Health Wonk Review is up

Brad Wright captures the feeling of many after another bruising ACA battle: fatigue.  He’s posted the Health Wonk Review: Repeal Fatigue Edition at Wright on Health. While the repeal saga is under discussion, wonks bring many more topics to the table, too, and Brad does a nice job encapsulating them.

Does calorie labeling work?

I am generally skeptical of broad, top-down approaches to improve health. For instance, soda taxes are one example.  While soda is clearly not got for you, should unhealthy drinks like Red Bull be taxed?  Why single out soda?  What about cheesecake?  Thus, these efforts–while well intentioned–can seem arbitrary and paternalistic. On the other hand, posting…

What is Graham Cassidy?

The Republican’s latest health care bill is the Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson (GCHJ) proposal or Graham Cassidy for short. Below is my super short summary of the bill. What does it propose? The Washington Post has a nice summary which shows that the bill would: Not force you to buy insurance (repeal the individual mandate) Not force employers to…

How doctor’s die

Although this Saturday Evening Post article comparing how physicians and patients prefer end of life treatment is from 2013, it is interesting throughout. Years ago, Charlie, a highly respected orthopedist and a mentor of mine, found a lump in his stomach. He had a surgeon explore the area, and the diagnosis was pancreatic cancer. This…

HWR is up

Yesterday was an eventful day in health policy world with Medicare for All bill and Graham-Cassidy both being introduced almost simultaneously and a Health Affairs event on Understanding the Value of Medical Innovations … but despite this,Louise Norris was still managed to compile The Neverending Summer of Healthcare Legislation Edition of the Health Wonk Review at Colorado Health Insurance…