The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Health subcommittee approved a small change this week in the Affordable Care Act that is a victory for insurance companies. Although many health advocates illustrate insurance companies as the big bad wolf in American healthcare, they are a vital business in the market for better health. Under the Affordable … Continue reading
Category Archives: Healthcare
Lagging Behind: Healthcare Information Technology
As is painfully clear and obvious there are many aspects of the United States healthcare system that need reform, but at what is arguably the very heart of the issue is a need for better health information technology (HIT). At a panel sponsored by Health Affairs, Sam Nussbaum, the executive Vice President and Chief Medical … Continue reading
Bigger Isn’t Always Better?
From a young age Americans are taught through numerous outlets that bigger is better. Bigger Tonka truck. Bigger stuffed animal. Bigger house. Bigger car. Bigger TV. Bigger engagement ring. The list goes on. In some circumstances bigger may be better. In some cases it is not. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act The President’s Affordable … Continue reading
What’s for Lunch, Mommy? Ask Mayor Bloomberg.
We all became aware of Mayor Bloomberg’s war on obesity this May, when he proposed a ban for New York City on sugary drinks larger than 16 oz. This was an extreme response to the ongoing obesity epidemic that plagues our nation, and worst of all, our children. Although the soda ban was overly paternalistic, … Continue reading
Some Children Falling Through the Cracks in PPACA
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a June 2012 report with findings that almost a quarter of the approximately 7 million children who were uninsured in January 2009 will not be eligible for Medicaid, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), or the new premium tax credit under the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care … Continue reading
The CDHP Premium Difference
Individuals switch to consumer directed health plans (CDHP) in an effort to save money, and to have an insurance plan that accurately reflects their risk aversion and actuarial value. Such plans are cost effective for individuals with low risk of catastrophic (high cost) events because the plans are generally offered in connection with higher deductibles … Continue reading
Sugar, Fake Sugar, Sugar That Will Give You Cancer
Pink, blue, yellow, green, white: what is your sweetener of choice? I just avoid adding it to my daily morning coffee completely. I see the real stuff as unnecessary calories in my day and the others as chemical substances that may give me cancer. The association of artificial sweeteners with cancer started in the 1970’s … Continue reading
A (Very Simple) Forecast of the Most Popular Type of Insurance
My overly simple linear forecasts about insurance types predict that high deductible health plans with savings options will soon have more enrollees than any other type of insurance. Why? I assume that it is due to the perceived low probability of maxing out on deductibles combined with the desires to pay as little per month … Continue reading
Less Is Often More
In the blame game of who is responsible for our broken healthcare system, society often sees the government and insurance companies as the institutions responsible for creating fragmentation and driving up health care costs. While they certainly are part of the equation, we can also point the finger at a number of parties. Hospitals, the … Continue reading
The Romney Medicare Plan
Medicare spending is out of control. A key reason is that the government is inefficiently shoving its clumsy hand across the program, demonstrating a failure to understand the power of the free market. When individuals feel an inaccurately small marginal cost for a good, they purchase too much of that good. Too much medical care? … Continue reading
Policy Interns 
You must be logged in to post a comment.