News
NYT | Medicare Plan for Payments Irks Hospitals
For the first time in history, Medicare will soon track spending on millions of individual beneficiaries, reward hospitals that hold down costs and penalize those whose patients prove most expensive.
Fiscal Times | Hospital Drug Shortages Rise
A growing shortage of medications for a host of illnesses — from cancer to cystic fibrosis to cardiac arrest — has hospitals scrambling for substitutes to avoid patient harm, and sometimes even delaying treatment.
National Journal | CBO Uncertain on Defunding Health Reform Law
A CBO analysis could not determine if withholding $5 billion to $10 billion needed over the next 10 years to implement the health law's programs such as insurance exchanges or assistance to states to expand Medicaid coverage would add to or subtract from the deficit.
Econ Comments
CNN: Money | GOP Medicare bet: There's a market for bold
Republican strategists have noticed that courage sells, even in blue states. Maybe the GOP should step up to the plate and acknowledge they want real reform for Medicare.
Washington Post | How the GOP could rescue Medicare reform
Conservatives should understand that much of the opposition to Medicare reform is conservative, at least in form. It is rooted in a fear of change and a resentment of meddling officials. A general distrust of politics extends to a distrust of politicians engaged in confusing reforms. In a choice between the status quo and major change, a center-right country generally will choose the status quo.
Blogs
NRO: The Corner | Medicare/MediScare Spending
Leaving the politics of this solution aside, even if we could implement the cuts, it doesn’t seem like a desirable solution. I assume that, under the current system, doctors are charging higher fees for services than they would if their patients were paying with their own money.
