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Medicaid on the Ballot by Paul Krugman, The New York Times | October 29, 2012
There’s a lot we don’t know about what Mitt Romney would do if he won. He refuses to say which tax loopholes he would close to make up for $5 trillion in tax cuts; his economic “plan” is an empty shell. But one thing is clear: If he wins, Medicaid — which now covers more than 50 million Americans, and which President Obama would expand further as part of his health reform — will face savage cuts. Estimates suggest that a Romney victory would deny health insurance to about 45 million people who would have coverage if he lost, with two-thirds of that difference due to the assault on Medicaid. So this election is, to an important degree, really about Medicaid. And this, in turn, means that you need to know something more about the program. read more »How Insurers Could Game Medicare Vouchers by Ezra Klein, The Washington Post | October 25, 2012
There are two tough questions facing the folks who want to remake Medicare into a premium support (or voucher) program. The first is that, despite decades of attempts, we don’t have a single good example of a competitive health insurance market driving down prices in a big way. Now some people think that perhaps it can work, and these efforts just got it wrong, somehow. I actually count myself in that camp, at least somewhat. But so far, the fact is that it just hasn’t worked. The second is that we do have evidence that a major way insurers compete is through trying to figure out who’s healthy and who’s sick and insuring the healthy people and turning away (or pricing out, or underserving) the sick people. And that’s a kind of competition we don’t much want. read more »America Is Even More Unequal than It Seems by Salvatore Babones, inequality.org | October 22, 2012
We all know that the United States is the most unequal of the rich nations of the world. Only relatively poor countries like Malaysia and Mexico have levels of inequality similar to those in the United States. All of the rich countries of western Europe and east Asia have much lower levels of inequality than we do. The real situation, however, is worse than the income data would suggest. Data on income inequality only tell half the story. The differences in the ways people live are only partly determined by income. They’re also determined by the levels of government services provided to everyone. This is most obvious when it comes to healthcare. In the rest of the developed world, everyone has health insurance. Depending how you count, about a quarter of working-age Americans don’t. Real inequalities in health coverage are even greater, since the richest Americans tend to have the best insurance. read more »What Obama Really Wants To Do In A Second Term by Perry Bacon Jr., thegrio.com | October 19, 2012
Following President Obama’s strong performance in Tuesday’s debate, Republicans, including Mitt Romney, have seized on a new line of attack: the president isn’t being specific enough about his second term agenda. Non-partisan analysts are making the same claim, namely that Obama must provide more details about what he would do in his next four years to win. They’re wrong. Even though he’s not talking about these ideas much on the campaign trail, it’s likely Obama would push for immigration and energy reform and a long-term budget deficit reduction deal in a second term. But perhaps the most important goal of an Obama second term, one he has nodded at himself at times, is preserving the accomplishments of his first term. read more »WHY Is Mitt Romney Trying to Kill Me? by Clancy Sigal, readersupportednews.org | October 16, 2012
Under the influence of the painkiller Dilaudid, and dog-tired after another day of fighting for my life with my private health insurance company, I glimpsed Mitt Romney and his running-mate, Paul Ryan, entering my Los Angeles hospital room dressed in surgical gowns with scalpels in their hands ready to fatally operate on me. It was a drug-induced hallucination, of course. But the mirage made me sit bolt upright in bed and, fully awake, start to rethink my previous, bitterly dissenting view of Barack Obama. I have written bitterly attacking Obama's serial betrayals. He's no street-scrapper, our Barack. Prior to falling sick, I pined for a third-party candidate, and seriously thought about not voting. But a drug-induced vision of a Romney/Ryan medical hell changed my mind. On 6 November, I'm pulling the lever for Obama: my arrogant, self-sabotaging, drone-happy, compromise-addicted war president. read more »Medicaid Is the Real Target by Jamelle Bouie, prospect.org | October 16, 2012
Since August, when Mitt Romney chose Paul Ryan as his running mate, the two campaigns have fought a fierce battle over who is the most stalwart protector of Medicare. The irony is that—in the short term, at least—Medicare will stay unchanged, regardless of who wins the election. Seniors are among the most mobilized voters in the electorate, and there’s too much political risk involved in making big, immediate changes to Medicare. For that reason, Medicare reform plans on both sides are backloaded and will take time to unfold. The same isn’t true of Medicaid, the other major federal health-care program. The primary constituency for Medicaid—poor and working-class families—lacks the clout and influence of seniors. And while the Obama administration expanded the program in the Affordable Care Act, it has also made Medicaid a ripe target for conservative cuts to social insurance. read more »Death By Ideology by Paul Krugman, The New York Times | October 15, 2012
Mitt Romney doesn’t see dead people. But that’s only because he doesn’t want to see them; if he did, he’d have to acknowledge the ugly reality of what will happen if he and Paul Ryan get their way on health care. Last week, speaking to The Columbus Dispatch, Mr. Romney declared that nobody in America dies because he or she is uninsured: “We don’t have people that become ill, who die in their apartment because they don’t have insurance.” This followed on an earlier remark by Mr. Romney — echoing an infamous statement by none other than George W. Bush — in which he insisted that emergency rooms provide essential health care to the uninsured. These are remarkable statements. They clearly demonstrate that Mr. Romney has no idea what life (and death) are like for those less fortunate than himself. read more »How The World Works In Romney's Bubble by Digby , OurFuture.org | October 12, 2012
