October 10: Health Care Reform News
Top stories
Health Care Bill Gets Green Light in Cost Analysis
The New York Times
Oct. 8, 2009
Democrats rejoiced over news that the Senate’s measure met White House cost expectations and would reduce the deficit.
Related:
Baucus Scores Big With CBO, Politico
Health-Care Bill Wouldn't Raise Deficit, Report Says, The Washington Post
Reduce the Deficit by Spending $829 Billion. Huh?, The New York Times
New Math Boosts Health Plan and Five Key Numbers In CBO’s Score of the Senate Finance Bill, The Wall Street Journal
Read the CBO’s letter here.
After Long Debate, Health Care Senate Vote Tuesday
AP/The Washington Post
Oct. 8, 2009
The top Senate Democrat says the final committee vote on health care legislation will take place next week.
Dole, Daschle Endorse a Health Care Overhaul
The New York Times
Oct. 7, 2009
Bob Dole, the one-time Republican leader in the Senate, and Tom Daschle, the one-time Democratic leader, issued a joint statement today in which they said they supported the Democrats’ attempt to overhaul the health-care system.
Insurance
Bending the Cost Curve Could Also Reduce Physicians' Headaches
HealthLeaders Media
Oct. 7, 2009
America's Health Insurance Plans, Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, eight health insurers, and five Ohio physician organizations will begin a pilot project next month that will look to reduce health insurance paperwork and free up physicians' offices from administrative headaches. The project, which was announced this week, will create a one-stop Web portal for electronic transactions. Ninety-one percent of all Ohio residents insured through private carriers will be part of the project.
State news
Aiming Higher: Results from a State Scorecard on Health System Performance, 2009
The Commonwealth Fund
Oct. 8, 2009
The cost and quality of health care, as well as access to care and health outcomes, continue to vary widely among states, according to the Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System's second state scorecard report released today.
In San Francisco, Another Kind of Public Option
The New York Times
Oct. 7, 2009
A Q&A with William Dow, a health economics professor at the University of California, Berkeley, about San Francisco's groundbreaking effort to extend health care to the uninsured.
Patients, Docs Rip ED Waits in Massachusetts
HealthLeaders Media
Oct. 6, 2009
Nearly two-thirds of Massachusetts emergency physicians report more patients are seeking emergency care as result of state healthcare reforms, and nearly two-thirds of Massachusetts residents say their ED wait times have increased or remained the same, according to two polls released today by the American College of Emergency Physicians.
Reform efforts
Hospital Lobbyists Say Baucus Has Not Yet Lived Up to Their Deal
The New York Times
Oct. 7, 2009
Hospital lobbyists said that the Congressional Budget Office's analysis of the Senate Finance Committee's health legislation indicated that the committee had not yet delivered on a deal they made with the panel's chairman and the White House for their support.
Democrats Face Dilemma on Taxes to Pay for Health Care
The Los Angeles Times
Oct. 8, 2009
House legislation favors taxing the rich to offset the costs of expanding coverage; a Senate bill would impose a tax on 'Cadillac' insurance plans. Either idea faces a steep political cost.
New England Journal of Medicine
Oct. 7, 2009
NEJM has posted several articles about health care reform:
Will the Cost Curve Bend, Even without Reform?, David Cutler, Ph.D.
Four Health Care Reforms for 2009, Victor Fuchs, Ph.D.
How Health Care Reform Can Benefit Children and Adolescents, Judith S. Palfrey, M.D.
The Cost of Health Care — Highlights from a Discussion about Economics and Reform, Atul A. Gawande, M.D., M.P.H., Elliott S. Fisher, M.D., M.P.H., Jonathan Gruber, Ph.D., and Meredith B. Rosenthal, Ph.D.
Like
Helpful
Hug