Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report Feature Highlights Recent Blog Entries

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 24 Dec 2008 - 3:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   opinions  

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.

Several blogs commented on aspects of two recent Congressional Budget Office reports looking at the cost of different health proposals. The American Prospect's Ezra Klein notes, "The difference between trying to sell a bill that is revenue neutral -- or even, in the long-run, positive -- and trying to sell a bill that adds hundreds of billions to the deficit is immense." Igor Volsky of the Center for American Progress Action Fund's Wonk Room says, "We don't count the pennies we spend on securing our airports or argue that if we try to secure all of them we'll bust the budget, and we shouldn't penny pinch for affordable health care."

Joe Paduda of Managed Care Matters says the reports have "a troubling omission -- an explicit acknowledgment of the impact of over-utilization on U.S. health care costs." Don McCanne of Physicians for a National Health Program blog calls the report "a glaring example of the extent to which Congress has gone to glibly dismiss single payer as not being a feasible option."

Niko Karvounis of the Century Foundation's Health Beat Blog looks at challenges facing the pharmaceutical industry and strategies companies might use to adapt to a shifting marketplace.

The Health Blawg's David Harlow looks at Jacob Hacker's paper discussing a public plan option in health reform and posts responses from Hacker to questions regarding administrative costs and the future direction of a health care system with a public option.

Bob Laszewski of Health Care Policy and Marketplace Review writes, "In order to make the country as a whole comfortable that the reworking of the American health care system is going to be for the better, we are going to need a broad consensus that reaches into the ranks of at least some conservatives as well."

Paul Testa of the New America Foundation's New Health Dialogue Blog looks at a report that finds more than 97% of Massachusetts' residents are now insured.

Uwe Reinhardt on the New York Times' Economix blog continues his series on U.S. health care costs by looking at anticipated cost increases in the Medicare program.

Jonathan Rockoff of the Wall Street Journal's Health Blog points to news that National Cancer Institute Director John Niederhuber may try to remain at NCI in the next administration.

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.

© 2008 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

• Additional
• References
• Citations