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NewslettersOur 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.< Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next >October 30, 2009
Breaking PromisesHow can President Obama possibly endorse the bill that Speaker Pelosi unveiled to such great fanfare on Thursday? The House bill breaks major promises he has made to the American people about his goals for health reform. To name just a few...Cost: The president has assured us that health reform would lower health costs. But the House bill would bend the federal cost curve UP, not down, according to the Congressional Budget Office's preliminary analysis.
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health reform
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Health Reform October 23, 2009
The Fix Is Not InCost matters: The cost of health care remains the central issue in the health reform debate, and that's why the news this week was so bad for leaders on both sides of Capitol Hill. First, the Senate. Wednesday's vote on the "Doc Fix" stunned everyone, even, apparently, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. His plan was to shove $247 billion under the carpet and pretend that a permanent increase in Medicare's payment rates to doctors shouldn't count as part of overall health reform. But he ran into a firestorm of opposition, with 12 Democrats plus Independent Joe Lieberman voting with all 40 Republicans to reject the ploy (final vote 47-53).
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doc fix, Dave Camp, Rick Foster, Medicare Advantage, Galen poll, Washington Examiner, National Review Online, Tom Miller, American Enterprise Institute, Jim Capretta, Ethics and Public Policy Center, private insurance, WHO, The Wall Street Journal, Carl Bialik, Scott Harrington, competition, McCarron-Ferguson, America's Health Insurance Plans, Senate Finance Committee, Alex Brill, medical device manufacturers, Medicaid
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Health Reform October 16, 2009
Humpty Dumpty Health Reform?Many of the deals that the White House has been cutting all year with health industry leaders are starting to show the cracks and strains of political pressures in Congress. While all the news this week focused on the Senate Finance Committee reporting out a ghost bill with one Republican vote, health reform is far from the finish line. Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) said it best: “We just finished the first quarter,” he told Politico. “There are three quarters to play. The bench is worn out. The quarterback keeps getting sacked. And the crowd has about had it, too.”
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health reform
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Health Reform October 8, 2009
Making Policy by HeadlinesSenate Finance Chairman Max Baucus got the headline he wanted out of The New York Times today: “Health care bill gets green light in cost analysis.” And the lead in the paper’s first editions was even better for him: “Democrats rejoiced over news that the Senate’s measure met White House expectations and would reduce the deficit.”
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Senate Finance Committee
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Health Reform October 2, 2009
Beltway HothouseLet's hope this is the darkness before the dawn because the feeling in Washington right now is gloomy among those who believe in freedom, markets, and individual control over health care decisions. Congress is plowing ahead to get health reform done this year, no matter what the American people may think about it. Both the Senate and House have cancelled a Columbus Day recess this month to keep members in the Beltway hothouse and give them less of a chance to go home and meet with their constituents.
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Senate Finance Committee, physicians, Denis Cortese Mayo Clinic, Delos Cosgrove, Cleveland Clinic, Kaiser, Independence Institute, Jon Caldara, Canada, Colorado, health co-ops, David Goldhill, Tom Miller, American Enterprise Institute, comparative effectiveness, Rand Corporation, Medicare Advantage, Fred Barnes, The Weekly Standard, Massachusetts
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Health Reform September 25, 2009
Pressing OnOnly one in five Americans say their health insurance coverage and the quality of the care they receive will improve if a bill passes Congress this year. But the Senate Finance Committee nonetheless presses on, slogging its way through more than 500 amendments to the chairman's 220-page "summary" of legislation -- ("Read the bill! What bill?") No number of amendments can turn this dinosaur into a race horse. They need to start over.
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Senate Finance Committee
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Health Reform September 18, 2009
It's Not Over YetSenate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus spent much of the summer dancing with the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to figure out how to squeeze his health reform bill into its scoring framework and get a positive outcome. Surprise, surprise, he succeeded! The CBO said on Wednesday that the Baucus bill will lead to a "net reduction in the federal budget deficit of $49 billion" over the next 10 years and that 94% of Americans will have health insurance.
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Senate Finance Committee, Senator Max Baucus, Congressional Budget Office, The New York Times, Nicholas Kristof, Galen highlights, Utah, Utah Health Insurance Exchange, Forbes, Kaiser Family Foundation, Health Research & Educational Trust, employer benefits, insurance premiums, Joseph Antos, American Enterprise Institute, public plan, hospitals, private health insurance, Health Affairs, Dobson DaVanzo and Associates LLC, Steve Chapman, Chicago Tribune, Massachusetts, The Boston Globe, Massachusetts Medical Society, physicians, Craig Richardson, individual mandate, employer mandate, Commonwealth Care, uninsured, Tom Miller, Joint Economic Committee, pharmaceuticals, David Griller, Daniel Denis, SECOR, Canada, malpractice, Philip Howard, The Atlantic, retail health clinics, The Washington Post
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Health Reform September 10, 2009
A Speech, Not a PlanPresident Obama's speech last night soared with oratory but fell flat in delivering on his promise to present details or any substantive new policy initiatives for his health reform plan. He may get a few days of lift from the passion and cheers in the House chambers, but the hard realities of policy will continue to chill prospects for getting sweeping reform legislation enacted.
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Energy and Commerce Committee, Medicaid, fraud, Michael Tanner, Cato Institute, Birthright Israel NEXT, uninsured, Census Bureau, illegal immigrants, American Maggie, National Review Online, The Hill, Martin Feldstein, The Wall Street Journal, Obamacare, Tom Miller, American Enterprise Institute, Health Affairs, health exchange, performance measurements, physicians, BBC, Sen. John Cornyn, Ben Sasse, town halls, health spending, Brookings Institution, America's Health Insurance Plans, Medicare Advantage, Medicare Fee-for-Service
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