Managed Care Matters

Friend and colleague Hank Stern's latest edition of Health Wonk Review is up, fresh and ready for viewing.

Thanks Hank!

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I'm honored to once again Hank Stern's Cavalcade of Risk, a kinda sorta departure from the usual stuff I do with MCM. [One caveat - I tried to use the auto-poster app, and the weird spacing results resulted from that effort. After slogging thru it for many (well, a few at least) minutes, I gave up - apologies for the spacing]

Today we'll begin with Silicon Valley Blogger's reminder that with a few rare exceptions, the house always wins. In this case the 'house' is the stock market, and SVB reminds us to ditch emotion and focus on reality (good luck with that!) at When Beating The Stock Market Is Really An Illusion

The Stock Teacher contributes a post on the risks - financial and emotional, inherent in investing in high-flying stocks (something few of us can relate to, I'm sure) at Ouch- CROX Just Taught Me A Lesson.

Jim asks a question we all should consider when buying or renewing insurance - what's my appetite for risk? Jim's is higher than some.

Joe Manausa's perspective on the Fannie and Freddie bail out bill is very local - HR 3221 is Good For Tallahassee.

Sticking with the real estate theme for a moment, one of my new favorite blogs is penned (typed sounds so déclassé') by
Jason Voiovich. His contribution for this ed. of CoR is Reverse mortgage: Hero or villain?, an excellent and thorough review of the pros and cons for consumers and mortgage brokers.

FMF has a quick update on the state of medical tourism - net is there's a lot more going on these days, including acceptance of medical tourism in some Blue Cross and Aetna plans; read More Insurance Firms Allow Medical Tourism

I was looking forward to reading Nancy Germond's take on management in her post entitled Consider the Total Cost of Jerks to Your Organization. I was not disappointed. My only addition is that most of us (your author included) exhibit jerk-y behavior from time to time, so please don't tar all with the same damning brush!

Raymond contributed multiple posts, including a thoughtful and well-researched piece on federal deposit insurance -something any IndyMac saver wished they'd read thoroughly a few months before that bank cratered. Click thru to
Is My FDIC Insured Checking Or Savings Account Safe If My Bank Fails? to see what would happen to you if your bank followed suit.

As host, I get to pick who's here and who stays on the sidelines - a difficult task, but a necessary one if we are to retain your interest - and one principle is to avoid multiple posts from the same contributor. I also get to break my own rules, and Jim's post on car rental insurance is well written and brief and educational - which covers the requirements in my book. Before you head out on that trip, read Credit Card Rental Car Insurance is Secondary Coverage!?

Our august founder and resident sage, Henry Stern shows his age (and lack of memory loss) Car 54, Where Are You (and how's your insurance)?, an entertaining look at the possible use of vehicle gps tracking devices by insurance companies. Big brother, indeed - but at a lower premium...

It will come as no surprise that the leading cause of death among public safety employees was heart attacks and vehicular accidents. What did surprise me - a lot - was the death rate among volunteer firefighters. That's the report from Workers' Comp Insider, the go-to source for the latest in the WC world.
Jason Shafrin is one of the better health care economists. His contribution is a synopsis of Health Affairs' article on the Chinese health care system - a fast and educational take which includes this nugget >the top social concern in China is “high medical expenses.”

On to my little corner of the world - IN-surance (that's how southerners pronounce it). Colleague Richard Eskow notes the recent demise of FL Gov. Charlie Crist's effort to cover more Floridians was doomed to fail from the outset.

Louise from the great state of Colorado chimes in with an interesting take on mandated universal coverage, Colorado State University style. Seems grad students are forced to buy into the CSU plan unless they can prove they have the same-or-better coverage.

From the east coast, David Williams finds that some docs in Massachusetts want to try to force drug stores to not provide medical care, by "barring health care providers from selling tobacco products". David notes this is a slippery slope; I'd add that it reminds me of the old artisan guild strategies, as well as some of the more distateful aspects of union featherbedding...

Lastly comes this contribution from your author, a dissection of the reasons folks go without health insurance.

And with that, we're outta here!

