Health care reform is an evergreen topic that keeps thousands of health policy wonks busily wringing their hands. Yet, little meaningful reform ever takes place, while spending continually rises at an unsustainable rate.
It’s as if we’re watching the famous psychology experiment where participants are so focused on counting basketball passes that they fail to notice a person in a gorilla suit walking through the scene. In health care, we’re so fixated on the min...
medicaid
Medicare Advantage gets ally in Dr. Oz
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5 things to know about Dr. Oz, Trump’s pick to oversee Medicare, Medicaid
President-elect Donald Trump’s choice of celebrity doctor and failed Senate candidate Mehmet Oz to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) marks the latest potential shakeup of federal health agencies, and adds new uncertainty to the future of Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.
If confirmed, Oz would take the helm of a $1.5 trillion agency that is essentially the federal government’s insurance provider. It sets payments rates for do...
What a GOP trifecta means for health care
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Democrats aren’t the only ones who need a soul-searching
For better or worse, post-election analysis is now the country’s favorite sport. Wherever two or three Americans are gathered, there are at least a dozen reasons given for why Donald Trump won and Democrats got shellacked.
Among many, the most common is that Democrats need a good soul-searching over how they lost touch with the working class. I agree. Although the real questions is: How did Democrats do so much for working-class Americans — Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid,...
Will Trump Have a New Opening to Repeal Obamacare?
Even without congressional action, a second Trump administration will likely support major changes to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act’s marketplaces, affecting millions of Americans.
What a second Trump term means for health care
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Congress killed pandemic safety nets, and we’re still paying the price
Every September, the Census Bureau unveils crucial data on Americans' poverty, health and income for the previous year.
The latest results underscore a pressing issue: In many key ways, our policymakers are still failing American families, even though they should be well aware by now of effective solutions.
Let’s parse the numbers. The Supplemental Poverty Measure — the most comprehensive measure of poverty — increased slightly, from 12.4 percent to 12.9 percent betw...
The Campaign Issue That Isn’t: Health Care Reform
The topic has been a major concern in presidential elections for decades. Its absence as a top issue now is notable.
Reforming 340B vital for affordable medication for low-income patients
When the 340B drug pricing program was established in 1992, Congress intended for the program to help low-income and uninsured patients with their prescription drugs. The pharmaceutical companies whose drugs are covered by Medicaid are required to participate in the program, offering discounts for drugs to patients on average at 25 to 50 percent of the wholesale acquisition cost.
Unfortunately, today, the 340B program is failing those it was meant to serve. There i...