Aug. 6 Health Care Reform Roundup
The Early Word: Back to the Economy
The White House shifts its focus back to the economy on Wednesday, with President Obama and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. fanning out to the Midwest to talk up the administration’s recovery efforts. Comment from reader: The Mayo Clinic states that the legislation is “not patient focused or results oriented…unless legislators create payment systems that pay for good patient results at reasonable costs, the promise of transformation in American health care will wither. The real losers will be the Citizens of the United States”.
NY Times by Bernie Becker, 8/5/09
Additional Mayo Clinic health care reform coverage:
Top stories
White House Affirms Deal on Drug Cost
The New York Times
Aug. 6, 2009
Pressed by industry lobbyists, White House officials on Wednesday assured drug makers that the administration stood by a behind-the-scenes deal to block any Congressional effort to extract cost savings from them beyond an agreed-upon $80 billion.
Senators Closer To Health Package
The Washington Post
Aug. 6, 2009
Senate negotiators are inching toward bipartisan agreement on a healthcare plan that seeks middle ground on some of the thorniest issues facing Congress. The emerging Finance Committee bill would shave about $100 billion off the projected trillion-dollar cost of the legislation over the next decade and eventually provide coverage to 94% of Americans, according to participants in the talks.
United Agricultural Benefit Trust Spotlighted As Model for Health Care Cooperatives
The Los Angeles Times
Aug. 6, 2009
As Congress examines ways to overhaul the nation's healthcare system, the United Agricultural Benefit Trust has found itself in the national spotlight as a model for a proposed co-op option consumers could consider along with private insurers.
Health-Care Reform: How the Bills Stack Up
The Washington Post
Aug. 5, 2009
An interactive look at the costs, impacts on insurance coverage and key provisions of the three health-care measures winding their way through Congress.
Insurance
Could A Massachusetts-Style Individual Mandate Work Across the Nation?
HealthLeaders Media
Aug. 6, 2009
Can the federal government apply an individual mandate like the one in Massachusetts across the country?
Rite of Passage? Why Young Adults Become Uninsured and How New Policies Can Help, 2009 Update
The Commonwealth Fund
Aug. 6, 2009
Comprehensive health reform proposals now before Congress could help bring health coverage to the more than 13 million uninsured young adults, ages 19 to 29, who currently lack it, a new Commonwealth Fund report finds.
New Kaiser Resources Examine Rising Health Pressures in a Recession
Kaiser Family Foundation
Aug. 6, 2009
As millions of people lose their jobs and job-based health insurance during the ongoing recession, the Kaiser Family Foundation has issued several new reports and a video that shed light on the rising toll on American families and the public programs that many depend on to fill the gap during times of crisis.
Transparency/Safety
Consistent Measures of Quality, Cost Needed to Support Reform Efforts
HealthLeaders Media
Aug. 5, 2009
Current healthcare reform efforts under consideration in Congress—ranging from payment reforms (such as episode payments and accountable care organizations) to efforts to promote implementation of health information technology—have at least one thing in common, according to Mark McClellan, MD, director of the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC.
Reform efforts
Protests at Democrats' Health-Care Events Spark Political Tug of War
The Washington Post
Aug. 6, 2009
President Obama and top Democrats on Wednesday vowed to push back against angry critics of their health-care overhaul, who have threatened to hijack the debate by disrupting town halls and other public events convened by Democratic lawmakers this week.
Centrist Democrats Upbeat on Health Care Bill
The New York Times
Aug. 6, 2009
After a meeting among Senate Democrats to hone their message on revamping health care, some centrist lawmakers who could deliver crucial votes expressed confidence Wednesday that they would be able to sign on to the legislation and sell it to their constituents back home.
NEJM on Health Care Reform
New England Journal of Medicine
Aug. 5, 2009
Why Paying for Health Care Reform Is Difficult and Essential — Numbers and Rules, Henry J. Aaron, Ph.D.
The Next Wave of Corporate Medicine — How We All Might Benefit, David M. Cutler, Ph.D.
The Shifting Mission of Health Care Delivery Organizations, Richard M.J. Bohmer, M.B., Ch.B., M.P.H., and Thomas H. Lee, M.D.
Keeping the Patient in the Equation — Humanism and Health Care Reform, Pamela Hartzband, M.D., and Jerome Groopman, M.D.
Tags: Health Policy, Health Policy
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