Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report Feature Highlights Recent Blog Entries

Main Category: Primary Care / General Practice
Also Included In: Pharma Industry / Biotech Industry;  Health Insurance / Medical Insurance;  Public Health
Article Date: 07 Jan 2009 - 2:00 PST

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"Blog Watch" offers readers a roundup of health policy-related blog posts.

The American Prospect's Ezra Klein looks at a New York Review of Books piece examining pharmaceutical research and physicians' conflicts of interest with the pharmaceutical industry.

Michael Cannon of Cato@Liberty looks at Gov. Bobby Jindal's (R-La.) proposed Medicaid reforms and says, "Jindal's plan is not market-based reform. ... Discerning consumers of market-based ideas should keep shopping."

Hygeia of Disruptive Women in Health Care posts a list of "what's right with the health care system" that was compiled at a community meeting -- one of many held nationwide -- to encourage grassroots participation in a health care system overhaul.

Karen Hein on the Health Affairs Blog writes, "It's time for us to redefine the Surgeon General's role as someone who can not only diagnose what's wrong with our health care system but work with us, as a team, to fix it."

Niko Karvounis of the Century Foundation's Health Beat Blog discusses the role of the media in the health reform debate, saying, "When Congress begins to talk about health reform in earnest, the important news that will affect all of us will be about policy and institutional changes. ... Any way you slice it, health care policy is tough stuff, and the media doesn't seem all that ready, or willing, to cover it appropriately."

Michael Miller of Health Care Policy and Communications Blog writes that "one of the most challenging parts of health reform will be to actually get more people enrolled in whatever expanded coverage plans are developed and implemented" and suggests methods to overcome such enrollment barriers.

Bob Laszewski of Health Care Policy and Marketplace Review explains why he believes commonly suggested health system improvements to save money for comprehensive health reform are "myths."

Health Populi's Jane Sarasohn-Kahn prognosticates on trends in health care, policy and spending in 2009.

John Goodman of his eponymous blog looks at elements of other health reform plans that President-elect Barack Obama "needs" to incorporate into his own proposal, including from former Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (Ariz.).

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