It seems that every opinion leader in the country has weighed in on the new Medicare prescription drug benefit. With November?s elections just around the corner, pundits and politicians are filling the airwaves with compelling sound bites on its successes and failures. With all these competing assertions, it?s time to distinguish myth from reality: MYTH NO. 1: The drug benefit is too … [Read more...] about Debunking Medicare Myths
Debunking Medicare Myths
It seems that every opinion leader in the country has weighed in on the new Medicare prescription drug benefit. With November?s elections just around the corner, pundits and politicians are filling the airwaves with compelling sound bites on its successes and failures. With all these competing assertions, it?s time to distinguish myth from reality: MYTH NO. 1: The drug benefit is too … [Read more...] about Debunking Medicare Myths
Patients, Doctors, and Governments
The National Health Service decided to do a survey of how well general practitioners in the U.K. are complying with pay-for-performance guidelines, and Health Affairs reports that the GPs surprised government authorities with a 91% compliance score. But it's not surprising if you believe in incentive economics: The docs received points for following the clinical guidelines, and each point earned a … [Read more...] about Patients, Doctors, and Governments
Vacation's Over
The Census Bureau's new report shows a steady uptick in the number of people without health insurance (46.6 million) and a steady decline in the percentage of people with job-based health insurance (down to 59.5% this year). With many employers priced out of the health insurance market and with an increasingly mobile workforce, it is vital that policy changes be made to give people more … [Read more...] about Vacation's Over
Filling the Doughnut Hole
Several million seniors soon will begin hitting the dreaded doughnut hole in their new Medicare prescription drug coverage -- a gap of up to $3,000 where their insurance stops. There already are calls for Congress to fill the gap or to completely change the drug program to make it look more like the rest of Medicare. Changing the program now would be a mistake since polls show that seniors … [Read more...] about Filling the Doughnut Hole
Filling the Doughnut Hole
Several million seniors soon will begin hitting the dreaded doughnut hole in their new Medicare prescription drug coverage -- a gap of up to $3,000 where their insurance stops. There already are calls for Congress to fill the gap or to completely change the drug program to make it look more like the rest of Medicare. Changing the program now would be a mistake since polls show that seniors … [Read more...] about Filling the Doughnut Hole
Under the Radar
Former HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson offered his prescription for a "Medicaid Makeover" during a speech last weekend to the National Governors Assn. meeting in Charleston, SC. Some ideas are good and some not. The not-so-good: As a former governor of Wisconsin, Gov. Thompson knows well the strains that Medicaid is putting on state budgets. His solution is to have the federal government take over … [Read more...] about Under the Radar
Growing Pains
It's been three years since the hot summer when the House and the Senate debated and then passed bills to create the new Medicare prescription drug benefit. And yet the battles still rage. A new study in Health Affairs says that "Seniors give Part D mixed reviews, and majorities are less satisfied with Medicare and with the government as a result of their experience with this program." (Two of … [Read more...] about Growing Pains