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And does his usual superlative job over at the Health Policy and Market. The blog roll keeps increasing, and the fresh insights are more than welcome.

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Colleague David Williams has a new take, fresh look and punchy style in his edition of Health Wonk Review.

His version is a fast read, too.

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Health Wonks - get your cuppa and spend a few minutes catching up on the best and brightest in the virtual wonk world. Jaan Sidorov delights and amazes, and the list of blogs just keeps on growing.

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HWR welcomes back Health Affairs as the host and editor of this biweek's edition. Jane Hiebert-White brings her distinctive Washington flair to HWR, one that is quite timely given all the wonking-about among candidates and pundits alike.

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Friend and colleague Hank Stern is hosting this week's Health Wonk Review edition.

Hank's summary is concise and a fast read.

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Jeez, they're good.

Maggie Mahar and Niko Karvounis host this fortnight's edition of HWR, and obviously spent a lot of time and smarts on the effort.

Particularly excellent is the discussion of the new Tier 4 pricing for drugs - there are several provocative posts that really explain the potential impact.

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Merrill Goozner shows why he's one of the best in his edition of HWR over at the Health Care Blog.

He's also been kind enough to separate the wheat from the chaff for you, dear reader, leaving only the best for your reading pleasure.

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Here in New England we're about to welcome spring - that glorious time of year when the wind howls and the rain pours and mud covers all, best enjoyed while standing outside freezing your tukus watching one of your progeny splash up and down a lacrosse field.

What better time to sit in a warm car, editing the latest edition of HWR?

Continue reading "HWR - the 'fearless leader' edition" »

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Roy Poses eviscerates Robert Jarvik for his pathetic attempts to portray himself as an active, vigorous guy, presumably made so by taking the meds he is touting - Lipitor.

I'm equally-if-not-more outraged, but for a much less important reason. What I loved about the ads was the shot of Jarvik sculling in a racing shell on a beautiful lake. I picked up sculling after rowing for four years at Syracuse University. After competing for another seven years in singles, doubles, and quadruple sculls, I hung up the oars, only to pick them up again recently.

So I was delighted to observe and comment on Jarvik's smooth technique, his graceful catch and solid balance, the ease with which he released the water at the end of the stroke and let the boat run out; well, I was delighted but my family got really tired of my endless soliloquies on the finer (well, OK, minute) points of Jarvik's sculling.

Turns out it wasn't him, but some stunt guy. Reports now indicate Jarvik's butt has likely never been in a racing shell. Which ticks me off - first that the jerk was lying, and second that he didn't pick me to do the stunt work.

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Merrill Goozner's hosting this week's edition, which looks to be one of the most comprehensive and contentious to date.

He's off to California on vacation, so post a comment and chide him for slacking while the rest of us are working...

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David Williams keeps it brief and to the point - today's edition of Health Wonk Review is a snappy read.

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One of the cleanest, clearest carnival presentations is this week's Carnival of Risk, hosted at the digerati life.

very very well done.

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Vince Kuraitis is a rookie host posting like a veteran. Vince's edition of HWR is neatly categorized, entertainingly written, and evidence of all the good stuff out there in the world 'o wonks.

He has a special section for the spam hosts get...

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Colleague and blog mentor Julie Ferguson is this week's host of the Cavalcade of Risk. Got to get her to show me how to do those cool photo inserts...

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Friend, fellow blogger, and mentor Bob Laszewski is the host of the first Health Wonk Review of 2008.

Bob (you may have heard him opining on NPR night before last in a piece on All Things Considered) is brief, factual, and entertaining.

Although I'm not sure about his characterization of the income status of two featured bloggers...

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The final 2007 edition of Health Wonk Review is hosted most capably by David Harlow. David has given us all a great holiday gift!

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Always one to oblige fellow blogger and Cavalcade of Risk Hank Stern (he of InsureBlog fame), I eagerly agreed to host this week's edition of the CoR.

Little did I suspect just how popular the 'cade has grown - I've been inundated with entries

Continue reading "Cavalcade of Risk - the pre-holiday edition" »

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In the almost-two years we've been publishing Health Wonk Review, we've been fortunate to entice some of the clearest thinkers in the web-o-sphere to host each bi-weekly edition.

