Summary: Health savings accounts (HSAs) paired with deductibles are regressive: they yield financial gains mostly for healthy individuals with high income. They are justified as reducing
The McCanne Health Justice Monitor is produced by a team of health policy experts and single-payer champions. For more information, and a complete archive of entries, visit the HJM website. For an archive of Quote of the Day entries from Dr. Don McCanne, click here.
A Framework to Understand Systemic Racism in Health
Summary: Juneteenth commemorates an 1865 US army order to end slavery in Texas. Emancipation was the first essential step to offer Black Americans the opportunity to
Medical Debt in the US: Pervasive, Harmful, Unnecessary
Summary: A new survey on health care debt quantifies its very high prevalence (41%) and the dire consequences for individuals and families: financial insecurity, reduced access
COVID + 41 M uninsured = 339,000 Excess Deaths
Summary: Stellar health system modeling and empirical analysis together quantify what many of us suspected all along – the huge uninsured problem in the U.S. increased
House of Representatives Public Hearings Done Right
Summary: This week the US Congress televised an extremely compelling hearing on the January 2021 Capitol riot and coup attempt. It may nudge our country toward
Private Equity Targets Gastroenterology & Lots More in Medicine
Summary: Private equity inroads to clinical practices are both targeted (to especially lucrative activities) and far-reaching (with so many profitable deals to make). However, ethical standards
Repeat: Medicare Advantage & Other Private Investment Hurt Medicare
Summary: A September 2021 Health Affairs blog revealed how Medicare Advantage insurers use aggressive and fraudulent diagnostic coding practices to artificially boost revenues, with similar risks
What is Single Payer?
Summary: Today we take a step back to review a fundamental issue – the definition of single payer. Also its typical features and options. Why? Because
Private Equity Takes Aim at Primary Care
Summary: If private equity firms have their way, traditional primary care will disappear, replaced by corporate skeletons stripped of financial assets and the most skilled practitioners,
Honor Those Who Died for Our Country by Honoring Truth on Civilian Guns
Summary: On Memorial Day we mourn and thank the legions who fell in battle for the US. This Memorial Day we also mourn civilians who fell
During COVID Insurers Collected Full Premiums But Paid Less for Care, Forcing Government to Bail Out Providers
Summary: In 2020, private insurer profits – largely from Medicare Advantage and Medicaid managed care – jumped 20-30% because they collected full premiums even as claims
Social Harms Induced by Private Financial Gain
Summary: As we grieve the latest horrific mass shooting of school children, this and other recent stories highlight a broad societal challenge: untrammeled focus on profit