Happy tenth birthday to the Health Wonk Review! We started writing about healthcare reform and related issues here on Colorado Health Insurance Insider in the summer of 2006, and quickly discovered the Health Wonk Review – which was in its infancy at that point. For nearly a decade, it’s been an excellent source of new ideas for us, and has introduced us to some of our favorite writers – most of whom are still creating excellent content that keeps us constantly informed about what’s going on in the world of health insurance and healthcare reform.
Joe Paduda hosted an outstanding 10th anniversary edition of the HWR today at Managed Care Matters, and you don’t want to miss it. Here are some of my favorite entries in this edition:
At healthinsurance.org, Linda Bergthold explains that while Bernie Sanders’ single-payer plan isn’t likely to go anywhere even if Sanders were to become president, his campaign has gotten everyone talking about single-payer again, after it was mostly scuttled under the rug in 2009 (for what it’s worth, Vox published an article yesterday that claims the Sanders camp is significantly underestimating the cost of single-payer healthcare).
Charles Gaba, a self-taught healthcare reform expert and data-cruncher extraordinaire, explains why he favors Hillary’s healthcare plan over Bernie’s – despite the fact that Gaba’s long-term goal is single-payer. It’s a thought-provoking piece to be sure (and has of course, stirred up some Hillary-Bernie wars on the interwebs).
Joe Paduda’s own entry in the HWR is a must-read. It’s a reminder that UnitedHealthcare’s threat of possibly pulling out of the exchanges in 2017 isn’t as big a deal as the hysterical headlines have made it seem. Joe makes a good point about UnitedHealthcare not being a major player in the individual market prior to the ACA, and about the percentage of revenue that UnitedHealthcare’s “theoretically losses” amount to.
There’s plenty more where all of that came from, so head over to Managed Care Matters and check out the 10th Anniversary edition of the Health Wonk Review. Thanks to Joe for hosting this week, and to all the other hosts and contributors who have kept the HWR going strong for a decade. Here’s to ten more great years! (what sort of devices will we be using then to read the HWR?)
