Health Policy Digest - July 21, 2009

July 21, 2009

CAN YOU GET WHAT YOU NEED IN A GOVERNMENT-RUN HEALTH-INSURANCE MARKET?

Government-run health insurance markets limit competition, do not control costs, discourage entrepreneurial efforts, and thus cause consumer dissatisfaction, says Regina Herzlinger, a fellow with the Manhattan Institute...

NATIONAL REVIEW

COST SHIFTING

When Medicare underpays, doctors, hospitals and other providers try to recoup their losses by overcharging other patients, says John C. Goodman, President, CEO and the Kellye Wright Fellow with the National Center for Policy Analysis...

DARTMOUTH COLLEGE/NATIONAL REVIEW

PRIVATE INSURANCE IS NOT AN OPTION

Page 16 of the House's "health care for all Americans" bill contains a provision making individual private medical insurance illegal, say observers...

INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY

THREE PROVISIONS MAKE UP MOST OF REFORM LEGISLATION'S PRICE TAG

Health reform bills being considered in the House and Senate include three "big-ticket items" that comprise the bulk of the bills' $1 trillion price tag, say observers...

USA TODAY

MASSACHUSETTS: STATE BUDGET CUTS COVERAGE FOR 30,000 DOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS

About 30,000 documented immigrants will lose their health care coverage under Massachusetts' new state budget as policymakers attempt to close a growing state deficit, say observers...

NEW YORK TIMES

NINE-MONTH WAIT FOR ARTHRITIS TREATMENT: DELAY CAN MEAN A LIFETIME OF AGONY FOR VICTIMS

The average wait for sufferers of rheumatoid arthritis in the United Kingdom is nine months -- and general practitioners (GPs) are not trained well enough to know what help to offer, according to report...

LONDON DAILY MAIL

HOUSE HEALTH BILL WOULD SILENCE TRUSTEES' MEDICARE BANKRUPTCY WARNINGS

When the Medicare Trustees warn Congress that Medicare is on an unsustainable path to bankruptcy, the Democratic response is not to reform the program, but to simply silence the trustees, say observers...

HERITAGE FOUNDATION