Paul Krugman has written an op-ed piece for the New York Times that perfectly sums up the excuses we keep hearing about why universal health care wouldn’t work in the US, and why the excuses aren’t really valid at all. He sums up the problem: The United States spends far more on health care per… Read more about What Are We Waiting For?
Policy
A Sad Story About Generic Drugs
With the advent of TV advertising for pharmaceuticals, I lost a lot of respect for the drug industry. The more I learned about how much money they spend wooing doctors and medical schools, and paying practicing physicians as consultants, the more that respect dwindled. But I think it’s hit a new low. I didn’t know that… Read more about A Sad Story About Generic Drugs
Of Course It Won’t Be Easy
According to policy experts, it might not be an easy task for other states like Colorado to duplicate the new Massachusetts law the brings nearly universal health coverage to the state. Apparently Mass. already had a “free care pool” in place that they are able to use to subsidize the new health-care-for-all program. In other… Read more about Of Course It Won’t Be Easy
Health Care Has Become Too Complicated
In 1999, 70.4% of Americans under age 65 had employer sponsored health insurance. By 2005-2006, that number had fallen to 63.2%, and the trend is likely to continue as health care costs rise, taking health insurance premiums along for the ride. Health care has become the 800 pound gorilla in the room in our current… Read more about Health Care Has Become Too Complicated
Obesity Ads Too Soft to be Effective
The Ad Council and the US Department of Health and Human Services are facing criticism that their ads against obesity are too soft, “namby-pamby” and wimpy to do any good. We’ve all seen the ads that show people finding lumpy-looking fat blobs here and there, and being told that they are love handles that someone… Read more about Obesity Ads Too Soft to be Effective
Emotional Health Care Hearing in Fort Collins
On Friday, about 100 Fort Collins residents gathered at the Lincoln Center for an emotional hearing sponsored by the Blue Ribbon Commission on Health Care. More than 30 people got to address the panel about how to craft a health insurance program for Colorado. Most of those 30+ people that addressed the panel voiced support… Read more about Emotional Health Care Hearing in Fort Collins
SCHIP In Colorado
Although the recent votes on SCHIP in Congress were not completely divided along partisan lines, the vetoed bill to expand SCHIP by $35 billion was supported by far more Democrats than Republicans. From Colorado, Senator Wayne Allard, and US Rep Marilyn Musgrave, both Republicans, voted against the bill. And within the state legislature, there is… Read more about SCHIP In Colorado
SCHIP – More Than A Political Debate
No big surprise – the president vetoed the SCHIP expansion bill yesterday. He’s made it very clear for weeks that he would veto the $35 billion expansion proposal from congress, and he prefers a $5 billion increase to the SCHIP budget (critics charge that $5 billion isn’t even enough to pay for the increasing health… Read more about SCHIP – More Than A Political Debate
Taxing Our Vices
The recent debate between congress and the president over expansion of SCHIP has mostly been in regards to the total spending increase. The president wants a $5 billion increase, while congress wants to increase the SCHIP budget by $35 billion in order to further expand the federal health insurance program. And it doesn’t appear that… Read more about Taxing Our Vices
Blue Ribbon Commission Now Has Five Approved Drafts
Another draft of a proposal to reform Colorado’s health care system was approved on Monday by the Blue Ribbon Commission on Health Care Reform. That makes five proposals that have been approved for consideration so far. The Commission will recommend a final version of Colorado’s health care reform, hopefully within the next few months. The… Read more about Blue Ribbon Commission Now Has Five Approved Drafts
Should SCHIP Be A State Program?
Peter Ferrara has written an article encouraging President Bush to veto the SCHIP expansion plan that congress has proposed. The president is calling for a $5 billion increase in the SCHIP budget, while the House wants to increase the budget by $50 billion and the Senate would like to see a $35 billion increase. The… Read more about Should SCHIP Be A State Program?
