Posts Tagged ‘HWR’

The waning days of summer Health Wonk Review

Thursday, August 23rd, 2018

 

Through vacations, heat waves, and days on the beach, our health policy wonks are still on the job. As we eke out the remaining days of summer and slouch toward the interim election, they continue their relentless focus on opining about the issues of the day. Check our August edition entries.

  • First up, Joe Paduda unpacks the generic term to uncover the varied approaches to universal coverage currently operating at far lower cost and far better outcomes than our “multi-payer” “system” in his post What exactly is single payer at Managed Care Matters.
  • Louise Norris tells us that the Trump administration has finalized rules that will make it easier for many Americans to buy short-term health insurance plans that may be less expensive – but aren’t as comprehensive as ACA-compliant plans. She explains the rules and how they’ll affect consumers in her post at healthInsurance.org Blog: ‘So long’ to limits on short-term plans.
  • At InsureBlog, Patrick Paule puts paid to the notion that Medicare4All is any great deal or panacea. he makes his case in his post On BernieCare.
  • What’s worse than needing help with gait, mobility and balance? Being told you need a walker. No wonder, when the typical walker basically screams “frail elderly,” and is difficult to use as well. At Health Business Blog, David Williams talks with neurologist Patricia Kavanagh about how she teamed up with a design and production team to a modern device that is more functional and stylish in an effort to get her patients with Parkinson’s and other movement disorders to use a walker.
  • Vincent Grippi pf the CareCentrix’s Homefront Blog submits this month’s episode of #CareTalk, in which David Williams (Health Business Group) and John Driscoll (CareCentrix) discuss Trump’s fight with Pfizer over drug pricing, and more.

 

Next issue: September 20 – Andrew Sprung – xpostfactoid

 

Your monthly dose of health wonkery

Thursday, June 14th, 2018

Despite vacations, graduations, weddings and all the usual seasonal distractions, the Health Wonks are on the job. The June compendium of health policy news is freshly posted by long-time wonk Hank Stern at InsureBlog — and speaking of weddings, he’s posted A Midsummer Night’s Health Wonk Review. There are many great entries from the usual suspects so grab a coffee and check it out.

Health Wonk Review – Instagram Style

Thursday, May 17th, 2018

A picture’s worth a thousand words, and today Jason Shafrin proves it at Healthcare Economist. Jason has a photo, a chart, a graph and even a cartoon (for you Sponge Bob lovers) to illustrate what Health Wonk Review authors are posting.

We’re heading toward summer, although you’d never know it from the weather we’ve been gifted here in Massachusetts. Regardless, grab a mug of whatever you like, sit back, put your feet up and take a stroll through a Wonk garden filled with some excellent health care policy thinking.

Ideas of March Health Wonk Review

Friday, March 16th, 2018

The March edition of Health Wonk Review is out, and it’s a good one — David Williams has posted the Ideas of March edition of Health Wonk Review.

Health Wonk Review: Ideas of March Edition

We encourage policy wonk fans to take the time to watch the #CareTalk podcast co-hosted by this week’s David Williams (Health Business Group) and John Driscoll (CareCentrix) – among the topics, what the partnership between Amazon, JPMorgan Chase and Berkshire Hathaway will mean for healthcare.

Happy holiday Health Wonk Review

Thursday, December 14th, 2017

Santa reading Health Wonk Review

First, let us go on record for saying that there is no sly political motive to our use of the term “holiday” in the title of this post. Admittedly, we have a bit of a liberal slant, but we have no aversion to using the phrase “Merry Christmas.” But ho, ho, ho, we do have an inordinate fondness for alliteration. Of course, we might have called it the Happy Hanukkah Health Wonk Review instead, but we wanted to encompass Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanza, New Year’s, and even the dubious Festivus. Whatever your flavor or inclination, we wish you a merry, happy, joyful one. Pentatonix says it better than we ever could, so a bit of a seasonal interlude before we get to this week’s entries.

The Happy Holiday Health Wonk Review

*** First up, at Managed Care Matters, Joe Paduda is never one to shy away from calling it as he sees it and this week his submission takes on the GOP tax bill, which he describes as “a mess, riddled with math errors, contradictory language, and un-implementable directives.” Congressional leaders say they have reached some agreement and will vote before the end of the year, so Joe’s post will give context.

*** Roy Poses proves once again that the devil is in the details and he consistently makes it his blogging business to dig through the details to hold feet to the fire. At Heath Care Renewal, he tracks down more about a barely-reported Pfizer settlement for “alleged” anti-competitive behavior that nearly slipped through the radar. He says that the lack of negative consequences suggests that the impunity of top health care leaders is is worsening. Check out his post One Barely Noticed Settlement by Pfizer Suggests the Futility of Polite Protests about Health Policy.

*** How will the CVS purchase of Aetna affect the healthcare landscape? Jason Shafrin aka The Healthcare Economist weighs in with his informed observations.  And another of our regular wonks weighs in on the merger. David Williams of Health Business Blog posts CVS + Aetna. Are we sure this adds up? Despite talksthat this combo will lead to a revolution in care delivery, he remains a skeptic and talks about why.

*** Acknowledging that the individual market for health insurance has become unaffordable for many of the unsubsidized — particularly older would-be enrollees — Andrew Sprung outlines various ways to keep Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) below the subsidy line. Check out his post Steering clear of the subsidy cliff in the ACA marketplace at xpostfactoid.

***  Vincent Grippi of CareCentrix submitted a fun #CareTalk video podcast, featuring HWR regular David Williams teaming with John Driscoll of CareCentrix. In a point-counterpoint format, they spar about the implications of 2017 elections on healthcare (think Maine), move on to value-based healthcare and they close the 10 minute segment with a lightning round.

