Posts All of our commentary in one spot. You can also browse by topics or search. 405 posts in this category HJM with the US Political Shift November 13, 2024 HJM is refining its mission in light of political realignment in the U.S. The Single Solution for a Myriad of Health Care Challenges October 31, 2024 Esteemed medical academics are adept at documenting and debating the failings of our health care system. Yet they fail to focus on the technically superior insurance solution used around the world. Our job is to bring US public discussion and policy action to single payer. 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. ACA Open Enrollment = Confusion + Scams October 15, 2024 It’s ACA enrollment season again! Another opportunity to contemplate / navigate complex insurance plan changes and choices, and try to avoid come-ons for non-ACA products that provide minimal coverage -- scams. Ah, if we just had universal coverage with identical comprehensive benefits, durable from year to year, indeed lifelong. Single payer. 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. Investors a Terrible Steward of Health Care October 3, 2024 The US Senate placed in contempt the CEO of bankrupt Steward Health Care when he refused to testify about the abusive finances that left investors enriched and the provider organization in financial tatters. Health care should not be driven by investor profit motives. 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. UK National Health Service Resuscitation Implications for the US September 19, 2024 In the United Kingdom, the first Labor government in 14 years must deal with Conservative fiscal and policy neglect of the National Health Service. This serves as a tough reminder of the US need for a durable social consensus on a public solution to our health care crisis. 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. Posts pagination 1 2 3 … 41 Older
