Everywhere seniors turn, they find newspapers and airwaves filled with warnings that the new Medicare drug benefit is overwhelmingly confusing -- certainly discouraging words for seniors who both want and need this new benefit. But seniors should not give up. One reason they are confused is because they have more and better choices than anyone anticipated when the drug benefit was being crafted … [Read more...] about Confusing Choices in Medicare?
Archives for November 2005
Confusing Choices in Medicare?
Everywhere seniors turn, they find newspapers and airwaves filled with warnings that the new Medicare drug benefit is overwhelmingly confusing -- certainly discouraging words for seniors who both want and need this new benefit. But seniors should not give up. One reason they are confused is because they have more and better choices than anyone anticipated when the drug benefit was being crafted … [Read more...] about Confusing Choices in Medicare?
Confusing Choices?
The editorials and airwaves are filled with warnings that the new Medicare drug benefit is overwhelmingly confusing - certainly discouraging words for seniors who both want and need this new benefit. Our advice: Don't give up. The Medicare website, www.medicare.gov, has been inundated with visitors (more than a million on Sunday alone), and the site is clearly a work in progress. The … [Read more...] about Confusing Choices?
Axing HSAs?
The Tax Reform Panel has caused an uproar among our health policy colleagues for recommending that Health Savings Accounts be replaced by new Save for Family accounts (page 120). What an outrage, our colleagues say, after all we did to get this free-market idea in place! So here's the story: Taxpayers can put $10,000 a year into these new Save for Family accounts for health care, retirement, … [Read more...] about Axing HSAs?
Early Successes with HSAs and CDHC
A number of recent studies of Health Savings Accounts and similar plans are proving that companies and consumers who switch to these consumer-directed plans experience lower costs while maintaining access to needed health care. For example, eHealthInsurance, the largest on-line health insurance broker in the U.S., conducted a survey of people who had purchased health insurance from among … [Read more...] about Early Successes with HSAs and CDHC
Tax Reform Panel
The president's tax reform panel did what advisory commissions are supposed to do: Think big and offer bold ideas that force a new conversation over policy changes. And they did just that regarding health insurance. The panel, in its report issued this week, advised placing limits on the tax break for employment-based health insurance (Pages 78 - 82) as economists and health and tax policy experts … [Read more...] about Tax Reform Panel
Early Successes with HSAs and CDHC
A number of recent studies of Health Savings Accounts and similar plans are proving that companies and consumers who switch to these consumer-directed plans experience lower costs while maintaining access to needed health care. For example, eHealthInsurance, the largest on-line health insurance broker in the U.S., conducted a survey of people who had purchased health insurance from among … [Read more...] about Early Successes with HSAs and CDHC