Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
Last month, I blogged about allowing a government-sponsored health plan to compete with private insurers. Joe Paduda gives one argument in favor of a public health insurer that any economist would love: increased competition. “The reality today is that almost every market is already dominated by a very few health plans, so much so that…
Markets win. Meloso D, Copic J, and Bossaerts P. (2009) “Promoting Intellectual Discovery: Patents Versus Markets” Science” Vol. 323. no. 5919, pp. 1335 – 1339.
HIV is a huge health issue around the world and especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Many American NGOs have promoted abstinence programs as a way to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. However, most evidence finds that this approach has been ineffective. An NBER working paper by Dupas (2009) adds more support that abstinence programs do not…
Regarding my post on Monday, Obama’s stimulus package–a.k.a. the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)–includes 1.1 billion dollars for clinical comparative effectiveness research. According to the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), ARRA “allocates $1.1 billion for comparative clinical effectiveness research, including $300 million for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and $400 million each…
Yes, Dr. Peter Schuck (Professor, Yale Law School): “…juries in different states make different decisions on the same drug–hardly a recipe for the uniformity and predictability to which manufacturers should be entitled. A jury’s flaws are inherent in its design. In contrast, the FDA’s flaws–and they are many–can at least be remedied by Congress, to…
All health services researches know that comparative-effectiveness research is a vital link towards improving quality and decreasing cost. Comparative effectiveness examines different medical treatments and evaluates which are the most cost effective. The UK’s NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) publishes clinical appraisals regarding which treatments the NHS should cover. Should the U.S. create a…
Does Social Security work? By that, I mean does giving elderly individuals a government pension increase their level of income, the amount of goods the can consume, or even their happiness? An NBER working paper by Baker, Gruber and Milligan (2009) tries to answer this question in the Canadian setting. Background Currently, Canadian income transfer…
Joe Paduda of Managed Care Matters has a two great posts on Medicare’s new payment structure. The first post reports how exactly Medicare is changing its reimbursement for medical services. “It looks like reimbursement for cognitive services – the 99xxx codes for readers expert in CPT-4s…office visits and similar services for others – will…
While President Obama’s speech to Congress had many components, I’m going to focus on those related to health care. I will also comment on the Republican response. OBAMA ADDRESS I applaud the President for specifically addressing the need for health care reform. “…we can no longer afford to put health care reform on hold. We…
“If you do not have insurance you can choose to enroll in the new public plan, which will offer benefits similar to what every federal employee and member of Congress gets. Or you can choose private plan options…” Barack Obama.com Should the government develop a health plan that would compete with private health plans? Thomas Rice thinks…