Roy Poses et al at Health Care Renewal keeps that tradition alive, adding posts from a few newer entrants while artfully weaving in contributions to produce a cohesive, highly readable edition.

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The Health Wonk Review community welcomes a new host - Maggie Mahar of Health Beat. Maggie's edition reflects a new approach - not content with a comment or two about blogger's submissions, she's gone the extra mile (or more) and tied them all together in a seamless, and well-presented piece.

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My vote for best edition of Health Wonk Review 'EVER' (say with teen female inflection) goes to Hank Stern for today's version.

applause applause applause!

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Our favorite health care economist hosts this week's edition of HWR, in his usual organized style. Jason's introduced a new idea - post of the week.

See if you agree...

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Not snow, nor wind, nor dark of night, nor being at the Aspen Health Institute has prevented Jane Hiebert-White from hosting this biweek's edition of Health Wonk Review.

And the furor over Bush's veto of S-CHIP makes for some heated posting.

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Today, we’re leading with a quote from W, from a talk in DC October 28, 2003 …”As you know, these are open forums, you’re able to come and listen to what I have to say…"

That's not what we do here at HWR

Continue reading "HWR - the back to school edition" »

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Well, we screwed up, but our mistake is your delight.

Many thanks to Dr Bob at The Doctor Is In. We mistakenly directed Blog Carnival posts to his blog instead of the similarly named host of today’s issue, The Doctor Weighs In.

The good Doctor kindly took the initiative to make a posting today so we have double the HWR coverage. Our thanks to Dr. Bob for being on the ball! His blog is quite interesting – go check it out!

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Brian Klepper's the host of this biweek's edition of HWR; his writing is terrific, especially when he opines on the posts.

And the selection of posts is provocative...

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The latest edition of Health Wonk Review is up at Medical Humanities. Get out your dictionary, you're going to need it!

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The brains behind Health Wonk Review reside in Julie Ferguson's noggin; and this fortnight's edition resides at Workers Comp Insider.

While lots of folks have been taking vacation, not so with the various and sundry contributors to HWR!

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If you haven't been reading Health Wonk Review of late, the latest edition shows what you're missing. Bob Laszewski's selections show just how far the health policy blog world has progressed in the last 18 months.

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Richard Eskow at the Sentinel Effect must'ov been up most of the night writing the latest Carnival of Risk. Enjoy the fruits of his labors!

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Jay at Colorado Health Insurance Insider hosts this fortnight's edition of HWR. Jay leads with Sicko-related posts, and does an admirable job.

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David Williams has put together the best of the policy wonk-o-sphere in his edition of Health Wonk Review. To "know what you don't know", head on over.

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HWR once again welcomes RIchard Eskow to the list of august, erudite, and articulate bloggers fortunate enough to be asked to host this seminal compendium. We're fortunate to grab some of his blog time away from his other pursuits on Huffington Post...

Check out Richard's efforts at The Sentinel Effect.

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the latest and greatest from the world of insurance and risk management resides this week at the Cavalcade of Risk. Read on, oh insurance geeks!

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Hank Stern, veteran HWR host and erudite observer of all things health insurance and policy related hosts this biweekly edition of Health Wonk Review.

Here's to Hank!

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Health Wonk Review is well into its second year, and getting bigger with each bi-weekly edition. Jason Shafrin, renowned health care economist/blogger, hosts this fortnight's effort.

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Jane Hiebert-White at Health Affairs has just posted the latest and greatest of the health policy blogosphere. Her edition is rich with the latest on policy, with compelling posts for and against "socialized medicine".

Read on!

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Matthew Holt isi hosting this week's edition - click thru for the latest and greatest.

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Return with us once again to the enlightened pens (ok, keyboards) of the policy wonks as they pass on their pragmatic, practical, and perspicacious prose to you, dear reader, in this publication of HWR.

Continue reading "HWR's latest and greatest" »

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Yes, it's been a year since Matt Holt, Julie Ferguson and I launched Health Wonk Review. Thanks to all the guest hosts, tech folks (thanks Dmitriy and Shahid), and readers in wonk-land, HWR is gaining readers and traction.