*** Brad Flansbaum of The Hospital Leader has an interesting post about Locums vs F/T Hospitalists, posing the question, do temps stack up? He reports on a JAMA study, adding his perspective. Now I must confess that the term “locums” was a new to me, but Brad gives it good context. But if you are curious to the origins, as I was, Wikipedia is your friend.

*** In his post The Positive Side of Sharing, InsureBlog’s Henry Stern has the latest on a reader’s experience with a Health Care Sharing Ministry. (He offers this spoiler alert: it’s actually been pretty good).

*** Shopping for individual health insurance or know someone who is? If your state uses HealthCare.gov, you have until December 15 to enroll, but in other states, you may be able to enroll as late as January 31. Victims of Hurricanes Irma and Harvey may also have extensions. Louise Norris has all the details in her  guide to buying individual health insurance at healthinsurance.org. For more, see Timothy Jost’s post on Health Affairs Blog: Open Enrollment Ends Friday—Except For Those Qualifying For Special Enrollment Periods.

*** For our post, we’re delving into our archives for an expose of a mysterious employer. Many have nothing but good to say about him, but others think he is not a good employer. Judge for yourself:

Santa’s workshop: “OSHA problems galore” say whistleblowers
The risks of being Santa
Is Santa Claus a bad employer?

 

Health Wonk Review and a tribute to our veterans

Friday, November 10th, 2017

At Healthcare Economist, Jason Shafrin has posted the latest compendium of posts from the health policy bloggers: Health Wonk Review: Quote-of-the-day Edition. He frames each submission with a pithy quote. While the overall shape and politics of the healthcare debate are still a primary theme of posts, there are other entries, including two videos. Grab a coffee and catch up on the latest thinking from the wonks.

This weekend, we pay tribute to our veterans and thank them for their service and sacrifice. We end with this advice: How to honor veterans: Hire one!

Health Wonk Review’s “Pink Edition”

Thursday, October 12th, 2017

InsureBlog’s Hank Stern has posted the latest edition, the “Pink Edition,” of Health Wonk Review.

Why the “Pink Edition?” Because October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and Hank and his team, Love, Hope and Faith, are doing their best to raise money to help eradicate this terrible disease. They’re participating in a walk to do just that on October 21, and Hank would love some help from the HWR community. Something to think about.

So, after making a donation to Hank’s worthwhile cause, we hope you’ll grab a cup of whatever suits you best, put your feet up and once again revel in all things health wonkery.

Fresh Health Wonk Review & a summer news roundup

Thursday, August 17th, 2017

Fresh Health Wonk Review! Looking for some beach reading? The wonks have you covered. Peggy Salvatore posts The Summer Lull Edition of Health Wonk Review at Health System Ed blog – catch up on what’s been happening in the last few weeks, from autopsies of the ACA repeal to where we go from here and assorted other health topics, the wonks have you covered – check it out.

man reading laptop on a beach

 

More summer reading:

Healthcare reform implications for work comp – Not included in this week’s HWR but a must-read nonetheless, in a two-part series at Managed Care Matters, Joe Paduda breaks down the likely implications for workers comp, Medicaid Expansion and more. Part one is linked above, and here is part 2.

They Got Hurt At Work — Then They Got Deported – Most workers comp laws have upheld workers comp for workers regardless of status: if the employer had the benefit of the labor and the worker is injured, generally comp will pay for those injuries. NPR looks at how that is changing and how some state laws are targeting undocumented workers.

Opt Out is Going to Return, and Why We Should Pay Attention – Think opt out was killed with the OK Supreme Court decision? At Bob’s Cluttered Desk, Bob Wilson talks about why that’s not likely and where the debate is going from here.

WCI 2017 – Miss the recent conference? Here are a few folks who have you covered: WCI has a good conference roundup and Conference Chronicles features good recaps of sessions.

Mourning writer Lizzie Grossman: The Pump Handle readers will miss her – We were sad to learn of Lizzie’s passing, a journalist and blogger who covered important environmental health issues. Her voice will be missed.

Quick Takes

 

In closing, Apparently, robots aren’t quite ready to take our jobs

A fresh Health Wonk Review for your perusal

Thursday, May 18th, 2017

Jason Shafrin, our favorite Healthcare Economist, has posted a fresh collection of health policy punditry, the “I will build a great Health Wonk Review . . . and nobody builds Health Wonk Reviews better than me, believe me”  edition. Want the scoop on AHCA, national drug policy, pharma, bundled payments or other current topics in the policy arena? Check out this post. If you don’t follow the health arena on a daily basis, Heath Wonk Review is a great way to keep up with the important news.

If you are feeling particularly wonky or would like to follow back issues, got to Health Wonk Review’s home page.

 

Freshly posted Health Wonk Review at InsureBlog

Friday, April 7th, 2017

Start your Friday with your morning beverage of choice and a fresh edition of Heath Wonk Review. Over at InsureBlog, Hank Stern has posted the Health Wonk Review: Pre-Passover edition. In his Twitter promo for this edition, he promises “Everything from horseradish to opioids” – you are probably not going to find too many insurance-related posts quite that eclectic!

In addition to wonks weighing in on RyanCare and the future of the ACA, other topics include opioids, physician burnout, the physician mission, price transparency, “the coding swindle” and more. Check it out!

We bring one post in particular to your attention – a post by HWR regular Brad Wright at his Wright on Health blog. He relates an up-close-and-personal encounter with the health care system, and reflects on his experience in the larger context of healthcare availability and accessibility.  Wonkery is all well and fine, but there is nothing quite like a personal testimonial to make a powerful impact. (Wishing you the best as you recover, Brad!)