coming out of Minnesota. John Graham of the Pacific Research Institute just explained how the administration appears to have backed down on enforcing its rule restricting SCHIP expansion in states that do not demonstrate that they’ve enrolled ...
Commentary
Understanding the Tax Implications of Single-Payer Health Care
Many studies have examined the costs and benefits of replacing the current health care financing model with a single-payer system fully funded by taxpayers. Most of these studies, including the most prominent, ignore a key component: the significant economic costs of taxes, which would be necessary to pay for government- ...
Commentary
Will law impress fast-food junkies? Fat chance.
The latest deployment in the war on obesity is upon us. SB 1420, sponsored by state Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Los Angeles, will require California fast-food restaurants to post the amount of calories in every item on their menu boards. SB 1420’s backers believe that when we’re forced to see the ...
Commentary
Unnecessary scrutiny of doctors hurts valuable research
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA — John Roberts’ assertion that nurse practitioners play a “key role … throughout the health care system” is spot-on (“Physicians not the only avenue for primary care,” Aug. 26). Unfortunately, the bill he lauds – the Act to Promote Cost Containment, Transparency and Efficiency in the Delivery ...
Commentary
Medi-Cal’s Fee Cutbacks are the Symptom; Medi-Cal is the Disease
Last week, I wrote about the malformation of health care financing that allows a federal judge to roll back Medi-Cal (Medicaid) fee reductions, which the governor and legislature had agreed to in order to buy some breathing room while they negotiate a budget to cover California’s out-of-control deficit. I don’t ...
Commentary
It’s a “Wrap”: Brokers Harm Consumer-Driven Health Care
For months now, I’ve heard stories about a technique that insurance brokers use to sell health insurance to small businesses, which want the lower premiums that come with a consumer-directed health plan, but are nervous about convincing their employees to face a deductible of at least $2,200 for a family ...
The Canadianization of America
Here comes ‘no-vote’ unionism In Canada, worrying about being Americanized is a national pastime, particularly in political and media circles. It seldom occurred to me the United States could become Canadianized until I moved here, in an election year, no less, and found Americans obsessed with many Canadian ideas at ...
Rhode Island’s Medicaid Waiver Promises Positive Reform
Last month, I made encouraging remarks to the Heartland Institute’s outstanding monthly Health Care News about Rhode Island governor Carcieri’s evolving proposal to reform Medicaid. Well, the proposal is fully formed, and the state has just submitted its application for a waiver to the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ...
California Health Insurance Rescissions: Trial Lawyers Lose Out?
I’ve written a lot about the political gyrations around California health plans “rescinding” policies of individual policyholders. (Most recent post in the thread here.) A refresher: regulators, legislators, and the media piled onto the plans for “post-claims underwriting”. That is, plans asked overly complicated questions on the applications, wrote the ...
Why No SCHIP Vote This Fall? Because It’s Expanding Without It
Between last September and December, State Policy Network bloggers invested a lot fighting Congress’ irresponsible effort to drive more kids out of health plans that their parents (or at least their parent’s employers) choose, and into government-controlled programs (SCHIP), by increasing the Federal Poverty Line cut-off under which kids qualify ...
Bush Administration Threatens to Cut Low-income Parents from SCHIP in Minnesota
More news on the Bush administration’s efforts to crack down on SCHIP is coming out of Minnesota. John Graham of the Pacific Research Institute just explained how the administration appears to have backed down on enforcing its rule restricting SCHIP expansion in states that do not demonstrate that they’ve enrolled ...
Understanding the Tax Implications of Single-Payer Health Care
Many studies have examined the costs and benefits of replacing the current health care financing model with a single-payer system fully funded by taxpayers. Most of these studies, including the most prominent, ignore a key component: the significant economic costs of taxes, which would be necessary to pay for government- ...
Will law impress fast-food junkies? Fat chance.
The latest deployment in the war on obesity is upon us. SB 1420, sponsored by state Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Los Angeles, will require California fast-food restaurants to post the amount of calories in every item on their menu boards. SB 1420’s backers believe that when we’re forced to see the ...
Unnecessary scrutiny of doctors hurts valuable research
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA — John Roberts’ assertion that nurse practitioners play a “key role … throughout the health care system” is spot-on (“Physicians not the only avenue for primary care,” Aug. 26). Unfortunately, the bill he lauds – the Act to Promote Cost Containment, Transparency and Efficiency in the Delivery ...
Medi-Cal’s Fee Cutbacks are the Symptom; Medi-Cal is the Disease
Last week, I wrote about the malformation of health care financing that allows a federal judge to roll back Medi-Cal (Medicaid) fee reductions, which the governor and legislature had agreed to in order to buy some breathing room while they negotiate a budget to cover California’s out-of-control deficit. I don’t ...
It’s a “Wrap”: Brokers Harm Consumer-Driven Health Care
For months now, I’ve heard stories about a technique that insurance brokers use to sell health insurance to small businesses, which want the lower premiums that come with a consumer-directed health plan, but are nervous about convincing their employees to face a deductible of at least $2,200 for a family ...
