Healthcare

Government Can’t Just Dictate Reality

By Justin Katz | February 19, 2010 |

I certainly don’t want any of my family’s regular expenses going up. Indeed, if I were able to dictate terms to companies who provide me services, I’d lower my rates. But that’s not how the world works. Of course, one doesn’t get the impression that government officials comprehend such mundane observations of reality. Rhode Island’s…

Hurry to Pass Big Stuff Now and We’ll Fix it Later (Promise!)

By Marc Comtois | January 26, 2010 |

As I’ve pointed out, one of the arguments made by the Healthcarism advocates was that we must pass something, anything and “the warts can be removed later.” Apparently, that attitude exists amongst global climate changistas, too (h/t): Some researchers have argued that it is unfair to attack the IPCC too strongly, pointing out that some…

Protestations to ProJo Pronouncements

By Marc Comtois | January 24, 2010 |

1) The ProJo editors on global warming: Still, that a few scientists are accused of manipulating a bit of data from some climate research does not do away with the preponderance of evidence. The latest controversy revolves around the validity of the collection and use of data behind a U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change…

Move from Management to Insurance to End Payment Disparities

By Justin Katz | January 22, 2010 |

Rhode Island’s health insurance commissioner, Christopher Koller, has released a report showing huge disparities in what health insurers pay local hospitals for the very same procedures. The reason is that members of the Care New England hospital group offer services not elsewhere available, so insurers have no choice but to include them, and the hospitals…

Carter: Kennedy “Killed the [Healthcare] Bill” in 1979

By Marc Comtois | January 20, 2010 |

Thanks to a caller to the Matt Allen Show, I was tipped off to something I’d never heard before. In an event at his Presidential Library (broadcast by C-SPAN on September 15, 2009), former President Carter explained that, back in 1979, he had bi-partisan support for a health care reform package that was completely financed…

ProJo’s Last Shot at Brown – Scare Tactics

By Marc Comtois | January 19, 2010 |

On election day in Massachusetts, the desperate ProJo editors have resorted to listing a bunch of “what ifs?” should Scott Brown be elected and Obamacare not pass. Notwithstanding that a counter-argument can be made that passing this particular monstrosity called health care “reform” would make all of the items they identify even worse, the panicked…

The Haves and Don’t Have Tos of Healthcare

By Justin Katz | January 14, 2010 |

Mark Patinkin begins a brief examination of “why there’s all this fuss about revamping the [healthcare] system” with a faulty premise: I’m guessing there have been two distinct audiences for the health-care debate. Those who have an affordable plan and those who don’t. If you don’t, you doubtless paid a lot more attention. Patinkin’s essay…

Labor Gets its Special Health Care Deal

By Marc Comtois | January 14, 2010 |

At the end of this post I alluded to the special deal that unions–after much b***ing and moaning– have extracted from Team Obama Health Care Force. In short, the tax on so-called “cadillac plans” won’t be applied to collectively bargained health plans. Heritage’s James Sherk observes: What a deal. Unions want the health care spending,…

ProJo Ideology Identified: Healthcarism

By Marc Comtois | January 13, 2010 |

With the ProJo editorial board’s endorsement of Martha Coakley for Senate, it’s become more apparent than ever that the ProJo editorial board has become a single-issue shill for health care reform at all costs. Most important to us is that she is the candidate most likely to carry on the work of the late Sen.…

If You Don’t See It, You Don’t Feel It

By Marc Comtois | January 12, 2010 |

For those who remember when health insurance used to be only “hospital insurance” or “catastrophic”, this chart shouldn’t be a surprise. Veronique de Rugy puts it in context: Much of the rationale behind the current reform of the healthcare system is about controlling inflation in healthcare costs. However, based on the trend presented above, a…