February 2010 - Health Beat - The Network of Care

Does Insurance Save Lives? Maybe That’s the Wrong Question Part 1

If we had universal coverage, how many lives would be saved? This is the issue that the Atlantic’s Megan McArdle and the Washington Post’s Ezra Klein were debating last week. The controversy caught my eye because I’ve long been skeptical... Read More...

Published Tue, Feb 16 2010 2:00 PM by Health Beat

If Reconcilation Is a “Maneuver” . . .

Over at the New America Foundation’s “New Health Dialogue” blog Joanne Kenen comments on how the media is treating the term “reconciliation” when discussing health care reform. http://health.newamerica.net/blogposts/2010/health_reform_a_quick_thought_on_reconciliation...

Published Sat, Feb 27 2010 12:35 PM by Health Beat

Announcing Screenings of Money-Driven Medicine in February and March: California and Philadelphia

For more information on the film, produced by Alex Gibney, directed by Andrew Fredericks, and based on the book by Maggie Mahar, see www.moneydrivenmedicine.org These are free public showings. I’ll be doing a Q&A with the audience following each screening...

Published Thu, Feb 11 2010 10:27 AM by Health Beat

Living Better...Or Just Living Longer?

The field of longevity research is running high on optimism these days. “Life expectancy is lengthening almost linearly in most developed countries, with no sign of deceleration,” say the authors of the recent Lancet article “Ageing Populations: the challenges...

Published Sat, Feb 20 2010 9:51 AM by Health Beat

Does Health Insurance Save Lives? Maybe That’s the Wrong Question Part 2

Do the uninsured die because they don’t have access to medical care—or because more than three-quarter of the uninsured are poor? In part 1 of this post, I explained that we know that poverty is a killer. It destroys mind... Read More...

Published Wed, Feb 17 2010 9:49 AM by Health Beat

The New York Times Garbles the Fact about the Dartmouth Research--

Wednesday, the New York Times once again launched an attack on what has become known as “the Dartmouth research.” As regular HealthBeat readers know, more than two decades of studies done by medical researchers at Dartmouth suggest that hospitals that...

Published Fri, Feb 19 2010 2:09 PM by Health Beat

Massachusetts’ Problem and Maryland’s Solution We Don’t Have to Wait for Washington Part 2

While health care reformers argue about what it would take to “break the curve” of health care inflation, the state of Maryland has done it, at least when it comes to hospital spending. In 1977, Maryland decided that, rather than... Read More...

Published Fri, Feb 05 2010 2:07 PM by Health Beat

The Messy Business of Transparency

President Obama’s latest plan for health reform brought a flurry of commentary in the last two days; including divergent views on whether his commitment to "transparency" is helping or hurting the process. Yesterday, the Los Angeles Times blamed...

Published Tue, Feb 23 2010 2:29 PM by Health Beat

Medicaid Needs More Than A Short-term Fix

Health reform may be stalled in Congress, but you need only look to the overburdened Medicaid program to find evidence of the continued toll the current economic crisis is taking on Americans’ ability to afford and access medical care. At... Read More...

Published Mon, Feb 01 2010 2:28 PM by Health Beat

How Maryland “Broke the Curve”: A Solution For Massachusetts? Part 3

Massachusetts has succeeded in providing health care insurance for all but 2.6% of its citizens. Yet the Commonwealth still struggles to make that coverage affordable. Health care inflation is driving Massachusetts’ system toward a cliff. Total outlays...

Published Wed, Feb 10 2010 1:30 PM by Health Beat

Correction: Screenings of Money-Driven Medicine in March and April-LongBeach, Philadelphia, Manhattan

I’m sorry, the day and dates in the original announcement were wrong. The film, Money-Driven Medicine , was produced by Alex Gibney (best-known for Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room and Taxi to the Dark Side ) and based... Read More...

Published Sun, Feb 28 2010 4:18 PM by Health Beat

The President’s Proposal – Everything Depends On . . .

You might be wondering why I haven’t written about the President’s HealthCare bill. The reason is that I have very little to say. This, I realize, is unusual. But the truth is that the president’s proposal is very similar to... Read More...

Published Mon, Feb 22 2010 2:38 PM by Health Beat

What Reformers Are Up Against

Sunday, Republican Senate leader, Mitch McConnell told CNN that even if Democrats made a significant concession— such as a provision that would limit malpractice suits against health-care providers — this would not persuade Republicans to vote for health...

Published Sun, Feb 28 2010 5:03 PM by Health Beat

Some Thoughts On the Word “Filibuster”

As I noted in the post below, the media seems to be turning “reconciliation” into an ugly word. But “filibuster” is the word with a more unsavory history. (Thanks to HeathBeat reader Barry Carroll who sent me a link to... Read More...

Published Sun, Feb 28 2010 6:45 PM by Health Beat

Why Reformers Must Forge Ahead

While others seem ready to declare health care reform dead, Henry. Aaron explains why reformers must stay the course in the most recent issue of the New England Journal of Medicine,. They have everything to lose, and nothing to gain... Read More...

Published Thu, Feb 11 2010 10:48 AM by Health Beat

February 2010 - Health Beat

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