Look Who’s Praising Socialized Medicine
MItt Romney’s inability to stay on script is really getting surreal. Today he lavished praise on the Israeli health care system, which has indeed done a fine job of controlling costs while maintaining high quality. But as everyone who knows anything about it quickly pointed out, the secret of Israel’s success is … intense government involvement. It’s a single-payer system; but unlike Medicare, it also sets a budget per capita (adjusted for health status), so that the nonprofit plans are in effect forced to set priorities for treatment and also negotiate hard over provider payments; think of it as price controls plus death panels.
Romney praises health care in Israel, where ‘strong government influence’ has driven down costs
By Sarah Kliff ,
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney had some very kind things to say about the Israeli health care system at a fundraiser there Monday. He praised Israel for spending just 8 percent of its GDP on health care and still remaining a “pretty healthy nation:”
When our health care costs are completely out of control. Do you realize what health care spending is as a percentage of the GDP in Israel? 8 percent. You spend 8 percent of GDP on health care. And you’re a pretty healthy nation. We spend 18 percent of our GDP on health care. 10 percentage points more. That gap, that 10 percent cost, let me compare that with the size of our military. Our military budget is 4 percent. Our gap with Israel is 10 points of GDP. We have to find ways, not just to provide health care to more people, but to find ways to finally manage our health care costs.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/07/30/romney-praises-health-care-in-israel-where-strong-government-influence-has-driven-down-costs
Bill aims to curb health spending in Massachusetts
Allowable increases would be tied to growth of economy
Legislative leaders announced a compromise Monday to tame soaring health care costs, setting the stage for Massachusetts to become the first state to establish a target limiting how much providers and insurers spend on medical care.
The plan — expected to be voted on by the House and Senate on Tuesday, the final scheduled day for passing legislation — would allow health spending to grow no faster than the state economy overall through 2017. For the five years after that, spending would slow further, to half a percentage point below the growth of the state’s economy, although leaders would have the power under certain circumstances to soften that target.
Penobscot Community Health Care joins effort to improve health of Medicare patients
Posted July 30, 2012, at 5:43 p.m.
BREWER, Maine — Penobscot Community Health Care is the latest Maine health organization to join a national effort that rewards doctors for keeping their patients healthy and happy.
PCHC announced Monday that it will join Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems’ “accountable care organization,” a group of providers tasked with better coordinating treatment for seniors covered by Medicare and saving taxpayer money.
Under the model, formalized under the federal health reform law, doctors and hospitals that show they have improved Medicare patients’ health and satisfaction get a cut of any savings in the form of bonus payments. Providers that don’t make the grade either forgo the extra money or pay a penalty.
“You don’t get any financial gain in an ACO unless the most important thing happens, which is you have to demonstrate that your patients are getting healthier and that there’s a very high level of satisfaction by your patients,” said Kenneth Schmidt, president and CEO of PCHC.
The new approach is designed to upend the existing system that pays health care providers based on the number of patients they see and the amount of services and procedures they order. The hope is that doctors, nurses and other providers will work together to keep better tabs on patients’ health.
Americans generally favor Medicaid expansion, but less so at home
Posted July 31, 2012, at 8:52 a.m.
Americans are broadly supportive of the health care law’s expansion of Medicaid to cover millions of uninsured people, according to a new poll. But they are less enthusiastic about expanding it in their own states after they realize state taxpayers will pick up some of the cost.
Last month the U.S. Supreme Court upheld most of the Affordable Care Act, but allowed states to opt out of the law’s plan to enlarge Medicaid, the state-federal health program for the poor. The law directed states to cover those earning up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $14,800 for individuals and $25,400 for a family of three, far above the levels currently covered by Medicaid in most states. Officials in several Republican states, including Florida, Louisiana and Texas, have said they don’t want to participate.
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