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POPSNew England Journal of Medicine: Contain health costs by removing profit incentives As long as there is a profit incentive to add services, medical care will be first a business focused on increasing profits rather than a service improving health. "Furthermore, competition doesn’t lower prices in medical care as it does in other markets, because physicians usually choose the services to be provided and are paid largely by insurance " not by the consumers for whose business they would compete if this were an ordinary market."
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POPSCongress has the votes to pass a public option And passing it with 51 votes in the Senate - a majority - abides by the same rule Republicans used to pass the Bush tax cuts and fund the Iraq war. Any bill passes with 51 votes unless the minority party filibusters it. Bills with significant budgetary impact can be shielded from a filibuster by the reconciliation process
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POPSHow the Senate's 'reconciliation' process works It's protected from filibuster for the sake of doing critical business, but can only be used if a) the matter has a large budgetary impact, and b) it can't be shown to increase the long-term deficit. If a deficit is projected, the matter must include a sunset provision. An example: Bush tax cuts of 01 were passed by reconciliation but, since a deficit was the projected result, had to be renewed after 5 years.
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POPSGOP Senator admits he's just blocking health reform "Gang of Six" Senator insists he has no plans to compromise and is in negotiations solely to extract concessions. Sen. Grassley, the ranking member, says even if Democrats agree to his demands, he won't vote for it unless other Republicans do.
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POPSWhich states have the most Medicaid-funded births? I wonder why it is that the states that most decry government spending are the ones that take the most federal money per capita to deliver their babies? Note Huckabee's Arkansas and Palin's Alaska and McCain's Arizona and Barbour's Mississippi and Jindal's Louisiana and Demint's S. Carolina.
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POPSFactCheck: Obama part wrong about abortion exclusion from healthcare One of the bills making its way through the House, though originally making no mention of abortion, has been amended to say that "Hyde-amendment" abortions - those performed in cases of rape or incest or to save the life of the mother - "shall" be covered. Whether or not this part of this bill becomes law - or ends up stronger or weaker - is impossible to say. Nonetheless, Obama did misrepresent the bill's approach to abortion when he insisted "no" abortions would be paid for with federal money. Some of you with whom I disagreed, based on his comments, were at least partly right. My apologies to you, and I am dismayed and disappointed by the President's distortion.
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POPSGOP Senators used to defend 'reconciliation' process "The fact is, all this rule of the Senate does is allow a majority of the Senate to take a position and pass a piece of legislation, support that position," said Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH), who now bemoans the idea, in 2005. "Is there something wrong with majority rules? I don't think so."
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POPSDems may drop non-compromising GOP, go it alone on healthcare Let us hope. Republicans have rejected compromise for months. Do the Democrats have the courage to endure the screaming? A public option is a compromise. The Democratic position is single-payer, and public option is a major step back to make middle ground. Republicans haven't budged.
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POPSLowering health care costs not tied to tort reform More: the second travesty is that the $17.7 million — which he could surely use over the many remaining years of his life — was cut by more than half by Texas law. The award included $6.72 million in economic damages and $11 million for pain and suffering. But the $11 million immediately was reduced to $250,000. Because that’s all Texas law says he can have. Did I mention that health care costs in Texas keep going up, anyway? At age 53, Mr. Fitzgerald can expect another 21 years of life . $250,000 divided by 21 years equals a little less than $12,000 a year. Anyone want to volunteer to have BOTH arms and BOTH legs amputated as the result of somebody else's carelessness and incompentence, in exchange for $12,000 a year? Anyone consider that a reasonable trade-off? Didn't think so...
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POPS9 websites for fact-checking health reform claims So you heard someone say something was a part of health insurance reform, and you’re wondering if it’s true. Where do you turn? Here are some honest efforts to bring facts to the table and set rumors and speculations aside. The list is quoted from a post of Nate Van Duzer.
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