Thursday, November 29, 2007

If Grady Fails--The Crisis At Atlanta's Grady Health System Is A Symptom Of Bigger Problems In The U.S. Health Care System

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Brian Klepper j oins us again today this time with a post on Atlanta's Grady Health System . Grady is an inner city safety-net hospital...
Wednesday, November 28, 2007

"Health Wonk Review" Is Up

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The latest edition of " Health Wonk Review " is up over at " Health Care Renewal ." I must say it is a very well done an...

The Last One is Gone--CIGNA Buys Great West Life Health Insurance Business

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The recent announcement that CIGNA has purchased the U.S. health insurance business of Great West Life for $1.5 billion in cash struck me a...

One Heck Of A Budget Mess and Lots of Ugly Consequences--But Watch The Pork

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With the Congress set to come back to attempt to break the budget impasse in the few weeks before the holidays, many in this town are rea...
Wednesday, November 21, 2007

"Cavalcade of Risk" Is Up

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The latest edition of the " Cavalcade of Risk " is up over at " Colorado Health Insurance Insider ." This edition includ...
Monday, November 19, 2007

California Policy Cancellation Scandal Heats Up As Republican Candidates Propose Health Reform Based On An Individual Health Insurance System

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All of the leading Republican candidates for president favor health reform based on the individual health insurance model instead of the m...
Friday, November 16, 2007

SCHIP, Medicare Physician Fee Cuts, and Medicare Advantage--We're Getting Down to Crunch Time

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Since September of 2006, I have been pointing to this year-end as the time that would require some big budget decisions impacting SCHIP , t...
Thursday, November 15, 2007

VEBA's--The New Growth Opportunity

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With word that Ford workers have followed those at GM and Chrysler in ratifying their new labor contracts we may be at the cusp of the n...

Health Wonk Review Is Up

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Maggie Mahar does a particularly good job this time of accumulating some very good posts from the best of the health care blog world . This...
Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Part D Medicare Drug Plans See Major Price Increases--Why?

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The Part D Medicare drug program 's weighted average monthly premiums will increase 17% in 2008 and 23% since the program's January...
Monday, November 12, 2007

Giuliani Puts His Foot In It With the Claim He Would Have Only Gotten Quality Treatment For His Cancer in the U.S.

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There is this myth that all of the extra money we spend on health care at least gets us the best care in the world . Study after study deb...

Report: "Health Insurer Tied Bonuses to Dropping Sick Policyholders"

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It's hard to imagine a worse headline for the health insurance industry just as we are heading into what will be a fundamental debate o...
Thursday, November 8, 2007

Sometimes It's the Little Things--The NCQA Announces an Agreement Between Providers and Payers to Better Pay for the Quality of Care

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Particularly in this election season we tend to focus on the big health care reform plans . It is natural to want to see a big fix to a big ...
Wednesday, November 7, 2007

What Will It Take to Get a SCHIP Bill This Year? The Budget Outlook Deteriorates Even More

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Democratic and Republican negotiators are hard at work to get an agreement on the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) e...

The Best Places To Get the Inside On the Workers' Compensation Market

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Workers' Comp has always been a unique niche in the health care business . If WC is on your mind, I was reminded again today how import...
Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Romney Says There Are Already "Pots of Money" in the States to Pay For Health Care Reform---Where?

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Mitt Romney says states could implement comprehensive health care reform without having to raise taxes . However, states trying to replicat...
Monday, November 5, 2007

Medicare Buy-In For Retirees--Private Options Make It an Even Better Idea

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"We should act now to let companies and unions buy their early retirees into Medicare ." That's the point of a Washington P...
Thursday, November 1, 2007

"Medicare Advantage: Wrong Way to Spend $54 Billion"--The AMA Goes After the Medicare HMO's Money

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The American Medical Association (AMA) in an editorial in its journal, American Medical News , has pulled no punches in its argument that M...

Why Consumers’ Checkbook v CMS is a Sideshow--Bush Administration Refuses to Release Provider Data

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Brian Klepper joins us again today with another one of his welcome posts. This time he points out the hypocrisy in CMS, which has been calli...
Tuesday, October 30, 2007

A Good Idea and Bad Leadership--A Way Out of the Entitlement Crisis Meets Partisan Politics

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I call your attention to a column this morning by the Washington Post 's David Broder . He tells us that there will be an important Se...