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Health policy guru Mark McClellan was the keynote speaker at our major conference yesterday at the National Press Club, answering with a resounding ?Yes!? the question we had posed in the title of our event, ?Is there a role for markets in health care?? Mark, together with three international and two other U.S. health policy experts, concluded that markets and consumerism must work together, here … [Read more...] about Markets Are Vital

The Los Angeles Times carried a story on Sunday about the struggles some consumers face with their high-deductible health insurance plans. The Times reports on a couple that bought a policy with a $2,500 annual deductible and a $335 monthly premium. "We were just looking for something [with a premium] we could afford," Nancy Warrington said. "The high deductible didn't even dawn on me." ?The … [Read more...] about Real Insurance

We have precisely the health sector in this country that we are paying for. As we are barraged from all sides with articles, books, and now movies about how absolutely awful our system is, it is important to realize that if we want change, we must start by improving the payment and incentive structures that direct how it functions. A conference of senior and seasoned health policy analysts that … [Read more...] about You Get What You Pay For

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

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

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

The media will be filled next week with articles and ads about the uninsured, including a TV spot featuring nine-year-old ?Susie Flynn? who is running for president on the platform of bringing attention to the nine million American children who don't have health insurance. The big push during ?Cover the Uninsured Week? will be to build the case for expanding the State Children's Health Insurance … [Read more...] about Squeezing Out Private Coverage – Health Policy Matters

After defeating about a dozen amendments, the Senate Finance Committee last night approved a bill that would allow, but not require, the administration to interfere in drug price negotiations between private drug plans and the pharmaceutical companies. Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) was criticized by members of his own party for offering what they said was a watered-down version of the bill that … [Read more...] about Slippery Slope