Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report Feature Highlights Recent Blog Entries

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Also Included In: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance;  Public Health
Article Date: 17 Sep 2008 - 7:00 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.

Brian Rosman of A Healthy Blog looks at the potential of the medical home model of care -- which he defines as a "team-based" approach "led by a personal physician who provides continuous and coordinated care, with a focus on preventive services" -- to improve quality for less cost and "reduce or even eliminate health care disparities."

The American Prospect's Ezra Klein responds to a Robert Samuelson column, which states that controlling health care costs -- not improving coverage -- is the most important issue facing the U.S. health care system. Klein asserts that "by waving [the uninsured] away," Samuelson overlooks the difficult choices they must make when illness strikes.

Igor Volsky of the Center for American Progress Action Fund's Wonk Room says of a proposal to reduce funding for Minnesota's Medicaid program that "by denying coverage to parents, [the Bush administration believes it] can cover more low-income children." Citing data from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, he adds, "But a growing body of evidence shows that 'expansions of parents' coverage lead to enrollment gains among children.'"

Peter Harbage of the Center for American Progress Action Fund's Wonk Room examines how the high-risk insurance pool in Alaska might inform Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain's (Ariz.) plan to implement one in every state if he is elected president.

Louise from Colorado Health Insurance Insider addresses recent reports of patients traveling within the U.S. to save money on health care. She writes that "there is plenty of geographic variation in health care expenses, and domestic medical tourism can provide employers in expensive areas access to lower priced health care."

Maggie Mahar of Health Beat Blog explores how palliative care might improve patients' lives as well as reduce the cost of care.

The Healthcare Economist blog highlights a recent study comparing health expenditures as a share of GDP in single-payer and multi-payer countries, concluding, "A single-payer system is likely a sufficient condition for having lower health care spending levels, but it is not a necessary condition for reducing health care costs."

H.G. Stern with InsureBlog writes about the pros and cons of states mandating that their residents purchase health insurance policies.

Joanne Kenen of the New America Foundation's New Health Dialogue Blog responds to a recent New York Times article about how health care is playing this election season. Kenen writes, "We hope both parties keep talking about health care, because health care is one of those things where if there's no talk, it's unlikely that there will be any action."

John Geyman on the Physicians for a National Health Program Blog outlines "five reasons why markets fail, and can never succeed, to control health care costs."

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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