Posts All of our commentary in one spot. You can also browse by topics or search. 414 posts in this category Posts pagination Newer 1 … 7 8 9 10 11 … 42 Older Building the Democratic Party By Helping the Middle Class December 14, 2023 George Packer reviews recent books which propose that for the Democrats to achieve stable power, they must provide economic assistance to the struggling middle class, not fight cultural battles. Single payer’s economic stability can foster progressive cultural norms. British National Health Service Crippled by Privatization & Austerity Funding December 8, 2023 A NY Times opinion video lays it out vividly: The British NHS is an adored public institution, now 75 years old. In recent years it has stumbled … sabotaged by UK leaders who starve budgets and foster ill-advised private initiatives. Implosion of Commercial Health Insurance December 7, 2023 Commercial health insurance, on a decades-long decline in affordability, dipped to a new low. Family insurance is unaffordable at small firms, children with commercial insurance are inadequately covered, and three-quarters of consumers can’t promptly pay medical bills. PPO becomes PP-No: Providers Refuse Medicare Advantage December 2, 2023 Hospitals and provider systems are increasingly opting out of Medicare Advantage (MA) networks, frustrated by low payment rates and rising payment denials. Even “preferred provider” MA plans, which should cover any Medicare provider, are being declined by prestigious health systems. Saving Lives in the Middle East via Political Solution & the US via Health Reform November 27, 2023 Bernie Sanders is eloquent on achieving just and stable peace for Palestinians and Israelis, and on achieving just and stable health insurance for US residents. Many thousands of lives will be saved with each of these critical reforms. Erosion of Job-Based Insurance to Defined Contribution November 22, 2023 An Affordable Care Act mechanism intended to help small companies support ACA health insurance for workers is now being used by large companies to satisfy their ACA obligation to provide insurance to employees, under a Trump-induced loophole. They’re saving money, and selling it as enhancing choice. Excessive Corporate Control in Medicine November 15, 2023 A valuable report lays out the harm due to a corporate takeover of medicine –deleteriously affecting the experience of both providers and patients. The American Medical Association is failing to fight this trend. Regulatory action and physician activism are needed. California Seeks Federal Waivers for Unified Health Care Financing November 11, 2023 In October, California enacted SB 770, establishing a formal process to explore federal waivers necessary for state-level “unified financing”. Insurers vehemently opposed it, and some single payer advocates bemoaned the lack of a single payer plan. This is a potent mechanism to advance single payer, the gold standard in unified financing. KFF Highlights the Harms of Insurance Complexity November 4, 2023 Leaders of the Kaiser Family Foundation – a leading tracker of US health care – published a blog in JAMA identifying system complexity as the “enemy of access and affordability”. Exactly right. How can we streamline our way out of complexity? Single payer. History of US Medical Debt Collection October 31, 2023 Summary: US medical debt structure has substantially evolved from amounts negotiated among care participants in the 1980s, to commoditized assets and aggressive collection today. With sky-high deductibles and other cost-sharing, debt magnitude is rapidly growing. Single payer would end this painful complication of our health insurance. Debt Collection in American Medicine – A HistoryNew England […] Posts pagination Newer 1 … 7 8 9 10 11 … 42 Older
