Summary: The unique tragedy of an expensive and ineffective US health system is summed up in a quick, hilarious sketch. Brilliant! Humor for social change is
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.
Medicaid Coverage Does Not Assure Access to Care
Summary: Coverage with Medicaid – health insurance for the poor – increased in recent years. But as a new study reveals for cancer, coverage does not
Value-Based Care Will Bring Value to Shareholders
Summary: Building on an inauspicious decade of failed efforts to improve care or save money for Medicare, value-based care is now the darling of CMS and
Medicare REACH: Financial Incentives will Undermine Doctor-Patient Trust
Summary: Hidden in the fine print of the REACH program launched by CMS to transform traditional fee-for-service Medicare we discover a pivotal, nasty feature: Physicians will
REACH Won’t Fix the Equity Harms of Value-Based Care
Summary: A commentary in the New England Journal of Medicine by individuals consulting for huge health care companies argues that REACH, the new corporate-focused funding mechanism
US Health Insurance Cost-Sharing Benefits Insurers & Harms the Rest of Us
Summary: A chief health officer and pediatrician at Indiana University speaks plain and powerful truth about growing insurance cost-sharing – it’s designed to reward insurers, to
Oh So Many Problems with Medicare Advantage
Summary: A news article reports on Congressional hearings on problems with Medicare Advantage. An academic article describes big challenges and valuable public benefits lost if traditional
Private Care Outsourcing in the UK Increases Mortality
Summary: An important study in the United Kingdom finds that care contracting with for-profit companies sharply raises preventable mortality. Privatization with for-profit providers threatens health outcomes
Freedom in Health Care
Summary: Independence Day is about celebrating freedom. Let’s contemplate the freedoms we can achieve with universal health insurance.
Comment:
By Jim Kahn, M.D., M.P.H.
On this day in 1776
Medical Debt – Inadequacy of Mainstream Policy Options from Our Best Policy Think Tanks (Or: Public Policy Think Tanks are Not Thinking)
Summary: Today’s post by a visiting blogger reflects on recent policy think tank reports on medical debt, and bemoans the lack of attention to a much-needed
Geographic Predictors of Medical Debt
Summary: Recently we reported on a national survey of medical debt. A new report uses credit bureau data to describe which local factors predict high levels
Radio Break
Summary: Reflection seems the order of the day. US politics are in turmoil. Health insurance problems and the need for single payer are clearer than ever.