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
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
Squeezing Out Private Coverage – Health Policy Matters
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
Unhealthy, slippery slope
Last week, after defeating about a dozen amendments, the Senate Finance Committee approved a bill that would allow, but not require, the administration to interfere in Medicare drug price negotiations between private drug plans and the pharmaceutical companies. Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) was criticized by members of his own party for offering what they said was a watered-down … [Read more...] about Unhealthy, slippery slope