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Monday, June 6, 2011

Health Care

News                                                                                                                             
Politico | Democrats stay quiet on Medicaid cutbacks
Since Rep. Paul Ryan introduced his budget blueprint in April, Democrats have held countless news conferences and issued even more press releases condemning the plan as they say to eliminate end or kill Medicare as we know it.

Econ Comments                                                                                                             
WSJ | Feds to Biotech Firms: Shut Up
Medicine will suffer if Washington controls the flow of scientific information.
Washington Post | Why we must end Medicare ‘as we know it’
Almost everyone agrees that America’s health-care system has the incentives all wrong. Under the fee-for-service system, doctors and hospitals get paid for doing more, even if added tests, operations and procedures have little chance of improving patients’ health. So what happens when someone proposes that we alter the incentives to reward better care, not more care?

Blogs                                                                                                                             
Greg Mankiw's Blog | The Next Step on the Road to Serfdom
But nobody is proposing that the government deny you the right to have whatever medical care you want at your own expense. We’re only talking about what medical care will be paid for by the government.
Heritage Foundation | New Study Reveals Obamacare’s Threats to the Economy — And Medicine as We Know it
Moving into the 21st century, the practice of medicine is on the cusp of exciting new territory. Advances in medical and pharmaceutical research, particularly in personalized medicine, promise new cures to diseases that affect millions of Americans.
Greg Mankiw's Blog | The Demagoguing of Medicare Reform
One thing is not often pointed out: Ryan's proposed "premium support" structure is in some ways similar to the plan put in place under President Obama's healthcare reform law.  In both cases, an individual would shop among competing private insurers, on an exchange overseen by the government regulators.  In both cases, the government would provide financial support for the "needy".
Heritage Foundation | Hospitals’ Skepticism of New Obamacare Medicare Payment Scheme Grows
A frequent accusation against conservative Medicare reform proposals is that they would “end Medicare as we know it.” But the reality is that Obamacare has already accomplished this