Author Jim Kahn Frequently asked questions. 84 items Estimated US Deaths Associated with Health Insurance / Access to Care December 28, 2024 The US has far higher mortality than other wealthy nations. Yet the fraction associated with health insurance issues and impaired access to care is difficult to estimate, due to elevated disease risk factors. This analysis estimates 200,000 annual deaths after adjustment for high-burden US diseases, potentially representing insurance-related mortality. Deaths due to Willful Systemic Failings are Violent, Too December 10, 2024 The shooting a few days ago of a UnitedHealthcare insurance CEO generated, predictably, horror at interpersonal violence. It also unleashed widespread rage at the pain and harm inflicted by private health insurer practices. More than just prior authorization denials, our corporate insurance approach constitutes systemic violence, annually killing tens of thousands. US Seniors Experience Worst Cost Barriers to Care December 4, 2024 The Commonwealth Fund just published a ten-nation survey of health care affordability for seniors. Guess who had the highest financial barriers to care? Yup, the US. Medicare helps (beats being young & uninsured or having massive deductibles), but needs lower cost-sharing. HJM with the US Political Shift November 13, 2024 HJM is refining its mission in light of political realignment in the U.S. Half Measures Won’t Cure Health Insurance October 23, 2024 Two prominent health economists get the health insurance story half right: cost-sharing doesn’t control system costs and harms patients. But they miss the lesson that “very basic” coverage lacks a functional real-world version … what actually works (for equity, effectiveness, & efficiency) is universal comprehensive coverage. Medicare Advantage Plans Protect High Profit Scams October 10, 2024 Medicare Advantage is a cash cow for insurers, and they know how to milk the system: boost profits via overcharge schemes, block government regulation, and when push comes to shove, abandon costly insurance markets. Twenty Years of Failing Health System Report Cards September 24, 2024 Since 2004, the Commonwealth Fund has done annual comparisons of health system performance among wealthy nations. The US consistently underperforms the others, and 2024 extends the streak: we are the worst, by a wide margin. Replacing our massively dysfunctional insurance morass is long overdue. Health Policy Issues in the Presidential Race September 13, 2024 Donald Trump would replace the ACA, he says, but with what? His past proposals suggest ACA and Medicaid tightening. Kamala Harris would strengthen the ACA, she says, and limit out-of-pocket drug costs in Medicare and beyond. Neither supports single payer. Incredible (Terrible) Shrinking Physician Supply September 7, 2024 Waiting times for physician appointments are growing. The immediate cause is contraction of the physician workforce. The root cause is clinician burnout, in large part due to fragmented insurance and resulting make-work inefficiencies. Single payer will help. The Pursuit of Single Payer: Toppling, or Tipping Point? August 26, 2024 November 2024 is thirty years after we lost California’s single payer ballot initiative. I look back at what has happened since, and see promise ahead. Posts pagination 1 2 3 … 9 Older
