Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report Feature Highlights Recent Blog Entries
While mainstream news coverage is still a primary source of information for the latest in policy debates and the health care marketplace, online blogs have become a significant part of the media landscape, often presenting new perspectives on policy issues and drawing attention to under-reported topics. To provide complete coverage of health policy issues, the Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report offers readers a window into the world of blogs in a new roundup of health policy-related blog posts. "Blog Watch," published on Tuesdays and Fridays, tracks a wide range of blogs, providing a brief description and relevant links for highlighted posts.
The American Prospect's Ezra Klein discusses Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama's (Ill.) comments last week that he would focus on expanding health insurance within 100 days of taking office. Referencing health care reform efforts from 1994, Klein notes that "doing health care quickly is crucial" and that Obama appears "uninterested in repeating [history]."
Michael Cannon from Cato@Liberty links to an online debate about the book "Medicare Meets Mephistopheles."
Arnold Kling from Econlog discusses Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-Wisc.) health care plan, which would include significant changes to Medicaid and Medicare and make the programs "more like vouchers."
The Health Affairs blog posts the last two commentaries by Howard Beckman and Arnold Milstein as part of a four-part series of posts on trends in performance measurement and performance-based payment in health care.
Health Beat Blog's Niko Karvounis discusses a recent study and corresponding perspective published in the Journal of the American Medical Association about satisfaction with care and whether increased spending on health care leads to better health outcomes for Medicare beneficiaries.
The Health Care Economist's Jason Shafrin provides an overview of key studies that examine connections between the way health insurance companies compensate physicians and the amount of medical care provided.
John McDonough from Health Care for All's A Healthy Blog writes his last post and uses it as an opportunity to reflect on the unique health care reform progress in Massachusetts, beginning with the creation of the Uncompensated Care Pool in 1985.
Michael Miller from the Health Care Policy and Communications Blog discusses Congressional Budget Office Director Peter Orszag's speech last week to the National Academy of Social Insurance on insights gained from behavioral economics and potential ways to apply them to health care policy.
Health Care Policy and Marketplace Review's Bob Laszewski discusses America's Health Insurance Plans' new plan on cost containment and notes that the amount of money saved is small when taken in context of the total amount the U.S. spends on health care.
Jane Sarasohn-Kahn of Health Populi reports some findings from a new Families and Work Institute study that shows employers who provide health benefits to their employees tend to be larger, have more unionized employees and more diverse leadership, and are more profitable.
Hospital Impact's Christopher Cornue discusses the possibility of federal block grants for states to use for health care reform innovations.
Paul Testa from the New America Foundation's New Health Dialogue discusses health care reform efforts in Vermont.
Jonathan Cohn from the New Republic's The Plank reviews new online polling of citizens in six countries by the International Herald Tribune, France 24 television and Harris Interactive that found Americans were the least satisfied with their health care system and that suggests presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) should consider these findings when discussing European nations' health systems on the campaign trail.
Scott Hensley from the Wall Street Journal's Health Blog discusses an article published in the New York Times that suggested that universal health coverage could negatively affect military recruitment.