Julie has the honor of hosting the anniversary edition, and offers a tip of the glass to all.

Salud!

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After a year of badgering other bloggers to host an edition of Health Wonk Review, I've been guilted into hosting the Cavalcade of Risk, a related-but-different grand rounds of things insurance- and risk-management related.

I'm doing this from a beach-side hammock in Puerto Morelos, MX, so if there are garbled sections, blame it on the cervezas.

Continue reading "Cavalcade of Risk - the Paduda edition" »

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Health Wonk Review's list of contributors is expanding edition-to-edition, and the latest hosted by Health Affairs' Jane Hiebert-Smith continues the trend. There's solid material from the State of the Union address and the various state reform proprosals, not to mention drug pricing and the new Congress.

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David Williams at Health Business Blog is hosting the latest edition of the Cavalcade of Risk.

Check out the entry on physicians who direct some "risky" patients to the ER, and the reasons they do.

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Roy Poses MD has done just a bang-up job on today's edition of Health Wonk Review. It's just stuffed with great material!

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The number of health policy blogs is going thru it's expansion phase; with new entrants jumping into the fray every nano-second. The best of the (relatively) recent efforts include Health Affairs, Bob Laszewski, and a brand spanking new blog, The Sentinel Effect.

Richard Eskow, one of the smartest people in the managed care business and has been posting at the Huffington Post for quite a while with much success. Richard has been in the business on the payer side for over 20 years, consulting with HMOs, tech companies, politicians, workers comp insurers, and providers. He's especially good on the data analysis stuff.

He also plays a mean guitar.

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Hey, Managed Care Matters was nominated for one of the Best Medical Weblogs of 2006!.

Thanks to whomever entered the blog, and I'll send out info on voting when it starts (tomorrow, I think).

Also in the running for the "Best Health Policy/Ethics Weblog" are Hank Stern's InsureBlog, Health Business Blog, Rita Schwab's MSSPNexus, Kevin, M.D., Roy Poses' Health Care Renewal, and Effect Measure.

Now that's SOME competition!

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A well-done and tip of the cup, er, cap to Rita Schwab of MSSP Nexus. Rita has done and exemplary job hosting the latest edition of Health Wonk Review, wherein the best of the biweekly blogosphere are brung to you.

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Michael Cannon brings his Libertarian perspective to the latest edition of Health Wonk Review at his blog Cato-at-Liberty.

Michaels finds himself agreeing with Ezra Klein, complimenting Matthew Holt, and finding common ground with Lief Wellington Haase.

I can almost hear faint strains of "Kumbaya"...

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David Williams is hosting Health Wonk Review in a return engagement. While David is somewhat misty over the old days of HWR, he does an excellent job coping with the growth of the "review".

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The blog run under the auspices and banner of the highly esteemed journal "Health Affairs" is starting to get some traction.

Recent posts examining the implications of the elections on health care, GOP and Democratic views of the elections on health policy, and a well-done piece on the reality of the nursing shortage all bode well for the journal's blogging future.

Now if they could just figure out how to post every day...

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Jason Shafrin of Healthcare Economist fame is hosting this edition of HWR. Jason's measured, analytical style makes for intriguing perspective on this week's contributions.

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Ezra Klein is hosting the latest edition of Health Wonk Review, bringing his trademark trenchant style to the carnival of policy posts.

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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.

Continue reading "Health Wonk Review - the Harvest Moon edition" »

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We've made two changes to Managed Care Matters.

Least obvious to most will be the change in color of hypertext links; we are now using blue, which is more easily read by folks w certain types of color blindness. Thanks to friend Terry Reardon for the suggestion. (he's a color blind orthopedic surgeon, who assures me that is not an occupational limitation...)

We've also added another step in the commenting process, asking submitters to enter a bit of text to verify they are a human and not a @#$%^&*&^%$^&**))*%%$## spam bot. Sorry for the extra step, but I can't go thru 200 spams a day looking for your pearls.

