Opinion
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States Move Ahead of Congress on Rx Drug Fix
Opinion -While Congress debates and discusses, the nation’s 50 laboratories of democracy are pushing ahead with their own plans to address the issue of affordable access to prescription drugs. -
06/2001: The Pulse
Opinion -Consumer-Driven Health Care Takes OffThe defined contribution approach is increasingly being called "consumer-driven," which shifts the focus away from employer payment and toward the role of the worker/patient. -
Market-Based Trends Noted
Opinion -One of the “perks” I receive as managing editor is the opportunity to review pending legislation. Some folks might view this activity as about as interesting as watching dandelions bloom in the lawn. -
06/2001: State Legislative Update
Opinion -Arizona A revised version of the high-risk health insurance bill (HB 2589) passed the House by a wide margin. Funding for the plan requires an insurance premium between 100 and 150 percent of the average price of an individual insurance policy and $3. -
No Thanks to Drug Companies
Opinion -The growing AIDs crisis in Africa has put U.S. drug companies in the hot seat, creating for them both an ethical and an economic dilemma. -
Bush Issues Privacy Rules
Opinion -President George W. Bush’s April decision to implement the hotly contested Medical Privacy Act shocked consumer groups and industry experts. -
Drug Benefit Debate Will Shed Light on Medicare Mess
Opinion -When Medicare was established in 1965, pharmaceutical drugs represented a small part of medical expenditures. -
Harry Potter and the Dragon of Health Care
Opinion -A mature Harry Potter has traveled through the Outerland, to the banks of the Hogwash. From here he can see his final destination: the Ministry of the Village. -
Small Business Owners Speak Out
Opinion -A new national survey, sponsored by the National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU) and co-sponsored by the Healthcare Leadership Council (HLC), National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), and U.S. -
Socialized Medicine in 10 Easy Steps
Opinion -Republicans have never been big fans of reforming the health insurance system, nor have many of them ever taken the time to learn much about it. -
Think Tank Offers Plan for Prescription Drug Security
Opinion -Lower-income senior citizens would get help right away with routine and catastrophic prescription drug expenses under a Medicare reform measure outlined in late March by the Alexandria, Virginia-based Galen Institute. -
Urban Legends Haunt Long-Term Care Decisions
Opinion -According to the American Opinions on Reforming Medicaid survey, conducted in August 1995, 72 percent of Americans cannot afford to pay the high cost of long-term health care (LTC) without financial assistance. -
Legislators Cautioned on Vaccine Authority Proposal
Opinion -Legislation proposed by the only physician-member of the Minnesota state legislature has raised red flags among some vaccine and health policy groups. Rep. Richard Mulder, M.D. -
AMA Outlines its Position on Privacy Rule
Opinion -Patient privacy is a right long advocated by the American Medical Association (AMA). Establishing federal privacy protections is a worthwhile endeavor. Yet, consensus on the details has proven to be extremely difficult. -
HIAA and Families USA Seek More Government
Opinion -The Health Insurance Association of America (HIAA), an insurance trade organization, has partnered with the American Hospital Association (AHA) and Families USA, a liberal advocacy group that supports government-run health care, in a compromise -
About The Health Policy Consensus Group
Opinion -The Health Policy Consensus Group is a task force of leading health care economists and health policy analysts, including researchers at the major market-oriented think tanks. -
Price Controls and Grandma’s Medicine
Opinion -Many legislators believe they are assisting senior citizens by interfering in the normal market process that establishes prescription drug prices. History, however, provides evidence to the contrary. -
NCPA and AMA Lead the Way to Market-based Reform
Opinion -President George W. Bush has told Congress he supports a market-based approach to health care reform. -
Bush Administration Stumbles
Opinion -Misgivings about President George W. Bush's ideas on health care are turning into alarm as the new administration unfolds. -
‘Bill of Rights’ a Boon to Lawyers, Not Patients
Opinion -Like used-car salesmen, politicians in Washington, D.C. have taken the flawed, old model of the patients' bill of rights and slapped a new sticker on it in an effort to fool unwitting buyers. The legislation has always been a lemon. -
04/2001: The Pulse
Opinion -Small Business Groups Work DC BeatThe National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) is busy in Washington, supporting association health plans, expanded MSAs, and full deductibility of premiums for the self-employed, according to Al Crenshaw in the -
Privacy of Medical Records in the News
Opinion -Last year a sophisticated Internet hacker took control of the University of Washington Medical Center’s network and downloaded the admissions records of 4,000 cardiology patients. -
04/2001: State Legislative Update
Opinion -Arizona According to an opinion issued by Arizona Attorney General Janet Napolitano, the state’s tobacco settlement money must be used for health care programs included in the Proposition 204 initiative passed by voters— not to supplant funding for -
Why We Need Market-based Health Care Reform: Part 2 of 2
Opinion -The United States does not have a properly functioning market for health care, and the financing system needs to be reformed. The market is distorted by a tax policy that is mistargeted, miscalibrated, and open-ended.