Health Beat

Why are Health Insurers Launching An 11th Hour Attack on Health Care Reform?

They are running scared. And why are they so scared? Because they know that the public sector option is still alive. And here I’m not talking about the possibility that some states will offer public plans: Most state plans would... Read More...

Published Fri, Oct 16 2009 2:43 PM by Health Beat

Occasionally, A Health Care Story Leaves Me Speechless (Well, Almost)

As long-time HealthBeat readers know, I have some reservations about hospitals plunging huge sums into plush hotel-like amenities—spas, gourmet food, marble lobbies, mahogany-paneled doctors’ lounges . . .. See “Who Will Pay for the Waterfalls?” I tend...

Published Tue, Oct 13 2009 9:55 AM by Health Beat

As the Opponents of Reform Show Signs of Desperation . . .

Over the weekend, Senate Democrats found the 60 votes needed to press forward with the health care debate. I wasn’t surprised. As I have suggested in the past, I doubted that three or four moderates really wanted to be remembered... Read More...

Published Tue, Nov 24 2009 11:56 AM by Health Beat

Video Segments of Dr. Donald Berwick from the Documentary Money Driven Medicine

The following video segments are from the documentary Money Driven Medicine and are presented courtesy of the film's distributor California Newsreel www.newsreel.org (The player uses Adobe Flash Player available here) Is American Health Care the Best...

Published Fri, Mar 26 2010 1:50 PM by Health Beat

Highlights from the Health Wonk Review: Comparative Effectiveness Research; Why Reform Will Mean Fewer, Larger Insurers; Skilled Nursing Facilities; Low-Income Seniors, and Insurers Under Investigation

This week The New Health Dialogue’s Meredith Hughes, Allison Levy and Sam Wainwright host a round-up of some of the best health care posts of the past two week. Below, just a few highlights. (To read the entire review, click... Read More...

Published Thu, Oct 28 2010 12:54 PM by Health Beat

The Individual Mandate : Gov’t Telling You To Eat Your Spinach “For Your Own Good”? No, Its Aim Is to Protect Others

Summary: Yesterday, a federal District Court judge in Michigan rejected a constitutional challenge to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) http://www.mied.uscourts.gov/News/Docs/09714485866.pdf.This is the first time that a court has gotten to the merits of...

Published Fri, Oct 08 2010 12:48 PM by Health Beat

Harvard Pilgrim CEO Eric Schultz Explains Why the Insurer Is Cancelling Its Medicare Advantage Plan --How Did the Media Get the Story So Wrong? Part 1

Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, one of the nation’s leading private health plans, has announced that it will drop its Medicare Advantage health insurance program at the end of the year. The headlines, bashing Obama and blaming health care reform legislation...

Published Fri, Oct 01 2010 2:41 PM by Health Beat

American Cancer Society’s Brawley: “Prostate Cancer Screening Clearly Saves Lives: THAT’s A LIE.”

As regular readers know, I began questioning prostate cancer screening when I launched HealthBeat, back in 2007. Since then, skepticism about the effectiveness of PSA testing has snowballed. Over at his HealthNewsReviewBlog Gary Schwitzer quotes Dr. Otis...

Published Sat, Oct 02 2010 11:23 AM by Health Beat

“Hey Nursie!” The Battle over Letting Nurse Practitioners Provide Primary Care

Twenty-eight states are now engaged in a heated debate over the difference between a doctor and a nurse: Legislators in these states are considering whether they should let a nurse practitioner (NP) with an advanced degree provide primary care, without...

Published Mon, Apr 19 2010 8:00 AM by Health Beat

Myths & Facts about Health Care Reform Part 2: Doctors Who Take Medicare

MYTH #1: Reform legislation calls for a 21% cut in Medicare payments to physicians. FACT: First, the 21% cut has nothing to do with reform legislation. Secondly, it is never going to happen. Back in 1997 Congress passed legislation which... Read More...

Published Mon, Apr 12 2010 9:47 AM by Health Beat

Bob Wachter: The Process Was “Nauseating,” But the Policy That Emerged “Ain’t Bad”

If Rachel Maddow’s interview with Dan Rather (below), depressed you, I suggest Bob Wachter’s post on The Health Care Blog as an antidote. It’s titled: “Could It Be That the System (Gasp!) Works?” (http://www.thehealthcareblog.com/the_health_care_blog...

Published Sat, Mar 20 2010 6:16 PM by Health Beat

In Massachusetts Elite Providers Drive Health Care Spending; What Does This Say about the Dartmouth Research? . . . Maryland’s Solution. Part 1

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakely has just released a report which reveals that the state’s health care costs are spiraling in large part because he state’s primo hospitals and physician groups --those with brand name recognition-- -are demanding...

Published Sat, Jan 30 2010 7:15 PM by Health Beat

If Conservatives Ran Heath Care . . . and We Had a Single-Payer System

[Below an Op-ed that I wrote for the Washington Post’s “Outlook” section. It appeared yesterday Sunday, November 15, 2009. Many readers have commented on the Washington Post website, but I’d also be interested in hearing from HealthBeat readers here....

Published Mon, Nov 16 2009 6:22 AM by Health Beat

A Letter from Canada

Below, a letter from a Canadian disputing some of the propaganda that we hear about health care in Canada. (Thanks to HealthBeat reader Lisa Lindell for putting me in touch with Vera Goodman) This is the first in what I... Read More...

Published Fri, Oct 23 2009 12:24 PM by Health Beat

Intermountain Healthcare -- Proof That U.S. Hospitals Can Improve

(We Should Not Scoff at the Medicare Pilot Programs in Reform Legislation) I urge everyone to read this story by David Leonhardt in this Sunday’s (November 8) New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/magazine/08Healthcare-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r...

Published Fri, Nov 06 2009 3:28 PM by Health Beat

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