Opinion
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Market Competition Can Improve U.S. Health Care, Authors Say
Opinion -Healthy Competition: What's Holding Back Health Care and How to Free It by Michael F. Cannon and Michael D. Tanner (Washington, DC: Cato Institute, 2005) $9. -
Katrina Response Shows Need for Medicaid Reform
Opinion -Hurricane Katrina has brought to the fore the strengths and weaknesses of America's health care delivery system. Millions of individual Americans, acting on their own initiative, quickly responded to meet the dire need Katrina created. -
Congressional Health Legislation ‘Scrambled,’ Policy Director Says
Opinion -Dean Rosen, director of health policy for U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN), said in September the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina had "scrambled" the legislative agenda in Congress. -
GAO Report Focuses on ‘Concierge Medicine’
Opinion -"Concierge medicine" is now before Congress. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (the new name for the General Accounting Office) issued a report in August looking at how concierge medicine is evolving in the United States. -
Commonwealth Care
Opinion -This year, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) introduced legislation (HD 4673) to reform health care in his state and to provide health insurance for every resident. -
Study: Estate Law Reform Critically Needed in Kansas
Opinion -As aging Americans increasingly require long-term care, estate law has become more critical than ever before ... and no less complicated. -
Excerpts from GAO Concierge Care Report
Opinion -Given the concerns about how concierge care might affect Medicare beneficiaries, the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 required us to study and report on the practice. -
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How to Reduce the Risk of Nutritional Diseases
Opinion -The United States is experiencing an epidemic of diseases related to poor nutrition. Rates of heart disease, stroke, type-2 diabetes, and obesity are all rising rapidly. -
Mass. Governor Offers Insurance Reform Plan
Opinion -In an effort, he said, to expand access to affordable health insurance, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) has developed a reform plan that requires all residents of the state to have health insurance or possess the means to provide for their own care. -
Why Employer-Based Health Insurance Is Unraveling
Opinion -In a September 13 statement, the CEO of Starbucks Corp. announced his company will spend more on health insurance for its employees this year than on coffee beans. Howard Schultz, meeting with Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) and Rep. -
Insurer Lists Ohio Physician Fees Online
Opinion -Connecticut-based health insurer Aetna has made available online to its policyholders information on the prices it has negotiated with in-network doctors in the Cincinnati, Ohio area. -
South Carolina Plans Tailored Medicaid
Opinion -In June, the state of South Carolina requested permission from the U.S. -
FDA Approves New Vaccine in Time for Flu Season
Opinion -In a major step toward increasing the supply of flu vaccine in the United States, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) announced August 31 that the U.S. -
Individual Health Insurance Is Accessible, Affordable, Study Finds
Opinion -On August 29, America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) issued the findings of a comprehensive survey of companies doing business in the individual health insurance market. -
Nurse Practitioners Offer Effective, Low-Cost Care
Opinion -Health care reform is one of the most significant public policy issues facing the United States. The debate frequently focuses on government policy and programs, often to the exclusion of non-government solutions. -
South Carolina Medicaid Choice
Opinion -As Congress considers recommendations on Medicaid reform from the federal Medicaid Advisory Commission, National Governors Association, and National Conference of State Legislatures, individual states have been working to reform their Medicaid programs -
Hospitals in the Hot Seat
Opinion -In the coming year there will be a convergence of forces descending on America's hospital industry like the proverbial ton of bricks. And the industry isn't remotely prepared for it. -
Options for Hospital Administrators
Opinion -Defensiveness and rationalizations will make an administrator look guilty when the television cameras are rolling. -
Merck Plans Appeal After Losing First Vioxx Verdict
Opinion -In August, a Texas jury found the pharmaceutical company Merck responsible for the death of a man who took the Cox-2 painkiller Vioxx for eight months. The verdict awarded $253.4 million to the man's widow. Merck will appeal the decision. -
Vermont Insurer Proving Successful with HSAs
Opinion -When Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont introduced a basic high-deductible health plan coordinated with a Health Savings Account (HSA) in January 2004, there was a 400 percent growth in the number of customers moving from the Medical Savings Account (MSA) -
Tough Medicaid Choices Ahead for Congress
Opinion -After a quiet August in Washington as members of Congress returned to their states and districts, the Capitol roared back to life in September because of budgetary deadlines. Congress continues to explore how it will come up with budget savings. -
New HSA Resources Provide Info to Consumers
Opinion -HSAs en Español In remarks to the California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce in Oakland August 26, U.S. -
Texas Postpones Drug Importation from Canada
Opinion -A new law intended to make it easier for Texans to buy low-cost prescription drugs from Canada was put on hold just weeks before it was to go into effect, when the federal government pointed out the measure was illegal.
