Members of the Health Policy Consensus Group offer the following guidelines to policymakers for consideration during debate over reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). We also offer a brief summary of our larger vision of expanding access to health insurance. Component #1 Funding for SCHIP should be redeployed to more effectively expand coverage to children who … [Read more...] about SCHIP Guidelines: Principles for Health Insurance Coverage for Children and Families
SCHIP Guidelines: Principles for Health Insurance Coverage for Children and Families
Members of the Health Policy Consensus Group offer the following guidelines to policymakers for consideration during debate over reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). We also offer a brief summary of our larger vision of expanding access to health insurance. Component #1 Funding for SCHIP should be redeployed to more effectively expand coverage to children who … [Read more...] about SCHIP Guidelines: Principles for Health Insurance Coverage for Children and Families
Hoosier POWER
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (former head of the Office of Management and Budget in Washington) has signed an innovative piece of health care legislation to ?expand access to health insurance, make citizens healthier, and engage patients in being more responsible consumers of health care.? First the good news: The Healthy Indiana Plan creates a new HSA-type of mechanism for those who are currently … [Read more...] about Hoosier POWER
Customer Health Care
Published in The Wall Street Journal May 14, 2007It's Friday evening and you suspect that your child might have strep throat or a worsening ear infection. Do you bundle him up and wait half the night in an emergency room? Or do you suffer through the weekend and hope that you can get an appointment with your pediatrician on Monday -- taking time off your job to drive across town for another … [Read more...] about Customer Health Care
Customer Health Care
Published in The Wall Street Journal May 14, 2007It's Friday evening and you suspect that your child might have strep throat or a worsening ear infection. Do you bundle him up and wait half the night in an emergency room? Or do you suffer through the weekend and hope that you can get an appointment with your pediatrician on Monday -- taking time off your job to drive across town for another … [Read more...] about Customer Health Care
Land Mines in Legislation
The Senate has approved 93-1 must-pass legislation that, among other things, would give the pharmaceutical and medical device industries the privilege of paying $393 million in user fees to the government next year to help get their new treatments to patients faster. But the bill, called the Food and Drug Administration Revitalization Act, in fact contains land mines that could actually delay … [Read more...] about Land Mines in Legislation
Dire Warnings
The week began with Medicare trustee Tom Saving warning that the future debt of this program for seniors is five times the size of the outstanding debt of the entire federal government today. Without change, Saving warns that Medicare would devour nearly half of all federal income taxes by 2030 and almost two-thirds by 2040, and that beneficiary premiums would rise to $3,700 a month by 2080. ?The … [Read more...] about Dire Warnings
Expanding Health Insurance Coverage: What Will Work
With the increasing ability of the medical profession to save and improve our lives, Americans value the security of health insurance to cover their health costs. For public policy solutions to be effective in reducing the number of those who do not have the security of health insurance, we must look beneath the numbers to see who is uninsured, why, and what solutions are likely to work to expand … [Read more...] about Expanding Health Insurance Coverage: What Will Work