Sick Kids, Welfare Queens, and Aging Boomers: September 2009 Archives

Grayson: GOP wants 'you to die'

By rudxx056 on September 30, 2009 2:03 PM | 1 Comment | No TrackBacks

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0909/27726.html

This article shows a video of Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) giving an outline of the Republicans health care plan. The first part of the plan is "don't get sick." Then Grayson says "if you get sick, America, the Republican health care plan is this: Die quickly." This presentation has caused much outrage among Republicans.

I personally find his argument extremely hilarious, though it is not one hundred percent true. What he presents is obviously not the actual health care plan of the Republicans but it does bring up some good points in the health care debate. Health care needs to help the sick, not ignore them. Cuts shouldn't be made to save money because our health is very important, and in the long run preventative health care will save us a lot of money.

Test Post

By mcnab030 on September 28, 2009 8:53 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

Sam

Increasing Pressure

By garre121 on September 28, 2009 5:09 PM | 1 Comment | No TrackBacks

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2009/09/liberals_press_1.html

The link above is from The Boston Globe newspaper. It is about the pressure from an interest group, Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Democracy for America, that is being put on Max Baucus. Baucus (D, Montana) is the Senate Committee on Finance Chairperson. The first draft of the bill didn't include Single Payer or a Public Option to gain bi-partisan support. Giving into the opposition is interesting because Democrats are usually thought to be the ones championing the cause of a Public Option.

The term universal healthcare is thrown around but this bill with or without a Public Option is hardly universal at all. It is merely an option to have service with the government, like going to a public college or a private one. If this bill doesn't include a public option, I am not really sure what it does include.

I recomend watching the commercial as it is only a minute and the problem of having no health insurance is a common one for many Americans.

To fix health care, start over

By cole0592 on September 28, 2009 4:05 PM | 2 Comments | No TrackBacks

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0909/27548.html

This is an entry on the POLITICO blog by Rep. Eric Cantor.

This blog post is a response to a Gallup poll released that said 57 percent of Americans believe that the government is trying to do too many things that should be left to individuals. Cantor responds to this by advising we start from scratch in order to provide healthcare reform which Americans want, need, and can afford.

I believe his points are very valid, American values have long been extremely capitalist. It important that we reform health care without making it worse. The three guarantees Cantor talks about are I believe exactly what American health reform should take in to account. We need to reform health care in an affordable way, which will not ration care , or take away decision making from doctors and physicians. After reading articles and hearing the news i agree that the current plan has become too complex and covered in bureaucracies. In order to create a plan in which we won't ruin American health care, the advances in medical treatments, and preventative care democrats and republicans should make a new plan, using what resources we already have to lower costs and insure the quality of our health care.

-Leticia Cole

Profits in insurance companies

By gingrich on September 25, 2009 3:09 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

Here is a nice article by Princeton professor Uwe Reinhardt, one of the most respected voices in health economics, on the profits of insurance companies. It fits with the question in discussion today about whether profits are leading to higher spending in the US. The answer is not really, but administrative costs (marketing and advertising) are another story.

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/25/how-much-money-do-insurance-companies-make-a-primer/?src=tptw

Following our discussion on maternity care

By gingrich on September 25, 2009 1:58 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

http://www.tnr.com/blog/the-treatment/jon-kyls-theory-justice

By oshe0035 on September 23, 2009 7:26 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

keenan's test post

Test Post

By mehrx030 on September 23, 2009 5:14 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

This is Taylor

Test post

By hayd0115 on September 23, 2009 5:02 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

this is rachel!

Are the uninsured really more likely to die?

By gingrich on September 23, 2009 3:29 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/22/science/22tier.html

One claim often made by proponents of health care reform is that the US spends the most money of any industrialized country (16% of GDP) but does not have good health outcomes (life expectancy, infant mortality). Others further argue that the lack of insurance is costing citizens their lives, people are literally dying because of the lack of insurance. This article presents some interesting new data suggesting that the life expectancy lag (and the claims about poor health for the uninsured) may stem from factors outside the health system. This research is certainly controversial (and how do we explain poor infant mortality numbers?) but raises several important questions - what is the relationship between the health care system and actual health? What is the best measure to assess health system performance? Does the relatively good performance on heart disease, cancer etc really demonstrate good care for the poor (the opening question of the article)?

An interesting take on the partisan politics of health care

By gingrich on September 23, 2009 12:35 PM | 1 Comment | No TrackBacks

http://healthaffairs.org/blog/2009/09/23/underneath-the-democratic-health-bills-are-republican-roots/

If these claims are right, why has reform been so contentious and partisan? Are both sides responding to issues above and beyond the actual policy suggestions?

test post

By shili002 on September 23, 2009 1:43 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

allison

Primer on Baucus Plan

By gingrich on September 22, 2009 3:43 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

For those of you interested in the current health care debate, this site has a nice primer on Baucus' plan

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1924252,00.html

TR Reid's Article

By gingrich on September 22, 2009 3:23 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/21/AR2009082101778.html

This is an article from a few weeks ago by TR Reid. Whatever you think about the merits of health care reform (Obama's or otherwise), Reid's arguments are worth paying attention to. Much of the discussion of the international experience of health care is misplaced - placing a false coherence on the 'universal' systems in Europe and Asia. In fact, these countries are as different from one another as they are to the United States. The real question is what can we learn from a more nuanced analysis of the international experience? What tradeoffs do different models make - among consumer choice over doctor and treatment, cost-control, physician autonomy/reimbursement, state control of the medical sector etc? Is the US too 'unique' to learn from these diverse experiences?

test post

By tessm036 on September 22, 2009 7:46 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

this is nick's test post.

test post

By rudxx056 on September 21, 2009 11:15 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

this is kara

Example of a blog post

By gingrich on September 21, 2009 12:41 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

http://www.forbes.com/2009/09/17/federal-budget-spending-opinions-columnists-bruce-bartlett.html

While Bartlett's style is controversial, it is an interesting column from the perspective of our class.Bartlett outlines, in livelier terms than we did, the relevance of the abstract concepts about program variation that we discussed in class - he discusses how universal spending, funded through social insurance (non-discretionary spending) at the federal level makes spending cuts difficult. In showing the combination of programs with pre-committed resources and a Congressional system that makes change difficult, Bartlett highlights the difficulties would-be reformers face. While Bartlett is certainly right that the design of US social programs makes cuts difficult, he is less convincing in characterizing the politics of reform. Is it really true that the rising number of elderly in the population puts cuts off the table? What about the rest of the population - still a majority - do they not count? Why do we see the same dynamics in the other countries he mentions (e.g. the UK), when they have different political rules, a different age structure and different social programs? Bartlett may be right that cutting programs is difficult, but his view of the political process could be more convincing.

September 2009 Archives

Grayson: GOP wants 'you to die'

Test Post

Increasing Pressure

To fix health care, start over

Profits in insurance companies

Following our discussion on maternity care

Test Post

Test post

Are the uninsured really more likely to die?

An interesting take on the partisan politics of health care

test post

Primer on Baucus Plan

TR Reid's Article

test post

test post

Example of a blog post

Test Post

Test Post

test entry

Test Blog

Test Post

Test Post

Test Post

Test Post

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