Is the VA the Key to Healthcare Reform?
To find out the answer to this question–ok, a partial answer–listen to my appearance on the NPR show The Takeaway. CLICK HERE.
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Trial and Error in Reducing Medicare Readmissions
ByadminThought I’d pass along a simple picture showing the results of Medicare efforts to reduce hospital readmissions. To their credit, the folks of Medicare are not sure what will work, so they have been pilot testing lots of programs. But as this picture from a January 2012 Congressional Budget Office briefing shows, there is wide variability…
Post-Insurance Costs Aren't the Only Things Rising
ByadminIn the previous two posts, I show that out of pocket costs are rising given the increasing prevalence of high deductible insurance plans. That means that even though you have insurance, you are going to be paying for your own care until you reach the deductible. Here is a picture showing that out-of-pocket costs are…
More on Healthcare.gov 3.0
ByadminHere is a nice follow-up story on my recent New England Journal article on improving the design of health insurance exchanges. Comparing health insurance plans – whether signing up through Healthcare.gov or weighing employer-sponsored plans with a spouse – can feel like wading through a sea of information on deductibles, co-payments and monthly premiums. Now…
What Grilled Cheese Jesus Has to Do with Randomized Trials of Healthcare Interventions
ByadminI was recently interviewed on NPR’s marketplace by Dan Gorenstein. He did a really nice story on the kind of bravery it takes for health care opinion leaders to put their ideas to the test of a randomized trial, when the world is already ready to pay them huge amounts of money to promote their…
Is Healthcare Spending About To Accelerate?
ByadminBend a resilient object and it will spring back with a vengeance once released from your grip. Is that what is about to happen to healthcare spending? For years now, experts have been debating ways to “bend the cost curve ” – take the sharp rise in healthcare costs, picture a rapidly ascending line on…
Should Little Caesars Be Forced to Tell Consumers How Many Calories Are in a Large Pizza?
ByadminAs a fan of free markets, I recognize that sometimes intelligent government regulations (not always an oxymoron!) can improve markets by requiring companies to provide consumers with information that will help them make better choices. Informed consumers, after all, are a central ingredient of a successful free market. That’s why even most libertarians support regulations…