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Category: 2008 Election

Newsletters

Our newsletter features a commentary by Grace-Marie Turner on the major developments and issues of the week as well as summaries of writings by participants in the Health Policy Consensus Group and other articles of interest from the health policy world, plus announcements of coming events. It is emailed in an HTML format from the galen@galen.org email address, via Constant Contact, and you may have to adjust your email settings and junk mailbox to ensure that you don’t miss an issue.
November 6, 2008
When Pennsylvania and later Iowa -- two key battleground states -- turned blue on the maps on election night, the race was over. While other Western swing states eventually turned blue as well, it was clear the presidential election had been decided in the Rust Belt. Too many people in these Midwestern states are being left behind in the competitive global economy. They have solid work ethics, and many once held high-paying jobs in factories that have since closed. The hope of the last quarter century that their jobs would return has become resignation for many. They feel left behind in the transition to an Information-Age, globally competitive economy.



October 17, 2008
Politics and complex policy are a dangerous mix, as we see in the presidential election campaign debate over health care. "Sen. McCain, for the first time, is going to be taxing the health care benefits that you have from your employer," Sen. Obama said during Wednesday's debate. "For the first time in history, you will be taxing people's health care benefits."



October 9, 2008
Health care hit the first tier in the presidential election campaigns this week, with charges and counter-charges flying on the campaign trail and in the media. The stack of new papers and articles on my desk out just this week on the health reform debate is an inch thick. Here are some highlights of reports that offer actual facts and new insights.



September 26, 2008
While the financial markets roil, the health reform debate is boiling up on the campaign trail where the reality of the policies that are being offered is out of sync with the rhetoric of the promises. While Sen. John McCain's health reform plan is being labeled as "radical" by many critics, in fact the changes that he is proposing are designed to save the private health sector and bring 21st century information and efficiencies to health insurance and health care.



September 19, 2008
Health Affairs this week focused on the health plans of the leading presidential candidates, but misunderstanding and even misrepresentation of Sen. John McCain's health policy proposal continues to confuse the debate. Tom Buchmueller, Sherry Glied, Anne Royalty, and Katherine Swartz wrote a critique of selected aspects of the McCain plan but ignored key aspects of it which I believe would mitigate many of their criticisms.