Once again, Mitt says everybody in America has hunky dory health care even if they don't have insurance: read more »Fast-Forward to 2013 by Marilyn Katz, inthesetimes.com | October 12, 2012
I'll give it to Mitt Romney. During the debate he looked and sounded pretty “presidential”: good haircut, power tie, in command (total control, really) of the debate. Romney’s performance had the intended effect. Virtually every poll across the nation had his numbers soaring in the past week. Many show him leading Obama both in the popular vote and in critical swing states. Presumably, that means many American are now ”looking at Romney in a new light.” While his running mate Paul Ryan didn't do as well, for those who were swayed by Romney's performance, it might be prudent to think past his style or what positions he chose to take that night. Based on Romney’s record—as well as the agendas of his party, his running mate and the Super PACs to which he would owe his victory—let’s take a moment to envision what life would be like under a Romney presidency. read more »At Vice Presidential Debate, Paul Ryan Is Frank About Roe v. Wade Plans by Michelle Goldberg, thedailybeast.com | October 12, 2012
Abortion was discussed only briefly during Thursday night’s vice presidential debate, but the exchange about it was, I think, an important moment, because it drove home the likelihood than a Republican victory in November will mean the end of Roe v. Wade. During the vice-presidential debate, many pro-choice observers were irritated by the way moderator Martha Raddatz framed her lone question about abortion in terms of the candidates’ Catholicism. Nevertheless, the question worked perfectly for Joe Biden. In general, Americans are ambivalent about abortion, but they don’t want to make it illegal. By speaking in religious terms, Biden was able to combine his personal opposition to abortion with a strongly pro-choice stance. Ryan, by contrast, reminded the country that he opposes abortion in all circumstances, and that Romney intends to severely restrict it. read more »
The Latest
Job Opportunities in Health Care, CNN | March 18, 2009
With the unemployment rate at 8.1 percent and thousands of Americans getting laid off every day, the employment landscape looks bleak. But some experts say there are many job opportunities in the health care sector. Nearly 182,000 new students in 2006-2007 entered prelicensure RN programs, which prepare students to sit for the RN licensing exam. read more »
Report: U.S. Health Care System a Liability, MSNBC News | March 12, 2009
Americans spend $2.4 trillion a year on health care. The Business Roundtable report says Americans in 2006 spent $1,928 per capita on health care, at least two-and-a-half times more per person than any other advanced country. The report took those costs and factored benefits into the equation. The results are not encouraging. read more »
Supreme Court: Patients Can Sue Drug Makers, Los Angeles Times | March 5, 2009
The Supreme Court dealt a defeat to the pharmaceutical industry and the Bush administration, ruling that federal approval of a prescription drug does not provide a shield against lawsuits from injured patients. The 6-3 decision upholds the traditional right of American consumers to sue the manufacturer if they are harmed by a defective product. read more »
More Underinsured, Most Cost to Consumers, Associated Press | March 5, 2009
Americans already shouldering the cost of millions of people without health insurance should brace for a double-whammy: a surge in the number of the "underinsured," or consumers who have some but not enough coverage. The problem, according to health care industry experts, is that the government and those with employer-based plans will have to pick up the tab. read more »
Recession to Push More Into Public Health, mcclatchydc.com | February 24, 2009
Six million Americans are expected to lose private health coverage by the end of next year, while Medicaid, the national health program for low-income Americans, will beef up its enrollment to pick up much of the slack, federal health analysts reported. read more »
Health Costs May in $2.5 Trillion in 2009, Business Week | February 24, 2009
The recession is shifting health-care costs from the private to the public sector, but it isn't making medical spending any less burdensome. Federal economists project that total U.S. health-care spending will reach $2.5 trillion this year, $1 billion more than last year. read more »
Health Care Costs Top $8,000 Per Person, Associated Press | February 24, 2009
A new government report on medical costs paints a stark picture for President Barack Obama, who is expected to call for a health care overhaul in a speech to a joint session of Congress. Even before lawmakers start debating how care is delivered to the American people, the report shows the economy is making the job of reform harder. read more »
Lawmakers Seek to Return Right to Sue Device Makers, The New York Times | February 20, 2009
At issue is a February 2008 court ruling that barred patients or their survivors from suing makers of complex medical devices — like the Medtronic product — if the Food and Drug Administration has approved their sale. Since that ruling judges nationwide, including the one in St. Paul, have cited it to dismiss cases against a wide range of manufacturers, including Medtronic. read more »
Cash-Strapped Patients Skipping Drugs, Reuters | February 11, 2009
Americans with financial worries because of the ailing economy may be skipping needed prescription drugs in a wrong-headed attempt to save money, according to a survey. Nearly 95 percent of doctors surveyed by Epocrates Inc. said they have some concern that patients may not be taking a prescribed drug correctly because of the economic climate. read more »
Obama Signs Children’s Health Insurance Bill, The New York Times | February 5, 2009
The House gave final approval to a bill extending health insurance to millions of low-income children, and President Obama signed it, in the first of what he hopes will be many steps to guarantee coverage for all Americans. Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the tally, 290 to 135. Forty Republicans voted for the bill, and 2 Democrats voted against it. Representative Henry A. read more »