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Hank Stern and Bob Vineyard of InsureBlog have prepared a virtual cornucopia of health wonk delights. Their edition of Health Wonk Review is indeed serious brain food. No reservations required, come as you are, and buon apetit'!

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Hank Stern and associates at Insure Blog are awaiting your submission for this week's edition of Health Wonk Review.

I know it's the first day back from vacation, I also know it's time to get busy building traffic! Send your entry to Hank at InsureBlog@hotmail.com.

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Perusing the blogroll on Managed Care Matters over the morning cup, I had that oh-so-rare flash of insight - the blog world is populated by some incredibly intelligent, deeply insightful, prescient folks. Some nutjobs too, but let's stay positive.

I know, what a "duh" comment. But really - here's some examples...

Effect Measure follows the bird flu as only public health experts, and I do mean experts, can.

Roy Poses et al at Health Care Renewal dig deep, really deep, into ethical issues, including Pfizer and publicly-funded medical schools. And there's a lot of muck to be raked by Dr. P.

Kevin Piper posts occasionally, but thoroughly. Really thoroughly. Read his piece on Medicare drug plans, risk corridors, and why smart players are going to make lots and lots and lots of money on Part D.

Medpundit is written by a practicing doc, who (among other talents) has this neat ability to find and report on strange, unsettling, and downright scary happenings in medicine and environs. Here's one on a report that Chinese prison officials are "harvesting" organs from executed prisoners - if that doesn't make your skin crawl...

And there's lots more. So the next time you're stuck on that interminable conference call, cruise on over to the blogroll and get entertained, educated, and enlightened. You may even find stuff that will be useful in the call...

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This week's edition of Health Wonk Review is up at the Lucidicus Project, hosted by Jared Rhoads. Jared's done an admirable job culling from diverse sources; one of the best things about HWR is the wide range of perspectives and opinions.

When a community includes Matthew Holt and Jared Rhoads, that's a broad spectrum.

Posted by at 7:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Apologies for acronym-itis; Matt Holt at The Health Care Blog has posted the latest edition of Health Wonk Review, employing his usual sharp wit and canny insight. Or is is sharp insight and canny wit..

You decide.

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Julie Ferguson, the force behind more than a couple health-related blogs, is hosting the latest edition of Cavalcade of Risk at Workers Comp Insider. With only five editions, the C-cade is up to 20 entries, and quality ones at that.

Peruse and ponder the non-purple prose!

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Fard Johnmar of Envision Solutions and Dmitriy Krugylak of The Medical Blog Network are working on a survey of health care related bloggers. The survey, which is on-line (natch) covers a variety of topics and is open to any blogger that devotes a third of their time to the health/medical world.

So if you qualify, hop on over and render your thoughts and opinions.

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Jason Shafrin at Healthcare Economist has posted the latest edition of HWR for your reading pleasure. Contrasting opinions on quality, consumer directed care, and technology are featured in Jason's edition.

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Jason Shafrin of Healthcare Economist is hosting this week's edition of HWR. Get your submissions in today or by 9 am tomorrow! You can use Dmitriy's automated entry system after registering here.

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Julie Ferguson has outdone us all - an excellent edition of HWR is up and ready for your perusal and edification.

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Send your submissions to Julie Ferguson at: julie AT julieferguson DOT com. Make sure you include-

your blog url
the entry url
a brief synopsis

Julie's doing other stuff today, so you have till 5 pm eastern.

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Edition eight of Health Wonk Review is up at HealthVoices.

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Hank Stern at InsureBlog has done an admirable job of filling in for Jack Mason, who was unable to perform host duties for this round of HWR.

On a moment's notice Hank has put together a well-written Review - thanks to Hank and contributors!

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My regular job took precedence over getting HWR out on time last week - apologies to those of you who have been sitting at your keyboards waiting eagerly for the latest edition to once again enter the bitstream.

This edition's submissions range from the near-global to the very specific; they do share a common thread of (mostly) deep insight. So, enough from me and on to the musings of the health wonk-o-sphere...

