Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report Feature Highlights Recent Blog Entries

Main Category: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Also Included In: Primary Care / General Practice;  Public Health;  Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Article Date: 20 Aug 2008 - 9:00 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 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.

Michael Cannon of Cato@Liberty argues that presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain's (Ariz.) proposed plan to provide tax credits to consumers who purchase private coverage would not amount to a net tax increase, as some advisers to presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) have charged.

Trudy Lieberman of the Columbia Journalism Review's Campaign Desk posts two parts (here and here) of a series examining how the presidential candidates' health care proposals would affect "ordinary people." According to Lieberman, the media has not been covering the campaign from this angle.

Maggie Mahar of the Century Foundation's Health Beat Blog explains the methodology behind Medicare's physician fee schedule, calling the schedule "physician-centered" and saying that it fails to account for the value of care to patients.

Richard Reece on The Health Care Blog outlines what he sees as a "paradigm shift" in primary care that he says "will fundamentally change" the delivery of U.S. health care.

The Healthcare Economist's Jason Shafrin examines the presidential candidates' health plans.

Michael Miller of the Health Policy and Communications blog discusses the globalization of health care and its implications for the U.S. economy, as well as shortcomings of "medical tourism" and problems with prescription drug importation.

Paul Testa of the New America Foundation's New Health Dialogue writes that "the case for health reform only grows stronger during an economic downturn," in response to a new survey that found 22% of respondents have reduced the number of times they visit their physician because of the current economic climate.

The New Republic's The Plank points to an online article by Jonathan Cohn assessing the Obama campaign's contributions to the Democratic Party's proposed health care platform and what they signal about the candidate's commitment to health reform.

Anna Wilde Matthews of the Wall Street Journal's Health Blog reports on new results from a pilot project administered by CMS on incentive payments for doctors.

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