Clinton’s New Plan
Hillary Clinton has unveiled her plan to fix America’s ailing health care system if she becomes the next president. I was especially curious to see her ideas, since she was the person behind the Clinton administration’s efforts to overhaul the health care system in 1993. Her current proposal is much less oriented towards government-controlled health… Read more about Clinton’s New Plan
Health Care Policy Concerns
In the early 90’s, my parents opened a private psychology practice in Colorado, and obtained individual health insurance for themselves and their four children. The bill was about $200/month. Six years later, when my father decided to switch back to a salaried position, their health insurance bill was nearly $800/month, and by then only my… Read more about Health Care Policy Concerns
Health Care in a Changing America
According the the latest data released by the Kaiser Family Foundation, annual health insurance premiums for an average family on an employer-sponsored plan reached $12,106 this year. That’s a 78% increase in the last six years. In that same six years wages rose by 19%, just barely keeping ahead of inflation, which rose by 17%…. Read more about Health Care in a Changing America
Expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program
New York applied to the federal government recently to expand their State Children’s Health Insurance Program to more families, and the request was denied. SCHIP was designed to provide state and federal subsidies to provide health insurance for children in low income families – an admirable project. Last month, federal guidelines were changed to “refocus… Read more about Expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program
Preventive Health Care Getting Campaign Time
Of all the presidential candidates, John Edwards probably has the most personal reasons to put health care front and center in his campaigning. Elizabeth Edwards’ breast cancer battle has been in the news off and on for nearly three years. And although he has admitted that they are lucky to have the best care possible… Read more about Preventive Health Care Getting Campaign Time
No Easy Fixes for Health Insurance
It seems that about every third client we talk with here in Colorado is unhappy with the current health insurance system. If you look at the clients with pre-existing medical conditions, nearly all of them have complaints about the system. For people with employer-sponsored coverage, the complaint is that the policy costs too much or… Read more about No Easy Fixes for Health Insurance
C-Sections, Maternal Death, and Health Insurance
According to new government data, maternal death from childbirth is on the rise in the US, up to 13 deaths per 100,000 live births – 30 years ago the rate was 10 per 100,000 live births. The increase is attributed to several factors, including changes in how deaths are reported in some states, increasing maternal… Read more about C-Sections, Maternal Death, and Health Insurance
A Pretty Lady, A Puppy, and Some Daisies
I was heartened today to see this article announcing that the FDA is going to start studying whether “relaxing, upbeat images featured in TV drug ads distract consumers from warnings about the drugs’ risks.” According to the article, drug companies in the US spent $29.9 billion on advertising in 2005 – up 330% from a… Read more about A Pretty Lady, A Puppy, and Some Daisies
Enjoy the Cavalcade of Risk
InsuranceHelpHub hosts this weeks Cavalcade of Risk. It’s well worth your time to check out the collection of articles. Enjoy.
How Do We Improve Our Health Policy?
According to recent Census Bureau data, life expectancy for a baby born in the US in 2004 is 77.9 years. Of the 222 countries that the Census Bureau tracks, there are 41 with longer life expectancies, including Guam, Andorra, Macau, and Singapore. Something’s wrong here when one of the richest countries in the world, the… Read more about How Do We Improve Our Health Policy?
Medical Identity Theft
I was thumbing through some library magazines recently, and came across a facinating article in Good Housekeeping. Medical identity theft is still a very rare crime compared with all the other id theft problems, but apparently it’s growing at an alarming rate. The article is full of horror stories, including a pregnant meth addict who stole a… Read more about Medical Identity Theft
Check Out the Health Wonk Review
Julie Ferguson of the Workers’ Comp Insider plays host to the latest edition of the Health Wonk Review. As usual, the quality of articles can’t be beat and you’ll learn a lot about health policy by reading through what these top experts are talking about. Enjoy!
Our 1st Blogiversary
August 9th. One year since we started the Colorado Health Insurance Insider. We were on blogspot for about a month before we decided to host the blog on our website. Last year at this time, we knew a lot about health insurance in Colorado, since that’s our market. But being in the health care blogosphere has… Read more about Our 1st Blogiversary
Blue Ribbon Commission Corruption
Immediately after the State of Colorado contracted with Lewin Group to review the 208 commissions proposals on the future of health care in Colorado, Lewin Group was bought out by United Health Group (UHG). UHG is the largest provider of health insurance in Colorado, and is now also an “independent auditor” in charge of reforming… Read more about Blue Ribbon Commission Corruption