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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 8 Next >August 28, 2009
An Era EndsSen. Kennedy was both respected and liked by colleagues on both sides of the aisle during his remarkable 47 years in the Senate. While he always was firm in his liberal views and we seldom agreed with him, Sen. Kennedy did listen to his Republican colleagues and worked to forge compromises. That bipartisan spirit has been markedly missing during his absence from the Senate this year. The health reform legislation making its way through Congress is rigid and aggressively liberal, without any evidence of bipartisanship, and it is rightly facing a firestorm of opposition.
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Commonwealth Fund, premiums, Massachusetts, The Boston Globe, Kay Lazar, health sharing ministries, CURE, Star Parker, health co-ops, Steven Mufson, polls, Forbes.com, Karlyn Bowman, tax treatment of health insurance, mandates, RealClearMarkets, Manhattan Institute, Steven Malanga, New York Post, Pacific Research Institute, Sally Pipes, CNNMoney, Shawn Tully, Baylor University, Earl Grinols, individual mandate, The Washington Post, Lee Casey, David Rivkin, health insurance, American Enterprise Institute, Jeet Guram, Joe Antos, Green Bay Press-Gazette, National Review Online, The Heritage Foundation, public option, John Hoff, Steamboat Institute, health insurance exchange, Utah, town hall meetings, Rep. Jim Moran, Democratic National Committee, Sen. John McCain, Sen. Russ Feingold, Sen. Edward Kennedy
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Health Reform August 21, 2009
The Heat Is OnThe tide has clearly shifted. I am back from nine days on the road, and in forum after forum, from Virginia to Illinois, to New Mexico, Louisiana, and Ohio, citizens are anxious about health reform and about the Obama administration's aggressive expansion of government spending. While Democratic leaders in Congress and the "Gang of Six" senators pledge to press on with reform, it is hard for me to see how members, especially Democrats in marginal districts, will be able to vote for any version of the bills making their way through Congress.
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prescription drugs, Canada, Mark Rovere, Brett Skinner, Fraser Institute, United Benefit Advisors, HMO, HRA, CDHP, The American, obesity, Tom Miller, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Douglas Sherlock, administrative expenses, Health Affairs, David Brady, Daniel Kessler, American Enterprise Institute, Scott Harrington, health co-cops, National Review Online, Hudson Institute, Diana Furchtgott-Roth, Martin Feldstein, John Mackey, Whole Foods, American Civil Rights Union, Institute for Policy Innovation, Heartland Institute, Peter Ferrara, Chicago Tribune, Max Baucus, The Wall Street Journal, Peggy Noonan, David Axelrod, Politico, Louisiana, town hall meetings
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Health Reform August 18, 2009
Report from LouisianaLafayette, LA – A driving rainstorm did not dampen the spirits of 600 people who came to the Lafayette Public Library to tell Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) about their serious concerns over the threats that they believe “ObamaCare” presents to their health care. Sen. Vitter himself was late because of the huge traffic jam around the library. Citizens, some soaking wet, poured into the library, determined that their voices be heard. The parking lot was jammed, and the main auditorium filled quickly, with some people arriving at 1 p.m. for the 4:30 town hall meeting. Even with two overflow rooms set up, a couple hundred people could not get in.
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Health Reform August 11, 2009
Galen in the NewsAugust is a hot month in the health reform debate, and the news can't wait until next week's Health Policy Matters. I have had several op-eds published over the last few days. In today's USA Today, I was asked to take an "opposing view" to the paper's editorial about healthy eating. Congress already has passed regressive taxes on tobacco and is considering taxes on soft drinks and snack foods. Now the federal government wants to police restaurant menus to make sure they include calorie counts. This will increase the cost of restaurant meals, deter creativity and innovation, and inject government further into our lives.
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USA Today, New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, National Review Online, public plan, restaurants, calorie count
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Health Reform August 7, 2009
Fear FactorI've never seen anything like the anxiety about health reform that is erupting in town hall meetings around the country. To say this is manufactured or organized by anybody totally misses the point of the genuine fear that people are trying to get across to their legislative representatives. On this point alone, I agree with New York Times columnist Paul Krugman who writes today that he "can't find any [previous] examples of congressmen shouted down, congressmen hanged in effigy, congressmen surrounded and followed by taunting crowds."
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The Times, hospitals, NHS, Jessica Ho, Samuel Preston, survival rates, cancer rates, Hudson Institute, Diana Furchtgott-Roth, medical malpractice, William Schiffbauer, mandate, medical costs, PricewaterhouseCoopers, health insurance, Len Burman, Art Laffer, Medical Travel Today, Radio America, Twitter, AARP, tort reform, Charles Krauthammer, The Wall Street Journal, Kim Strassel, The Washington Post, Steve Pearlstein, Paul Krugman, New York Times, town hall meetings
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Health Reform July 30, 2009
Who's Scaring Whom?A plethora of polls hit the news this morning, showing that the American people are increasingly worried about President Obama's health reform plan, fearing that their health costs will rise and the quality of their care will get worse if the plan goes into effect. The president spent much of his time during his speeches yesterday answering what he described as cynical scare tactics by critics.
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Juliette Cubanski, Lisa Potetz, Kaiser Family Foundation, medicare financing, Manhattan Institute, Diana Furchtgott-Roth, Aparna Mathur, medical debt, Cato Institute, Michael Cannon, public option, Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Rep. John Boehner, states, AMA, William Plested, Donald Palmisano, Daniel Johnson, James R. Frogue, Newt Gingrich, Center for Health Transformation, abuse, fraud, American Enterprise Institute, Maine, American Affordable Health Choices Act, Institut economique Molinari, Atlantic Institute for Market Studies, Valentin Petkantchin, Brian Lee Crowley, Lewin Group, Blue Dog Democrats, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, biologics, Massachusetts, Rep. Tom Price, Empowering Patients First Act, health reform, Obama
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Health Reform July 24, 2009
Stalling OutHouse leaders and the White House are working furiously to try to get a floor vote on health reform legislation before the August recess, but a rebellion inside the Democratic party and alarm bells from constituents are virtually certain to delay action until the fall. The American people are increasingly focused on the details of the reform plans making their way through Congress, and they don't like what they see.
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President Obama, news conference, The New York Times, Rep. Paul Ryan, Ceci Connolly, The Washington Post, individual mandate, John Fund, The Wall Street Journal, tax credits, uninsured, public plan, Senate Commerce Committee, National Review Online, New York Post, American Affordable Health Choices Act, Lewin Group, John Sheils, Randy Haught, The Heritage Foundation, The American Spectator, nonprofit hospitals, Bradford Gray, Urban Institute, Mark Schlesinger, Yale University, Health Affairs, consumer-driven health, Merrill Matthews, Institute for Policy Innovation, health ownership, John R. Graham, Pacific Research Institute, Medicare fee-for-service, California, America's Health Insurance Plans, Robert Coulam, Simmons College, Roger Feldman, University of Minnesota, Bryan Dowd, Medicare, Medicare Advantage
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Health Reform July 21, 2009
Rapid FireThe biggest news is the letter sent to Congress by 13 of the nation's leading health care delivery systems, including the Mayo Clinic. President Obama has traveled throughout the country extolling the virtues of these integrated care delivery systems, saying that they deliver better value at lower costs and should be a model for the rest of the nation. The problem is, the legislation that already has passed two committees in the House could put them out of business. < Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Next > |
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