Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report Feature Highlights Recent Blog Entries

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Also Included In: IT / Internet / E-mail;  Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Article Date: 21 Jul 2008 - 5:00 PST

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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 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.

Igor Volsky from the Center For American Progress Action Fund's Wonk Room blog disagrees with President Bush's claim that cuts to Medicare Advantage plans would disproportionately affect low-income seniors, noting that a larger share of low-income seniors receive supplemental coverage from Medicaid than MA. Volsky also says that while 49% of MA beneficiaries are low-income, 51% of traditional fee-for-service beneficiaries are, too.

Congressional Budget Office Director Peter Orszag lists key points from his testimony on Thursday to the Senate Finance Committee on the "overuse, underuse and misuse of health care."

The Health Access WebLog's Anthony Wright discusses problems with California's high-risk pool, the Major Risk Medical Insurance Program, in response to a New York Times article about presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain's (Ariz.) plan to expand federal funding for such pools. Wright concludes that "the real solution is to reduce the number of people denied by insurance companies in the first place." A kaisernetwork.org "Ask the Experts" webcast discussing high-risk pools, which includes the executive director of California's pool, is available online.

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt discusses Congress' vote to override Bush's veto of the Medicare bill, saying "what is at stake is whether our country lives under a system focused on one-size-fits-all coverage and price fixing, or whether it embraces free-market incentives, competitive bidding and consumer choice." Managed Care Matters' Joe Paduda discusses health insurers' opposition to the legislation, saying that "by digging in their heels, health plans likely lost their last best chance to play a dominant role in future health care reform negotiations."

Niko Karvounis and Maggie Mahar from the Century Foundation's Health Beat Blog discuss challenges facing health insurers and offer a short history of HMOs in the U.S.

The Health Care Blog's Brian Klepper discusses ways lobbyists and business interests prevent health reform and suggests two solutions: the formation of a "national business coalition" that focuses on public policy and the public's best short- and long-term interests, and a "new" Congress that rejects lobbying efforts.

Health Populi's Jane Sarasohn-Kahn discusses a call by former President Bill Clinton at a National Governor's Association meeting for states to be laboratories for democracy and asks, "How much health-democracy can each governor afford when balancing their budget in the face of declining revenues?" Sarasohn-Kahn also notes that Medicaid accounts for 22% of total state spending.

Don McCanne from Physicians for a National Health Program Blog posts his response to Jonathan Cohn's article in The New Republic, in which Cohn discusses PNHP's recent criticism of Health Care for America Now, a national campaign that calls for access to comprehensive, affordable health care in the U.S. Richard Kirsch, HCAN's national campaign manager, posts a response to questions the campaign has received for not endorsing single-payer health care.

Alicia Mundy from the Wall Street Journal's Health Blog reports on a meeting between Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America lawyers and House Energy and Commerce Committee's investigations panel staffers about direct-to-consumer advertising.

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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