Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report Feature Highlights Recent Blog Entries

Main Category: IT / Internet / E-mail
Also Included In: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance;  Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP;  Public Health
Article Date: 02 Jul 2008 - 11:00 PDT

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While mainstream news coverage is still a primary source of information for the latest in policy debates and the health care marketplace, online blogs have become a significant part of the media landscape, often presenting new perspectives on policy issues and drawing attention to under-reported topics. To provide complete coverage of health policy issues, the Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report offers readers a window into the world of blogs in a new roundup of health policy-related blog posts. "Blog Watch," published on Tuesdays and Fridays, tracks a wide range of blogs, providing a brief description and relevant links for highlighted posts.

The American Prospect's Ezra Klein blogs about reports that presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) might "be edging closer to actually adopting an individual mandate for purchasing health insurance."

Igor Volsky from the Center for American Progress' Action Fund's Wonk Room blog discusses criticisms made during a panel discussion about presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain's (Ariz.) health care proposal.

Merrill Goozner of Gooz News notes that Medicare could use its "coverage with evidence development" program to monitor experience with heart CT scans in the wake of a New York Times story examining the minimal evidence that exists to show whether the scans save money or improve health outcomes.

Rob Cunningham from the Health Affairs Blog discusses two new studies, which find that both the insured and uninsured report problems with health care access, with increased cost-sharing cited as a factor for the insured. He writes that "reform advocates will need considerable finesse and ingenuity to forestall a polarization of the electorate over the competing priorities of access and cost control."

Health Beat Blog's Maggie Mahar blogs about cases in which patients sought care at in-network hospitals but were treated by out-of-network physicians and received large bills. She also discusses attempts by some lawmakers to regulate the practice.

The Health Business Blog's David Williams speculates that new policies adopted by Medicare and other large insurers that refuse to pay for medical errors might result in "dramatic differences in hospital profitability."

The Health Care Economist's Jason Shafrin offers possible explanations for news reported in The Hill that Medicare denies more claims than commercial insurers.

Bob Lasewski from Health Care Policy and Marketplace Review discusses the political maneuvering surrounding a 10.6% Medicare physician fee cut scheduled to take effect July 1, calling it "the most amazing turn of events I have seen in 20 years of following health care policy in Washington, D.C." The Health Care Blog's Donald Johnson reacts to the events, saying that "under a universal health insurance system, political fights like this would happen every year."

Health Populi's Jane Sarasohn-Kahn discusses a new Kaiser Family Foundation election tracking poll, noting that "clearly, economics overall -- and the cost of various aspects of living, from gas to food to health care -- is top of voters' minds this summer."

Insure Blog's Bob Vineyard discusses a report on Grady Hospital in Atlanta that finds uninsured patients comprised 44% of medical transport trips but paid only 3% of the revenue.

Paul Testa from the New America Foundation's New Health Dialogue discusses health reform efforts in New Jersey.

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

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