What is the deal on the excise tax on high-premium "Cadillac" health plans, and why is President Obama pushing this tax so vigorously in the
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.
Uwe Reinhardt on community rating and risk equalization in other nations
Some of us were very disappointed when politicians rejected, up front, the administrative simplification of the single payer model of an improved Medicare for everyone.
Obama demands tax on Cadillac plans
Obama Urges Excise Tax on High-Cost InsuranceBy David M. HerszenhornThe New York TimesJanuary 6, 2010President Obama told House Democratic leaders at a meeting on Wednesday
President Obama asks for greater affordability
Premiums are key issue for health care negotiatorsBy Ricardo Alonso-ZaldivarThe Washington PostJanuary 6, 2010Congressional Democrats and President Barack Obama began work in earnest Tuesday on
President Obama asks for greater affordability
From the very beginning of his political campaign President Obama stressed that his highest priority in health care reform was to make health care affordable.
Good news on spending growth is bad news
Health Spending Growth At A Historic Low In 2008By Micah Hartman, Anne Martin, Olivia Nuccio, Aaron Catlin and the National Health Expenditure Accounts TeamHealth AffairsJanuary
Good news on spending growth is bad news
Although some members of the media are celebrating the lowest rate of health care spending growth in almost half of a century, a full reading
Uwe Reinhardt on whether community rating is fair
Is ‘Community Rating’ in Health Insurance Fair?By Uwe E. ReinhardtThe New York Times, EconomixJanuary 1, 2010One controversial feature of the health reform bill winding its
Uwe Reinhardt on whether community rating is fair
One of the more obvious examples of this dilemma is the disagreement as to the premiums that should be charged for the healthier population in
The New York Times doesn't get it
This editorial from today's edition of The New York Times makes their case for supporting the current health reform legislation before Congress. The responses of
The New York Times doesn’t get it
This editorial from today's edition of The New York Times makes their case for supporting the current health reform legislation before Congress. The responses of
The New York Times doesn't get it
The current proposal would leave close to 20 million people without insurance, a number that is destined to increase as health care costs continue to