Opinion
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04/2003 Scandlen at Large: Maryland and HRAs
Opinion -I recently testified on Health Reimbursement Arrangements before the Maryland Senate Finance Committee. Maryland is unique in having a “Health Care Access Commission” that defines what benefits will be allowed to be offered in the small group market. -
04/2003 The Galen Report
Opinion -President Bush has fulfilled his promise to propose much-needed changes to the Medicare program, but his delay in providing details has put the White House on the defensive as the debate begins on this first-tier issue. -
04/2003 State Update
Opinion -Arkansas * Connecticut * Florida * Illinois Missouri * New Hampshire * Oregon * Pennsylvania * Washington ARKANSAS Preauthorization on Hold The Department of Human Services has suspended for 60 days the requirement that claims -
Missouri Proposal Adds New Layer of Bureaucracy
Opinion -Missouri State Senator James Mathewson (D-Sedalia) has introduced a measure he says would give the state more “buying power” by combining into a single plan the myriad health plans offered to government employees in the state. -
What Bush Didn’t Say about Medicare Reform
Opinion -President Bush appears to be struggling to settle on a Medicare reform plan that can dodge political bullets yet still deliver results that make a difference. -
Medical Malpractice Reform Critical for Seniors Health Care
Opinion -Senior citizens know all too well that doctors are fleeing from the medical profession. -
Bloodletting Doesn’t Work!
Opinion -Beware policymakers who still believe the centuries-old practice of bloodletting is an acceptable medical procedure for treatment of a patient bleeding to death. -
Analysis: Where Do [the Presidential Candidates] Stand?
Opinion -Health care issues--especially access to affordable health insurance--will likely play a larger role in the 2004 Presidential race than in 2000, particularly if proposals from former Vermont Governor Howard Dean and Missouri Congressman Richard -
Norwood Tries to Revive Patients’ Rights Debate
Opinion -Rep. Charlie Norwood (R-Georgia) is trying to revive the debate over patients’ rights by proposing two new bills. Norwood’s first measure, last year’s Patients’ Bill of Rights Act, has been edited and renamed the Patient Protection Act (PPA). -
TAA Contains Health Benefits with State Implications
Opinion -Last August, President George W. Bush signed into law the Trade Adjustment Act of 2002 (TAA), helping eligible individuals maintain their health insurance if they lose their jobs due to trade arrangements. -
Are We Eating Ourselves to Death?
Opinion -Is there or is there not an epidemic of obesity? Should you worry about that growing cummerbund around your waist? Of course not. We all perished 10 years ago in the global famine, so confidently predicted by the environmental apocalyptics of the 1970s. -
03/2003 State Update
Opinion -Arizona * Colorado * Kentucky * Maryland Massachusetts * Michigan * Missouri * Nevada North Carolina * Pennsylvania * Tennessee * Vermont * West Virginia ARIZONA Drug Price Controls Governor Janet Napolitano (D) launched through an executive order a -
03/2003 The Galen Report
Opinion -Nobel laureate Milton Friedman has long been interested in health policy and the importance of reforms that will promote greater individual freedom. -
Virginia Regulators Seize Malpractice Insurer
Opinion -Virginia insurance regulators placed troubled medical malpractice insurer Reciprocal of America into receivership on January 29. -
The Politics of Medicare Reform
Opinion -Emboldened by a desire to make the program sustainable, Republicans were preparing what they claimed would be the most sweeping changes to Medicare in a generation. In Washington, there was a buzz. -
A Health Care Reform Agenda: Desirable State Changes
Opinion -John McClaughry is president of the Ethan Allen Institute, a nonprofit research and education organization based in Vermont. -
Jury Awards Forcing Doctors off the Job
Opinion -Doctors in West Virginia and Nevada opened the new year by following through on threats to walk off the job in response to prohibitively high malpractice insurance premiums. -
03/2003 Scandlen at Large: Consumer Choice Matters
Opinion -With this issue of Health Care News, I’m launching a new focus for this column on consumer choice matters. -
108th Congress Has Opportunity to Liberate MSAs
Opinion -How well would Individual Retirement Accounts work if they were available only to employees of businesses with fewer than 50 people? What if Section 529 College Savings Plans could be started only by the self-employed? Suppose Sec. -
Bush Sends Mixed Signals
Opinion -In his State of the Union Address on January 28, President George W. Bush mentioned a prescription drug benefit and the need to get affordable drugs to AIDS patients in other countries. -
Long-term Care Crisis Builds
Opinion -State governments face their worst fiscal crises in 50 years. The federal budget flipped from a triple-digit surplus to a triple-digit deficit. -
Need a Doctor? Call a Lawyer!
Opinion -The barriers to affordable health care in the U.S. have long included outdated government-run programs like Medicare and Medicaid and an over-abundance of mandates and regulations imposed on the health care industry. -
Bush’s State of The Union Proposals On Health Care Will Fuel Debate
Opinion -The debate between Democrats and Republicans over health care issues in 2003 promises to be more productive than it has been in quite some time. -
Congress Should Make MSAs Permanent
Opinion -The Medical Savings Account (MSA) pilot project, created by provisions in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), is scheduled to expire on December 31, 2003.
