Opinion
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When it Comes to Health Care, You Can Insure a Burning House
Opinion -Jane is 58 years old and lives in Florida. She saved up a significant retirement nest egg and decided to take early retirement. Even though she was offered COBRA continuation coverage, she did not act on it. -
Failings of Canadian Health Care Hit Close to Home
Opinion -Thirty years ago I was dating a young doctor who was experiencing severe back pain. At the time, the “Papaya Treatment” was in vogue, and the place to get it done was St. James Hospital in Toronto, Canada. -
NAHU Brings Free-Market Message to Capitol Hill
Opinion -The National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU) held its 12th annual Capitol Conference on February 2-5 in the shadow of the nation's capitol. -
03/2002: The Galen Report
Opinion -The contrast between modern consumer-oriented ideas to reform the health care system and tired centralized-control models came into sharp contrast again recently. Senator Ted Kennedy, sadly, is dredging up failed ideas from the past. -
Good News and Bad in State of the Union Address
Opinion -Following President George W. Bush’s State of the Union address, delivered on January 29, there’s been a whirlwind of news about the administration's health policy initiatives. -
A Proposal to Create Personal and Portable Insurance in Texas
Opinion -Managing editor’s note: In the February 2002 issue of Health Care News, we presented a discussion of Texas’ uninsured problem written by John C. Goodman of the National Center for Policy Analysis. -
English Health Care: Not Your Cup of Tea: Part 2 in a series
Opinion -An Englishman I met while in Sheffield was most colorful when I asked him to describe the National Health Service (NHS). In a printable response he said, simply, "Hobson's Choice. -
Canadian Health Care Fails Five Ways
Opinion -Canadians demand certain basic characteristics in a health care system. They speak of the “five principles” of the Canada Health Act: public administration, accessibility, portability, comprehensiveness, and universality. -
HHS Releases $200 Million Bioterrorism Funds
Opinion -Health and Human Services (HHS) released the first $200 million of a $1. -
High-Risk Pools Insure the Uninsurable
Opinion -Approximately 2.5 million people in the U.S.—about 1 percent of the population—suffer from pre-existing medical conditions that make it likely their future medical expenses will be extremely high. -
HIPAA Ushers in New Era in Health Data Security
Opinion -According to health industry analysts, compliance with new privacy and security rules passed as part of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) will cost the nation’s health-related businesses some $43 billion. -
Defined Contribution Gains Momentum
Opinion -According to a recent study by Conning & Company, an investment management and research firm headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut, the U.S. is at the beginning stages of a significant change in how health insurance is delivered to most Americans. -
02/2002: The Pulse
Opinion -Ontario’s The National Post recently conducted a new survey of Canadian public opinion on a host of health care issues. -
02/2002: State Legislative Update
Opinion -California In a letter to state legislative leaders, Gov. Gray Davis (D) renewed his push for legislation to ensure continuity of care for patients when their doctors and managed care organizations have contract disputes. -
Federal Tax Credits Would Uninsured by 85%, Studies Say
Opinion -People with employer-provided health insurance receive a substantial tax saving because this benefit is not taxed as income. By contrast, people who buy their own insurance must do so with after-tax dollars. -
What Government Giveth, it Can Taketh
Opinion -As work begins in the 2002 sessions, state legislators will have their hands full with two major issues: budgets awash in red ink, and homeland security issues related to the events of September 11, 2001. -
‘Patient Safety’ Initiative Could Lead to Rationing
Opinion -The federal government's release of $50 million in patient safety grants may be used to create a national patient information system, warns the Citizens' Council on Health Care (CCHC), a Minnesota-based independent health care policy organization. -
State Risk Pools Under the Gun
Opinion -Managing Editor’s note: In August 2001, a report titled "Insuring the Uninsurable: An Overview of State High-Risk Health Insurance Pools," written by Lori Achman and Deborah Chollet of Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. -
02/2002 Galen Report
Opinion -Supporters of free-market health reform have a new reason to be in high spirits. -
High-Risk Pools: A Primer
Opinion -High-risk pools play an important role in the health care system. They are state-created, nonprofit associations that offer comprehensive health insurance benefits to individuals with pre-existing health problems. -
How to Solve Texas’ Uninsured Problem: A Minority Report
Opinion -In October 1999, then-Governor George W. -
Illiteracy: The Health Care Death Trap
Opinion -Many months ago, the popular TV show ER ran a sub-plot about a patient who died from an overdose of a prescribed medication. I expected to see lawyers invade the emergency room, demanding lawsuits for yet another alleged medical error. -
The SimpleCare Story
Opinion -Editor’s note: In “Fee-for-Service Health Care Makes a Comeback,” published in the inaugural (March 2001) issue of Health Care News, we offered a brief introduction to SimpleCare, and described how the program had grown to about 600 medical providers in -
Emergency Health Powers Act: A Poison Pill
Opinion -And so it came to pass, in the fall of 2001, that the federal government, having taken unto itself great new powers to fight terrorists, turned its attention to the rest of us.
