A recent report by Merger Watch details the access to care issues and higher costs that often arise when hospitals merge, downsize or close. Over the last two decades, an increasing number of...
Diane Archer
When do drug companies create value?
In a recent Health Affairs article, Uwe Reinhardt explains that health care companies, including drug companies, can create value for both their shareholders and society, or they can simply create...
Insurance premiums projected to rise a lot in 2017
The New York Times reports that health insurance premiums are projected to rise a lot in 2017. Insurers are requesting large price hikes from their state insurance departments. The Obama...
Congress keeps Social Security from spending its own money to...
It’s bad enough that Congressional leaders want to cut Social Security benefits. But did you know that Congress also is keeping Social Security from spending its own money to administer...
Drug industry spending tens of millions to keep states from...
The drug industry is on the defensive. The federal government may be doing precious little to bring down prices, but some states are on the offensive. And, according to Stat News, the drug industry...
Why traditional Medicare remains so popular
Uwe Reinhardt, PhD, writes Why Many Medicare Beneficiaries Cling to an Allegedly Worse Deal in JAMA Forum earlier this month. In a nutshell, he argues that traditional Medicare remains so popular...
Can you see clearly now?
Medicare does not cover vision care, and most studies of people with chronic conditions overlook the burden of not being able to see clearly. A 2015 JAMA report looks at the handicap of visual...
Health information you can trust
A recent Altarum Institute study underscores the difficulties of finding health information you can trust. It focuses on how to improve access to health information for lower income people. As we...
Expand Social Security, don’t means test it
Ever since a few weeks ago, when President Obama joined with Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Warren, Social Security Works and a growing league of policy makers and policy experts calling...
Beware of debt collectors: John Oliver
Some 30 million Americans have at least one debt in collection. Bewared of debt collectors. In Last Week Tonight, John Oliver explains how easy it can be for people to set up companies that buy...