Summary: Medicare’s privatization has two phases. Past: Medicare Advantage, an explicit option for enrollees to join private for-profit capitated health plans, with the promise of

Summary: Excitement in California, the most populous state in the US and very progressive: single payer legislation is forging ahead. AB 1400 passed out of

Summary: Conservative columnist Ross Douthat of the NY Times wrote this week about his shifting views on health insurance. He evolved from supporting a fully

Summary: A new study of all Medicare beneficiaries examined health system factors associated with “low-value care” – medical services that are contra-indicated (shouldn’t be done)

Summary: In the U.S. health care system, primary care is often overlooked by companies and investors in search of profit from more remunerative specialty care.

Summary: The Freedom to Vote Act now facing a filibuster defeat in the US Senate specifies rules to implement fair elections. It is a desperately

Dana Harbor, California, Jan. 11, 2022

By Don McCanne, M.D.

Sandy and I went down to Dana Harbor late this afternoon for our daily walk, my preferred

Summary: Last week saw the release of a tax plan to finance California’s single payer legislation, AB 1400. It was immediately attacked as a tax

Summary: Today we scrutinize health insurer profit margins. Magically, a modest apparent margin of 4.5% reveals itself upon closer inspection to be a ginormous 30%.

Summary: Yesterday Elizabeth Holmes was convicted of four counts of fraudulently representing the capabilities of Theranos, her incredibly hyped lab tech company. Good; that was

Summary: The ACA is currently more generous and thus popular, but it’s time-limited. The “Build Back Better” bill proposes some incremental fixes, but they’re tenuous.

Summary: The 2021-2022 transition invites contemplation of health reform over the past year and upcoming. We process last year via a perusal of HJM. We