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 writes a series of posts on Ezekiel Emanuel and Victor Fuch's recently released health reform proposal: one post describes the basics of that plan, a second post presents Klein's arguments for the plan and, in a third post, Klein discusses what he believes to be the plan's shortcomings.

Peter Harbage from the Center for American Progress Action Fund Wonk Room blog critiques a Washington Times opinion piece about presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama's (Ill.) health care plan.

Congressional Budget Office Director Peter Orszag says that while efficiency gains can be made in health care, health information technology is only one aspect of improved efficiency. Orszag discusses his presentation at an event sponsored by the Alliance for Health Reform and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. A webcast of the briefing is available on kaisernetwork.org.

Anthony Wright of the Health Access Weblog discusses a Los Angeles Times column that reported three insurers are charging men and women different rates for individual policies in California. Wright says the state should pass a law requiring insurers to include maternity care as a standard benefit and guarantee access to nongroup coverage for those with pre-existing health conditions.

Maggie Mahar of the Century Foundation's Health Beat Blog discusses whether cost-effectiveness research should be separate from or integrated with comparative clinical effectiveness research.

Sarah Arnquist of the Health Care Blog provides brief biographies of the health policy advisers for presumptive presidential nominees Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Obama.

Michael Miller of the Health Care Policy and Communications Blog discusses pending changes to Medicare's reimbursement to doctors in Physician Scarcity Areas and Health Professional Shortage Areas, and says that, along with expected alterations to scheduled reductions under the Sustainable Growth Rate formula, "making reductions to the PSA and HPSA programs right now seems like the right and left hands of government don't know what they are doing."

Health Populi's Jane Sarasohn-Kahn discusses a new report on the U.S. health care system from TriZetto and notes that although most consumers surveyed in the report were concerned about health care costs, many employees greatly underestimate how much their employers spend on health care.

Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) on The Hill's Congress Blog urges Congress to pass health IT legislation, saying "most doctors are waiting for Congress to take action and establish uniform standards so that they can take advantage of the many benefits of health IT."

Insure Blog's H. G. Stern blogs about two small clarifications issued by the Internal Revenue Service regarding health savings account regulations.

The New America Foundation's New Health Dialogue posts two entries on a new Medicare Payment Advisory Commission report: one about recommendations for creating a comparative effectiveness research entity and a second about "bundling" payments to physicians and hospitals for care.

Jacob Goldstein from the Wall Street Journal's Health Blog reports on a company that provides personal health advising to patients and notes that primary care physicians often filled this role in the past.