News
National Journal | Veteran Mental-Health Care Not Bad, Report Finds
“Overall, the assessment of quality suggests that VA care is as good or better as care provided by the private sector,” Katherine Watkins, who led the study, said at a Capitol Hill briefing.
National Journal | Hatch Objects to Subsidies on Federal Exchanges
The top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee is pushing back on the Obama administration’s attempt to give tax subsidies to people in federally run insurance exchanges, opening up a new line of attack on the 2010 health reform law.
Blogs
Econlog | John Goodman on the Health Care Olympics
To me, the real question in the health care Olympics is how well costs and benefits are aligned. I am fairly sure that in the United States, a lot of medical procedures are undertaken that have high costs and low benefits.
Heritage Foundation | Junk the Medicare Physician Payment Formula
Congress, as it has routinely since 2003, is feverishly preparing legislation to stop its own goofy Medicare payment formula from going into effect. If they don’t succeed this year, seniors can be assured of severe problems accessing physician care.
Reports
CBO | Spending Patterns for Prescription Drugs Under Medicare Part D
The centerpiece of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (Medicare Modernization Act) was the creation of Medicare Part D, a subsidized pharmaceutical benefit that went into effect in 2006.
