Health Law Faces Threat of Undercut From Courts
By KEVIN SACK and ROBERT PEAR
WASHINGTON — As the Obama administration presses ahead with the health care law, officials are bracing for the possibility that a federal judge in Virginia will soon reject its central provision as unconstitutional and, in the worst case for the White House, halt its enforcement until higher courts can rule.
Think Twice Before Signing Up for That Medical Credit Card
By WALECIA KONRAD
IF you are like most people, you have probably used a credit card to pay some of your medical bills. With rising health costs and gaps in insurance coverage, it’s almost unavoidable.
Patients pay about $45 billion worth of health care costs with plastic, according to a report from McKinsey & Company. By 2015, that number could more than triple to an estimated $150 billion. And big finance companies and medical providers have taken note.
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Q&A
'The US model of private health insurers is inefficient, expensive'
Joseph Stiglitz the Nobel prize-winning economist has written several articles on the inequity in access to health and the flaws in the drug discovery process of pharmaceutical companies. On a recent visit to Delhi, Professor Stiglitz spoke to Rema Nagarajan about the negative role of patents in drug discovery and the pitfalls of private insurance in health.
Why have you been pitching for a single payer system for health insurance rather than a system where several private companies compete?
Why have you been pitching for a single payer system for health insurance rather than a system where several private companies compete?
Read more: 'The US model of private health insurers is inefficient, expensive' - The Times of Indiahttp://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/The-US-model-of-private-health-insurers-is-inefficient-expensive/articleshow/6989634.cms#ixzz16UoqgdMD
Ezra Klein - Americans Pay Too Much For Health Care -
By Ezra Klein
There are a lot of complicated explanations for why American health-care costs so much, but there are also some simple ones. Chief among them is "we pay too much." And I don't mean in general. I mean specifically. Mountains of research show that for every piece of care you might name -- a drug, a doctor visit, a diagnostic -- you'll pay far more in the United States than in other countries. That's why seniors head to Canada to buy drugs made in the United States. In Canada, the government negotiates one low price. In America, insurers with much less bargaining power negotiate many higher prices.
International Federation of Health Plans
2010 Comparative Price Report Medical and Hospital Fees by Countryhttp://www.ifhp.com/documents/IFHPPricereportfinal.pdf
The Price Problem That Health-Care Reform Failed To Cure
The health-care law of 2010 is, as Vice President Biden put it, a "big [expletive] deal." It sets us on the road to universal health insurance. It is a favorite target for Republicans gunning to take over Congress. Lawmakers who supported it could lose their jobs. And it will remain a central focus after the midterms, as Democrats defend it against legal and political challenges through 2014, when it takes full effect.
Gates Seeking to Contain Military Health Costs
By ELISABETH BUMILLER and THOM SHANKER
WASHINGTON — Francis Brady enjoys a six-figure salary and generous benefits at the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, but as a retired Marine lieutenant colonel he and his family remain on the military’s bountiful lifetime health insurance, Tricare, with fees of only $460 a year. He calls the benefit “phenomenal.”
“It is so cheap compared to what Booz Allen has,” Colonel Brady said in a recent interview, acknowledging that premiums called for by private employers can run many times greater.
Don't Litigate, Innovate." How To Implement A Fully Funded Alternative To The New Health Care Overhaul -- And It's Already In The Law
This post of mine first appeared at Kaiser Health News last week.
What if a Republican governor and a Republican legislature had the ability to implement their version of health insurance reform and the federal government would have to pay for it? It's a great idea. And I'm thrilled to say that a bi-partisan bill has already been introduced in the Senate by Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Scott Brown, R-Mass., that would help facilitate exactly this end.
Doctors Blame New Health Law For Death Of Private Practice : Shots
Maine Companies' Health Care May Shrivel With Dirigo
Some businesses may kill their own plans as federal exchanges are put in place, a top Baldacci aide says.
AUGUSTA — Some small businesses in Maine may drop health insurance plans when DirigoHealth is replaced by the insurance exchanges outlined in the federal health reform law, a top Baldacci administration official said Monday.
Trish Riley, director of the Governor's Office of Health Policy and Finance, told a legislative committee that the exchanges would provide subsidies only to individuals, unlike Dirigo, which provides subsidies to employers that offer coverage
Congress Puts Off Cuts To Doctor Medicare Payments
WASHINGTON — Congress agreed to a one-month delay in Medicare payment cuts to doctors yesterday, giving a short-term reprieve to a looming crisis over treatment of the nation’s senior citizens.
Inefficiency Hurts U.S. In Ranking of Health
By NICHOLAS BAKALAR
By any measure, the United States spends more on health care than any other nation. Yet according to the World Fact Book (published by the Central Intelligence Agency), it ranks 49th in life expectancy.
Why?
Researchers writing in the November issue of the journal Health Services say they know the answer. After citing statistical evidence showing that American patterns of obesity, smoking, traffic accidents and homicide are not the cause of lower life expectancy, they conclude that the problem is the health care system.
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