Continue reading "Health Wonk Review May 4 (actually May 8) edition" »

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Submissions for this week's edition of HWR are due Wednesday at 9 am est -. Health care policy, infrastructure, technology, admin, managed care and insurance bloggers are invited to send in their best of the last two weeks; I'm aiming to get this version up by the end of the day tomorrow.

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The Fifth edition is up at Fard Johnmar's Envisioning 2.0. You have to see what he discovered in Einstein's files...

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Health policy, informatics, insurance, and similar bloggers are invited to submit their posts for the fifth edition of Health Wonk Review. Fard Johnmar of Envisioning 2.0 is this week's host.

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David Williams at the Health Business Blog is this week's host of Health Wonk Review. His style is brief and clear...I'm envious...

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Further proof that health wonks with too much time on their hands can create havoc comes in Fard Johnmar's recent post about fellow wonks Matt Holt, Trapper Michael, Kate Steadman, Nick Genes et al.

Accolades and cheers for Fard, who gets the "most creative" award, and to Kate for passing it on to those of us too lazy to find it on our own.

If you don't get it, time to put aside that work and dive deeply into the wonk world...

Posted by at 7:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Health Wonk Review's second edition is up at Matthew Holt's The Health Care Blog. In two weeks the thing has grown substantially; Kate Steadman will be the next host so here's hoping she has even more from which to choose.

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Julie Ferguson and Chris Miller are working on getting the "official" HWR website (check this on Friday 3/10/06) up and running. Plans are to have it done by the end of next week so the second edition can be posted there after Matthew Holt gets it up and running on Wednesday (no pressure Matt).

In the interest of speed and fiscal prudence it will, well, look fast and inexpensive.

Chris Miller's firm, Artefact Design, will do the actual design stuff and hosting, and Julie will be responsible for making sure the content and structure work.

Helen Knight of KingKnight Communications is handling the "old media" exposure stuff. All are great to work with, incredibly focused on doing things right, and fun (I love to plug good people).

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Several folks have expressed an interest in submitting posts to and being kept abreast of our latest venture, Health Wonk Review. Some have asked for copies of the "rules", a word that makes me break out in hives. So, here are the guidelines we're working with today.

1. HWR is going to be published every other week. This may change to weekly based on interest.

2. The host will rotate with each publication.

3. The host determines which submissions are included in their edition of HWR.

4. Submissions will include the poster's name or nom de chroniquer (the nickname under which they post), the url of the blog, the url of the submitted post, and a synopsis of the post.

5. Submissions are due by 9 am EST every other Wednesday - that means March 8, March 22, etc.

6. The host will include the name and email of the next host in their edition of HWR.

7. A separate website for HWR is in development and will be out sometime next week. Details to follow.

8. The host for next week is Matthew Holt - 'matthew@matthewholt.net'; March 22 host is Kate Steadman - ksteadman@gmail.com; April 5 is David Williams [dwilliams@mppllc.com].

9. We are going to see how this goes and take it from there. As of yesterday, there were 577 hits on "health wonk review" on google - so we are getting a bit of traction.

Finally, thanks to all for their contributions, support, and cross posting.

Joe

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This is the premiere edition of Health Wonk Review, a biweekly (or so) compendium of the best of the health policy blogs. We've asked over two dozen health policy, infrastructure, insurance, technology and managed care bloggers to send in their best, provided to you in Cliff Notes style. We'll do this every couple of weeks or more often if the host wants to.

Why? Bunches of reasons.

First, the last two months have seen a renewed interest in the health care policy arena, triggered by Pres. Bush's State of the Union address, the financial difficulties of GM et al, the emergence of consumer-directed health plans, and the Part D mess.

Second, there are so many excellent policy blogs in the ether that it is impossible for anyone to keep abreast of them all.

Third, Nick Genes' Grand Rounds has done such an excellent job covering the medical blogger community it inspired us to try to do the same on the policy side (plus Nick has already done most of the heavy lifting figuring out this type of thing so we didn't have to do too much work).

And as you'll read, we're off to a pretty good start.
UPDATE - for a couple of late entries, click below...

Continue reading "UPDATE - Health Wonk Review" »

Posted by at 8:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)