Category Archives: Uncategorized

While Medicare and Medicaid negotiate prices for health services–as do governments or regulated insurers in most other countries –the private insurance market in the US creates a free-for-all in which “providers largely charge what they can get away with.” This … Continue reading →

The importance of removing the employer from the health insurance decision making process has never been more obvious than now. As Sandra Fluke’s testimony indicates, women should not be denied contraceptive coverage simply because their employers object. In a single-payer … Continue reading →

A new report from the Pew Center on the States estimates that preventable dental conditions were the primary reason for 830,590 ER visits by Americans in 2009—a 16 percent increase from 2006. Shelly Gehshan, director for the Pew Center’s Children’s … Continue reading →

As the Supreme Court prepares to hear testimony on the constitutionality of the ACA, premiums soar and out-of-pocket costs prevent many Americans–even those with health insurance–from getting the care they need. Life expectancy is going down relative to other countries. … Continue reading →

Small business owners shouldn’t have to deal with the complexities of providing health insurance to their employees. It’s time we decoupled health insurance and employment.  

California’s biggest insurers are raising average rates by 8% to 14% for hundreds of thousands of Californians with individual coverage, outpacing the cost of overall medical care which has risen just 3.6% in the last year. Read more here!

In private academic hospitals in New York City, quality of care varies significantly based on the nature of a patient’s insurance. Those with private insurance are treated in faculty practices and those with public or no insurance in outpatient clinics, … Continue reading →

Uwe Reinhardt explains that two of the main sources of high health care costs are the administrative expenses incurred by the private insurance companies and the fragmentation of the payment side of our health care system. Both of these issues … Continue reading →

More than a year ago, New York City’s public hospital system announced the creation of a management structure for its medical staff in an effort to save millions of dollars.  As part of this plan, the city agreed to pay … Continue reading →

Despite collecting millions of dollars from the state for “charity care, ” New York hospitals pursue uninsured patients aggressively for unpaid bills, seizing their assets and filing liens against their homes. With little or no oversight, hospitals routinely fail to help eligible … Continue reading →