Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
Readers Digest has a nice piece on how universal health insurance is working out for people in Massachusetts. “Massachusetts put into practice the health care solution everyone is arguing about. Here’s how it works and what it means for the rest of us.”
The Los Angeles Times has a three part series looking at the health insurance market in the U.S. An eroding model for health insurance. Seeking distance from medical risk, insurers branch out into banking. Individual policies, often the only coverage available, are pricey and precarious.
What are the tax implications of John McCain’s health care proposal? The key components are that health insurance will no longer be tax deductible but individuals will receive a $5000 credit of purchasing health insurance. Let’s work out some simple math to see how this will impact the life of a typical American. Example with…
Health insurance require that all individuals buy health insurance. Most voters views on an individual mandate depend on how you frame the question. If you ask voters: “Should everyone buy health insurance?” Most people will say yes. If you ask “Should the government compel all individuals to buy health insurance regardless of the cost?” Then…
Hospital-acquired, or nosocomial, infections are often caused by poor hospital care. Patients arrive to the hospital and often leave with infections caused by unsanitary hospital conditions. Should Medicare pay for these hospital-induced health care costs? A knee jerk reaction would be to say no. If the hospital adversely influence patient health, Medicare or other payors should…
This is the question asked by Newhouse and Sinaiko in their 2008 paper in the Forum for Health Economics and Policy. The answer is yes. Single Payer Country Health Exp as Share of GDP (2006) Canada 10.0 Norway 8.7 Portugal 10.2 Spain 8.4 Sweden 9.2 United Kingdom 8.4 Average 9.2 Multi-payer Country Health Exp…
Yesterday I wrote about the problems with fragmented medical care in America. Is a single payer system the only solution? A Commonwealth Fund report shows that the single payer system is not the only path towards improved, more integrated care. What we want The report outlines six general improvements that need to be made to…
The U.S. healthcare system is one of the more fragmented systems in the world. Traditionally, economists believe that a splash of decentralized planning with a heap of free markets is a recipe for efficient outcomes. In the case of health care coordination, however, information sharing, and collaborative work are needed if quality is to improve…
A recent Robert Wood Johnson Report (see also press release) finds that uninsured children receive less needed medical care than individuals with health insurance. The report finds that 91% of children who are insured have had a physician visit in the last year compared to only 69% of uninsured children. Seventy seven percent of children…
According to the U.S. Census: Both the percentage and number of people without health insurance decreased in 2007. The percentage without health insurance was 15.3 percent in 2007, down from 15.8 percent in 2006, and the number of uninsured was 45.7 million, down from 47.0 million. The percentage of people covered by private health insurance…