Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report Feature Highlights Recent Blog Entries

Main Category: Primary Care / General Practice
Also Included In: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance;  Diabetes;  Public Health
Article Date: 16 Feb 2009 - 1:00 PDT

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

The American Prospect's Ezra Klein responds to an opinion piece by Betsy McCaughey in which she warned that certain health provisions of the stimulus bill "will monitor treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the federal government deems appropriate and cost effective." Klein says, "Nothing in the bill ... gives the secretary of Health and Human Services the capacity, funding, authority or mandate to monitor the medical profession's treatment decisions and decide if they're appropriate."

Judith Graham of the Chicago Tribune's Triage looks at HIPAA, an option for insurance coverage for some individuals who have maxed out their coverage under COBRA.

Douglas Elmendorf on the Congressional Budget Office Director's Blog discusses his testimony before the Senate Budget Committee on expanding health coverage and controlling costs.

John Goodman on the Health Affairs Blog looks at a new program from UnitedHealthcare that rewards diabetes patients with up to $1000 toward their health accounts. Goodman comments on the financial incentives for patients and its example as a way of adapting health savings accounts for chronic illness.

Bob Laszewski of Health Care Policy and Marketplace Review looks at disagreements over health items in the stimulus legislation and says, "The lesson here is that in health care nothing is easy, simple, or widely agreed to."

Marilyn Werber Serafini of the National Journal's Health Care Expert Blog asks, "Do you think there still is enough time to complete health care reform this year? If not, how likely is action in 2010? Does health care reform have to be bipartisan in order to move forward?" Responders include Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), James Gelfand, John Goodman, Chris Jennings, Len Nichols, Nancy Nielsen, Ron Pollack, Jason Rosenbaum, Leonard Schaeffer, Donna Shalala, Raymond Scheppach and Billy Tauzin.

James Capretta of the National Review Online's The Corner says he opposes government decisions based on comparative-effectiveness research because "the tendency will be to take single studies and use them to make decisions for the entire population."

Sally Pipes of the State Policy Network's State Policy Blog looks at Medicaid funding shortages in California and says, "If lawmakers are serious about lowering health costs, expanding access to care and perhaps even stimulating the economy, they'd be well-served to reform the federal tax code."

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