Health Policy Digest - May 05, 2009

May 05, 2009

THE ROOT CAUSE OF RISING HEALTH CARE COSTS: CHRONIC DISEASE

Of the $2.2 trillion America spends each year on health care, 75 percent of that money goes to fighting chronic diseases, says Peter Pitts, president of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest...

MERCURY NEWS

ORGANIZED SYSTEMS OF CARE DESERVE ATTENTION

Organized systems of care are providing millions of Americans with high quality health care at a lower overall medical cost, says Spencer Berthelsen, chairman of the board of directors of Kelsey-Seybold Clinic...

HOUSTON CHRONICLE

WHAT'S BEHIND VACCINE SHORTAGES?

With the average cost to bring a vaccine to market at about $700 million, sunk fixed costs can be so prohibitive that producers leave the vaccine marketplace, says Matt Baumann, a research assistant with the NCPA...

NATIONAL CENTER FOR POLICY ANALYSIS

MEDICARE COSTS ARE WORST OF ALL

The combination of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid payments will soak up nearly two-thirds of every dollar collected in income taxes in 2030, according to the National Center for Policy Analysis...

MONEYSHOW.COM

SHORTAGE OF DOCTORS PROVES OBSTACLES TO OBAMA GOALS

To cope with the growing shortage of doctors, federal officials are considering several proposals...

NEW YORK TIMES

THIS IS NOT 1918

The outbreak of swine flu in Mexico is worrisome, but government officials have reacted quickly in the United States and appear to be well prepared, say observers...

MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL