Health Wonk Review – the Harvest Moon edition

Health Wonk Review is up and sprinting. Despite a hint of chill in the air here in New England, the darn thing is growing like a weed. I attribute that to the hothouse conditions that exist in today’s health care policy environment.
Thanks to all who submitted entries; a few did not make the cut as they were not remotely on-topic. Those that did make the cut represent the best of health policy blogging.

Jonathan Cohn of The New Republic uses two recent news items (Wal-Mart’s discount drug announcement and a Kaiser Family Foundation report on health care affordability) to illustrate his take on the health care system – while society may be able to afford 20% of GDP going to health care costs, more and more individuals will find themselves priced out of the health care market. BTW, your host doesn’t think society can afford to spend one-fifth of its resources on health care.
For those individuals who find themselves in that position, there’s another option. Instead of going without, some Americans are going overseas. Julie Ferguson of Workers Comp Insider gives the scoop on the rapidly growing world of medical tourism. Phuket, anyone?
If the current battles between big health plans and big health care systems continue, there may well be fewer “in network” providers available, and Phuket Memorial may find itself listed in a provider directory. United Healthcare is frequently in one corner in these heavyweight bouts, and their tough stance is leading to equally strong responses from providers. I examine one highly public contretemps and predict others will follow.
HealthGuru at InstaHealth says that the Veteran’s Administration’s demonstrated ability to outperform the rest of the US health care industry does not mean it is better than the Th free market, because there is no such thing as a free market in health care. An interesting idelogical point, but one with limited practical application, as HG’s completely free market is not ever going to happen.
I’m betting there is a keyboard in California in serious need of repair. That’s how passionate Matthew Holt can be when he is taking to task someone who sorely needs a session behind the virtual barn. Matt draws, quarters, tars and feathers, dismembers (ok, that’s redundant) and flays a recent NYTimes article that claims we spend more money so we can live longer. (BTW, I was set to unleash my own vitriol on this lousy piece of opinion but Matt beat me to it…but I posted on it anyway).
Matt isn’t the only one calling out the mass media for their simplistic approaches to complex issues. This time it’s Roy Poses of Health Care Renewal, who greatly objects to the simple-minded approach to health care exhibited by GM’s “Director of Community Health Initiatives“. The Director, a successful car exec, seems to think that you can fix people the same way you build cars…leaving aside the blindingly obvious differences (1000 car models v 6 billion people models, for one). Roy does note the Director does have some good ideas…
Bob Vineyard of InsureBlog notes that politicians’ perspectives on premiums are wildly different from actual market-based rates, and wonders if the pols’ projections are due more to magic than actuarial analysis.
Louise at Colorado Health Insurance Insider opines on the morality and business sense of preventive care coverage for insurers. Her net? it makes sense as the early detection of potentially expensive conditions may save insurers big bucks.
A real-world experiment in universal care started Sunday, with the launch of Commonwealth Care in Massachusetts. For the latest info on last-minute machinations, negotiations, and systems checks, and a rather compelling statement on why this is important, head over to A Healthy Blog. Consumers can sign up via the web; we’ll make sure to watch MA’s progress closely.
“Never thought of that” would be another title for Ezra Klein’s post on really comprehensive Universal Insurance. Covering all risks, including health, income, disability and the like that result in drastic economic impact on an individual, Universal Insurance as proposed by Jacob Hacker would base the deductible and coverage parameters on the insured’s income.
Kevin MD reports that the in-store clinics opened by Rite Aid around Portland OR have all closed (or are about to be shuttered) after the operator, Take Care Health Systems, figured out it could not make a profit.
The me-too follow-the-leader mentality afflicting the pharma industry has attracted the attention of one blogger. David Williams of MedPharma Partners sheds some much-needed light on big pharma’s ongoing efforts to make new drugs sound much better than the drugs they replace…even when they aren’t. If only pharma would invest the same amount of energy and resources into creating useful new medicines…
Another entry in the pharma genre comes from Fard Johnmar at Envisioning 2.0. Fard conducted an extensive interview with an FDA official focusing on antibiotics, clinical trial development, the make up of FDA advisory panels, and the FDA-big pharma relationship.
Loyal readers may recall my short fuze when confronted with economists talking about health care. Jason Shafrin of the Healthcare Economist is the best kind of healthcare economist, knowledgeable, smart, pragmatic, and open minded. His latest post continues that trend. (and no we’re not related) Jason is thinking that innovation would be better rewarded with prizes than with patents, but there are some mighty important qualifiers, limitations, and dilemmas to be addressed…
While we residents of the blog-o-sphere “get it” (or at least think we do), others in the health care profession are not as conversant with or comfortable in the sphere. Dmitriy Krugylak reports from a recent conference on panelists’ perspectives on the impact of new media on health care.
As Bugs Bunny says, that’s all folks!