I’m sure you’ve all heard by this point that the Senate health care reform bill passed its first cloture vote, paving the way to pass the actual bill by Christmas Eve. I’ll put the health care reform links last in this round up, because you’re probably already reading about health care reform on the front [...]
Archive for the ‘Health Care Proposals’ Category
Round up: Climate change, a bit of African news, and more health care reform
Posted in Health Care Proposals, Lynn Gazis-Sax, World on December 21, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Half a Loaf for Christmas
Posted in Health Care Proposals, Lynn Gazis-Sax on December 19, 2009 | 8 Comments »
We now have a new manager’s amendment to the Senate health care reform bill, and Senator Ben Nelson says he’s satisfied with the new language on abortion, giving health care reform its 60th vote, if Lieberman can make it back to Washington and not change his mind. Snowe is still only willing maybe to vote [...]
Negotiating Medical Fees
Posted in Commerce, Community, Health Care, Health Care Proposals, Nation, Public, Steve S., tagged Markets and medicine, pricing on December 19, 2009 | 2 Comments »
One of the favored plans by many for reducing costs in health care is the catastrophic insurance plan with everything else paid for out of pocket. The idea behind this proposal is that the consumer will be able to negotiate lower prices. This is based upon a long history of marketing. [...]
The Men of a Certain Age pilot, health care reform, and miscellaneous other links
Posted in Commerce, Health Care Proposals, Lynn Gazis-Sax, Technology, War, World on December 14, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
To my relief, TNT and Hulu did, before a week was up, both have links to the pilot of Men of a Certain Age, so it looks as if I (lacking cable) will be able to watch this on the web after all. Here are a couple more reviews.
Medicare Buy In
Posted in Commerce, Community, Health Care Proposals, Nation, Politics, Public, Steve S., tagged medicare, risk adjustments on December 10, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The latest twist in health care reform is the Medicare buy-in. If you are unfamiliar with it, the concept is that people in the 55-64 age group would be able to buy a Medicare policy at the current value of a Medicare policy. Since Medicare currently spends about $7,000 per [...]
excellent articles, from the New England Journal of Medicine
Posted in Health Care Proposals, Janice on December 9, 2009 | 3 Comments »
There is a beautiful digestion of the debate on the health care bill in the senate available to even you non-doctors:
http://healthcarereform.nejm.org/?p=2538&query=TOC
Another article, sadly by PhDs rather than MDs, states eloquently that the American health care system is “larded with inefficiencies”. Yes. And discusses some options for reducing costs. It does speak of the option of [...]
Reforming Health Care Through Localism
Posted in Community, Health Care, Health Care Proposals, Nation, Politics, Public, Steve S., tagged cutting costs, localism applied to health care on December 8, 2009 | 13 Comments »
Co-blogger DSL forwarded to me the most recent piece by Dr. Atul Gawande. Gawande’s McAllen piece was an immediate must read for health care reform wonks. This is a more subtle piece, more philosophical, but it appeals to me. Even if I did not know who wrote it, I would think it [...]
That mourns in lonely exile here
Posted in Gods, Health Care Proposals, Lynn Gazis-Sax, World on December 5, 2009 | 3 Comments »
The Christmas season is jolly and round and full of bustle. It smells of candy and eggnog and sounds like cash registers.
Advent is hope tinged with reminders of exile and oppression and sin. It smells of candles and is colored purple for penitence.
Cost Savings in the Health Care Bill
Posted in Health Care, Health Care Proposals, Nation, Politics, Public, Steve S., tagged Cutting Medicare costs, primary care on December 5, 2009 | 6 Comments »
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has written a very lengthy analysis on the cost savings in the Senate and House health care bills. This is very long and comprehensive, so if you are not that interested in details, be warned. It lists many direct, immediate savings. The Center [...]
Strange Drops Keep Falling Off My Bread, or, Smörgåswhord
Posted in Arts, Health Care Proposals, Humor, Lifestyle, Man, Scott Lahti, Sex, Woman, tagged Buck Henry, buffets, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, food, Plato's Retreat, swing clubs on December 2, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Much like the laughing Butch Cassidy reminded Sundance that the latter’s absent prowess in swimming was as nothing compared to the force of their imminent vertiginous plunge into the river, Jacob Sullum reminds us, in “Orgies for the Masses” in reason, that since it’s not the sex that’ll kill you, it’s [...]
Medical Insurance: Shop For, Not Shop-Floor
Posted in Health Care, Health Care Proposals, Scott Lahti, tagged health insurance on December 2, 2009 | 4 Comments »
tip: The American Conservative – “Neither side in the current healthcare debate is tackling the inefficiency of employer-based insurance coverage. Jacob Sullum argues that replacing benefits with cash pay would be a major cost-saving incentive.”
The Consumer Is Not the Customer
Both parties promise to preserve one of the central problems of the health care system
Jacob Sullum [...]
Health Care System: Integrity, Discipline and Pride
Posted in Ethics, Franklin Evans, Health Care, Health Care Proposals, tagged analogies, health care overhaul, profiting on illness on December 2, 2009 | 16 Comments »
I keep coming back to using the military as an analogy. Usually, when I try to express it that way, people react (rather than reply) “Good gosh, man! [or a less polite equivalent] You want health care in the US to be just like being in the Army!”
No, I don’t. Just that. If there is [...]
The Mandated Health Insurance Outrage
Posted in Ethics, Health Care, Health Care Proposals, Nation, Politics, Scott Lahti, War, tagged health insurance, mandatory health insurance, Sheldon Richman on November 20, 2009 | 2 Comments »
The Goal Is Freedom: The Mandated Health Insurance Outrage
How can they make us buy coverage?
