Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
The Economist reports that Argentina has recently passed “a law to nationalise the country’s private pension system.” Is this a good thing? With the stock market in the tank, many individuals yearn for the security of a government-funded retirement plans compared to private, individual investments in stocks and bonds. However, public pensions may not be so…
Health economists and policymakers have lots of ideas of how to improve the health care system. Yet few of these reforms are implemented. Why? Max Hotopf of Healthcare Europa tries to answer this question in the context of Europe’s attempts at healthcare reform. Below are some of his arguments and my comments. Decentralization. “In most…
“Peter Orszag, director of the Congressional Budget Office, estimates that 5 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product-—$700 billion per year –goes to tests and procedures that do not actually improve health outcomes…The unreasonably high cost of health care in the United States is a deeply entrenched problem that must be attacked at its root.” This…
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.”
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…
The Health08.org website has a great tool to give voters a side-by-side comparison of John McCain and Barack Obama’s stance on a variety of health care issues. For some commentary on each of the candidates health care reform proposals see my post on Obama vs. McCain health care policies.
Medicare was implemented in 1965 to cover the medical costs of the oldest members in society. In 1965, the U.S. life expectancy was only 70 years old. Now, however, life expectancy at birth is over 78 years. Medicare is now not just covering the oldest of the old, it also covers the “moderately” old since…
Should the Treasury bail out Fannie and Freddie? A recent Economist article gives a level-headed solution: nationalize and then dismantle them. Most libertarians would say that Fannie and Freddie should fail. Having these two giant players collapse, however, add dynamite to an already explosive mortgage finance market. Thus, the short term solution must be to…
Barack Obama and John McCain both believe that they know how to improve the American health care system. A policy brief by Michael Tanner has nice summary of the two candidates policies. I will review some of this paper today. Obama’s general health care policy Obama goal is to expand government provided health care and…
Merrill Goozner of GoozNews has an interesting interview with Richard Ebright, a chemistry professor at Rutgers University. The two discuss the Bruce Ivins, anthrax, and bioterrorism. A few poignant excerpts. Ebright: “We’ve spent $57 billion in biodefense since 2001. The annual budget for NIH is only $30 billion. The spending has been disproportionate to the…