Health Insurance Companies Seek Big Rate Increases for 2016By Robert PearThe New York Times, July 3, 2015Health insurance companies around the country are seeking rate
For more than 20 years, PNHP’s Senior Health Policy Fellow Don McCanne, M.D. wrote a daily health policy update, taking an excerpt or quote from a health care news story or analysis and commenting on its significance to the single-payer movement.
PNHP has archived Dr. McCanne’s listserv below; to read current daily analysis on a broad range of health justice topics, please visit the McCanne Health Justice Monitor website.
Cream skimming under “perfect” risk scoring
Beyond Statistics: The Economic Content of Risk ScoresBy Liran Einav, Amy Finkelstein, Raymond Kluender, and Paul SchrimpfNational Bureau of Economic Research, June 2015, NBER Working
Is it time to nationalize the drug industry?
Novartis to test new pricing model with heart failure drugBy Ben HirschlerReuters, June 30, 2015Novartis plans to test a novel pricing model with some customers
Sound the alarm: The private insurance exchanges are coming!
Towers Watson merges with London-based consulting firm in $18 billion dealBy Aaron GreggThe Washington Post, June 30, 2015Towers Watson, the Arlington-based professional services company that
Did you miss the important PNHP statement on the King v. Burwell decision?
‘Subsidies upheld, but health needs still unmet’: doctors groupPhysicians for a National Health Program, June 25, 2015Although the Supreme Court has upheld the premium subsidies
Does Justice Scalia’s dissent help us understand political polarization in the U.S.?
Justice Scalia, dissentingSupreme Court of the United States, No. 14-114, King v. Burwell(The following paragraphs are not in continuity in the dissent.)Faced with overwhelming confirmation
Health insurers’ warped approach to competition
How Insurers Competed in the Affordable Care Act's First YearBy Katherine Swartz, Mark Hall, Timothy S. JostThe Commonwealth Fund, June 24, 2015AbstractWhat should the consumer
Next step: Establishing health care as a right through single payer
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATESKING ET AL. v. BURWELL, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, ET AL.No. 14–114. Argued March 4, 2015—Decided June 25,
Unauthorized immigrants reinforce Medicare trust funds
Unauthorized Immigrants Prolong the Life of Medicare’s Trust FundBy Leah Zallman MD, MPH, Fernando A. Wilson PhD, James P. Stimpson PhD, Adriana Bearse MS, Lisa
Robert Reich supports Medicare for all, but…
Making the Economy Work for the Many and Not the Few#11: Medicare Isn't the Problem; It's the SolutionBy Robert ReichHuffPost Politics, June 22, 2015Again and
CBO: Repeal of ACA would raise economic output (per dynamic scoring)
Budgetary and Economic Effects of Repealing the Affordable Care ActCBO, June 2015In this report, the Congressional Budget Office and the staff of the Joint Committee
Part D drug benefit did not save money for Medicare
Did Medicare Part D Affect National Trends in Health Outcomes or Hospitalizations?: A Time-Series AnalysisBy Becky A. Briesacher, PhD; Jeanne M. Madden, PhD; Fang Zhang,