By Sheldon Richman • Posted November 20, 2009 [tip: The American Conservative]
With the introduction of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s 2,074-page health insurance nationalization bill, we can be thankful for one thing at least. It will most likely be the [...]
A Health-Insurance Criminal Pleads His Case
Posted in Ethics, Health Care, Health Care Proposals, Law, Nation, Politics, Scott Lahti, War, tagged civil disobedience, health insurance, James L. Payne, mandatory health insurance on November 20, 2009 | 3 Comments »
A Health-Insurance Criminal Pleads His Case
Why I Will Ignore the Mandate
By James L. Payne • Posted November 16, 2009
If mandatory health insurance goes through, it will turn me into a criminal. I don’t have health insurance. I don’t want it. And I will refuse to buy it even though I can afford it.* Before [...]
The Boob Exception
Posted in Community, Culture, Ethics, Health Care Proposals, Law, Media, Nation, Nature, Politics, Science, Sport, Steve S. on November 19, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The proposed Senate Health Reform bill will place a tax upon cosmetic surgery. If I am an accurate judge of the character of our Congress critters, I fully expect a boob job exception to be added before the final bill is passed.
Solving the Elderly Problem in Health Care
Posted in Community, Ethics, Health Care Proposals, Nation, Politics, Public, Steve S., tagged single health system, Universal care on November 18, 2009 | 3 Comments »
Any discussion of cutting costs in health care must address Medicare. Any attempts to discuss Medicare provokes the demagogues on both sides to incite the elderly against whatever plan is being proposed. It is 100% predictable. It has also been 100% effective. The elderly vote. Because of this they have political [...]
November 17: Athens Polytechnic Institute uprising anniversary, and other news
Posted in Health Care Proposals, Lynn Gazis-Sax, World on November 17, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Today is November 17th. This means that, in addition to being my friend Ruth’s birthday (Happy Birthday, Ruth!), it’s the anniversary of major student demonstrations against the Greek junta, back in 1973 (the junta fell some months after that, in 1974). As is customary, there are large demonstrations in major Greek cities like [...]
“Would It Kill You to Be Nice to Me?” and Other Links, Mostly on Health Care Reform
Posted in Arts, Health Care Proposals, Lynn Gazis-Sax, Nature, Woman on November 13, 2009 | 1 Comment »
A song about a mad scientist “in love”:
I’ve been trying to get a little more information about what’s going on with the Stupak Amendment. Amid wildly varying accounts of what the amendment would do, Brian Beutler at Talking Points Memo tackles the question of Who Would Be Most Impacted By [...]
How Sausage Is Made
Posted in Health Care Proposals, Lynn Gazis-Sax on November 12, 2009 | 3 Comments »
I am very much not the wonkiest person out there, when it comes to knowing either the hairy details of legislative procedure, or exactly what’s behind all the controversies, within Congress, these past few months, about health care reform. There are people you’d be much better off reading than me, and some of you [...]
Blogwatch, with particular, but not exclusive, emphasis on Quaker links
Posted in Gods, Health Care, Health Care Proposals, Lynn Gazis-Sax, Technology on November 9, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Via one of my Quaker Facebook friends, a Dorothy Day documentary: Don’t Call Me a Saint.
Robin M. on Essentials of Quaker Practice?
Obedient to the Light on “Quakers live their principles.” (Friends as a Corrective for Culture, Part 2).
The Friends Committee on National Legislation analyzes the health care reform act that the House just passed. (I [...]
thinking more unthinkable thoughts
Posted in Health Care, Health Care Proposals, Janice on November 3, 2009 | 3 Comments »
Of course it’s true that preventing disease is less painful and less costly than treating disease. Or is it?
Take the recent New York Times article (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/21/health/21cancer.html) addressing mammogram and prostate cancer screening. Apparently over the last 20+ years of screening with mammograms, we have been able to discover many more breast cancers that are small, [...]
Link Farm, Mostly Related to Bipolar Disorder
Posted in Health Care, Health Care Proposals, Lynn Gazis-Sax, tagged bipolar disorder on November 3, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
X-Ray Tech Schools has an article about 10 common myths about bipolar disorder. These include ones that are more likely to be held by the general public (e.g. mania is always happy) and ones that are more likely to be held by people with the illness (it’s OK to stop taking my meds if [...]
Public Option with Opt Outs
Posted in Commerce, Health Care, Health Care Proposals, Nation, Politics, Steve S., tagged Opt outs on October 28, 2009 | 2 Comments »
My priorities for health care reform were costs, portability, opt out options for individual states and universal coverage, in that order. I knew it was unlikely that any of those other than broadened coverage was very likely. There is a big group of people who think that we should insure everyone [...]
Health Care Co-ops Work…
Posted in E. L. Beck, Health Care, Health Care Proposals, Nation, Politics, tagged healthcare co-ops, healthcare reform on October 15, 2009 | 3 Comments »
…or so states Steven Hill in a recent Salon Op-ed piece. In it, Hill claims,
The good news for both liberals and conservatives is that nonprofit healthcare cooperatives could substantially impact market dynamics, without increasing the size of government.
Of course, Hill adds an important measure to ensure the success of the co-ops:
But while having more nonprofit [...]
Health reform bill passes senate finance committee
Posted in Health Care, Health Care Proposals, Janice on October 13, 2009 | 4 Comments »
A bill has passed the senate finance committee, with “bipartisan support”, which means one Republican voted for it. The bill is only a tiny part of a health care reform package that will eventually by voted on in the house and the senate.
This tiny piece provides for more affordable universal health insurance, which is [...]
