"I Hear the Train a Comin"--What Does That Johnny Cash Refrain and the Employer-Based Health Care System Have in Common?

OK, maybe it's a stretch but bear with me.I heard a senior exec from a big health plan say the other day that it's hard to believe we will ever see the end of health insurance distributed primarily through the workplace in favor of an individual-based health insurance system. In fact, much of the health insurance industry is lining up behind staying with the system we know best and the one who

Health Wonk Review is Up

This time Jane Hiebert-White does a great job of selecting some of the most thoughtful posts from the world of health blogs over at the Health Affairs Blog.Topics include federal health reform, health information technology, consumer and patient rights, the business of health care, research-based policymaking, and others.

Comparing John McCain's Health Care Plan to Barack Obama's Health Care Plan--What's the Big Idea Difference?

This election is different than any other on the issue of health care because both candidates are giving us serious blueprints to reorganize America's health care system and those blueprints are very very different.As voters, you have a huge and critically important choice on health care.There are dozens of details upon which they differ and for those I would point you to my comprehensive posts

A Detailed Analysis of Barack Obama's Health Care Reform Plan

March 8, 2010Any big health care bill will be full of compromises—political or otherwise. But the Democratic health care bill doesn’t even come close to deserving to be called “health care reform.” As the Democrats make their final push to pass their health care bill many of them, and most notably the President, are arguing that it should be passed because it is the “right thing to do

A Detailed Analysis of Senator John McCain's Health Care Reform Plan

A Detailed Review of Senator John McCain's Health Care Reform PlanMcCain’s thinking on health care couldn’t be more different from Democrat Barack Obama.McCain very rightly points to health care costs as the biggest health care issue, "We are approaching a 'perfect storm' of problems that if not addressed by the next president will cause our health care system to implode."Therefore, his focus is

Would Either Barack Obama's Health Plan or John McCain's Health Plan Contain Costs?

With the health care reform efforts in Massachusetts presenting us with an incomplete result for an unsustainable cost, just how the presidential candidates' health care plans will contain costs is an even more important issue.The short answer is neither offer any kind of silver bullet solution to controlling America's health care costs. Both Obama and McCain propose similar generally good cost

Comprehensive Health Care Reform and Massachusetts--Are We On Our Way To a Very Different Debate?

The Massachusetts health care reform law appears on its way to:Covering two-thirds of those who did not have health insurance on the day it was enacted--about 400,000 people by the end of 2009.Covering most of those who were uninsured in households with incomes below 300% of the federal poverty level--below which the plan pays all or most health insurance premiums.Offering health insurance plans