June 15/16 - RIP, Tony Gwynn


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Go Wyden Go!

What If They Passed Single-Payer and Didn't Tell Anyone? - WashingtonPost.com : The Wyden folks quietly slipped in an amendment giving states enormous flexibility to experiment upward. Essentially, states can ask the federal government for a waiver that allows them to keep the federal funds they're receiving and do pretty much anything they want with them, so long as the coverage they provide is "at least as comprehensive as required under the Chairman’s Mark" . . . . If we don't end up with a public option at the federal level, at least have the ability for states to broaden the public participation in the system. The states are often considered, and allowed to be, crucibles of experimentation for policies like this. It's got the potential to do some real good.
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Foundational Information from the Brookings Institution

Excellent reading - the Brookings Institution released this report on Thursday with a comprehensive look at structural changes to make to slow the rise in health care costs. Bending the Curve: Effective Steps to Address Long-Term Health Care Spending Growth - Brookings Institution : The proposal starts from the conclusion that the standard short-term measures to address rising costs, like reducing prices, are not sufficient to succeed. Instead, legislation must support necessary changes and improvements in health care by reforming payment systems, regulations, and institutions that currently prevent patients from consistently getting the best quality care at the lowest cost. This strategy consists of four interrelated pillars. First, as a foundation for improving value, all stakeholders in the system need better information and tools to be more effective. Second, provider payments should be redirected toward rewarding improvements in quality and reductions in cost growth, providing s...
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Methods of cost control: Capitation

As I have mentioned previously, the extension of health insurance to all Americans by 2013, as proposed by President Obama, will, by itself, do nothing to control the escalating costs of health care. Rather, by increasing demand without correspondingly increasing supply, there is every reason to believe that it will put additional upward pressure on the cost curve. A point of general agreement among health care economists is that the prevalent fee for service model for the delivery of physician, hospital and other professional services is a significant source of the cost problem. This model gives strong incentives to providers to direct patients toward more, and more intensive, services, and for both patients and providers to select services and procedures that have any possibility of a marginal positive result, even if the cost is vastly out of proportion to the possible benefit. Further, economically speaking, the patient and the payer (whether the government or private insurance co...
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