News
National Journal | Hospitals Annoyed by Medicare Performance Payment Plan
Starting in July, Medicare will begin computing performance scores for hospitals, giving rewards to facilities that hold down costs and penalties to those that spend more. But hospitals say the evaluation system includes factors that they have no control over.
CNN: Money | Prescription drugs worth millions to dealers
Prescription drug abuse, now the fastest-growing drug problem in the country, has created a ballooning street market for highly-addictive pain relief, anxiety and depression drugs.
National Journal | Republican States Hardest Hit Under Medicaid Block Grants
While the GOP's proposed changes to the Medicare program are currently the political weapon of choice for Democrats, Medicaid changes under the budget plan passed by House Republicans could mean 20 to 30 percent drops in estimated federal Medicaid funding for conservative states over the next 10 years.
Econ Comments
WSJ | Our Current Time for Choosing
Anyone who disagrees with Paul Ryan's Medicare reforms has a moral obligation to propose an alternative.
Blogs
Political Calculations | Subsidies and Shortages
In addition to being the most likely to be covered by health insurance, elderly Americans are also the most likely to be spending extended periods of time in U.S. hospitals, which means that as a group, they are more likely to be the ones consuming more of the medications that are increasingly in short supply at U.S. medical facilities.
Econlog | Administrative costs in Health Care
It seems to me that managed care sets up a game between insurance companies and physicians, with the former trying to hold spending down and the latter trying to get as much as they can under the insurance companies' rules. I suspect this helps to explain the high number of administrators working in doctors' offices and hospitals.
NRO: The Corner | ‘The Doctor Might See You Now’
In order to estimate how PPACA will affect physician behavior, Garthwaite looked at the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which, like PPACA, represented a large increase in the number of Americans receiving public health insurance coverage. His findings confirm the prediction that the expansion of public health insurance programs will likely lead to a decrease in the quantity of medical services provided by physicians even though it increases physicians’ participation.
