Health Affairs

For your health policy reading pleasure, check out the latest edition of the Health Wonk Review, ably presented at the Health Business Blog by David Williams.

Editor’s Note: Earlier posts by Timothy Jost provide analyses of regulations implementing provisions of the new health reform legislation governing the small employer tax credit, the Web portal, reinsurance for early retirees, and young adult coverage.  Section 9007 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act , creating a new 504(r) of the Internal Revenue Code,  “Additional... Read the rest of this entry »

When the presenters at a Veterans’ Mental Health Training Initiative symposium last week in New Paltz, New York, played the “Raise your hand if you…” game, very few participants raised their hands to indicate that they or a family member had been in the military, or even that they were currently working with clients or... Read the rest of this entry »

As Americans start to understand the concrete benefits contained in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), public attitudes about the new law will become more favorable. That at least is what the Obama administration is counting on. The administration has worked to quickly begin some of those benefits – such as a ban... Read the rest of this entry »

A Health Affairs Blog post yesterday discussed material on mental health and mandates that Sherry Glied, President Obama’s nominee to be the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at the Department of Health and Human Services, has published in Health Affairs. Glied, a professor and chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management at... Read the rest of this entry »

The Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to vote today on the nomination of Sherry Glied to be the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at the Department of Health and Human Services. The President nominated Glied, a professor and chair of the department of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public... Read the rest of this entry »

Cost sharing in a fee-for-service health care system is almost universally recommended by health economists. The reason: When patients pay some part of the costs of their care, they are likely to be more conservative, prudent shoppers in the medical marketplace. Under the recently enacted health reform, for example, the out-of-pocket exposure can be as... Read the rest of this entry »

A piece on the potential health-related effects of Arizona’s new immigration law is the most-read GrantWatch Blog post since the blog debuted on March 16. Other posts on the most-read list focus on “bending the cost curve” and foundation activities regarding health reform and primary care. Here are the top five posts:  Arizona’s Immigration Law: Bad for Health by Roger Hughes... Read the rest of this entry »

Implementing provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act poses a huge challenge for the public and private sectors alike. Thousands of decisions and regulatory changes must be made to re-structure the U.S. health care system, expand health coverage, and begin the effort to control costs. The June 2010 issue of Health Affairs details... Read the rest of this entry »

Here are some posts of interest on other health philanthropy blogs. Health Reform: Cali[fornia] Urged to Start Early on New Health Insurance Exchange: This May 12 post reports on remarks of Jon Kingsdale, executive director of the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority (Massachusetts’s insurance exchange), at a joint hearing of the California Senate and Assembly health... Read the rest of this entry »

The latest health policy brief from Health Affairs and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation examines the changes to Medicare contained in recently passed health reform legislation. This is the most recent in a series of briefs that offer more context than fact sheets but provide quicker reads than most background papers. The information in the briefs is objective and reviewed by... Read the rest of this entry »

Group of Foundations Award a Total of $615,000 for Implementation The Connecticut state legislature passed SustiNet, the new state health care reform law, in July 2009, when it overrode a veto by Gov. M. Jodi Rell (R). (For background on the law and the role of the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, read the... Read the rest of this entry »

Despite unprecedented growth in available resources, the world is facing both short- and long-run financial crises in combating the international HIV/AIDS pandemic. That message emerges strongly from a cluster of articles in the November/December 2009 issue of Health Affairs funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. HIV funding shortfalls and their potential lethal consequences... Read the rest of this entry »

Editor’s Note:  Other posts by Timothy Jost provide analyses of regulations implementing provisions of the new health reform legislation governing standards for tax-exempt hospitals, the Web portal, reinsurance for early retirees, and young adult coverage.  Implementation of health care reform continues at a rapid pace.  On Monday, May 17, the Internal Revenue Service issued Notice 2010-44,... Read the rest of this entry »

Here is a sampling of what foundations and others are doing in the important area of oral health care. Recent reports: The Cost of Delay: State Dental Policies Fail One in Five Children was released 23 February 2010 by the Pew Center on the States (part of the Pew Charitable Trusts). The report was funded... Read the rest of this entry »

Hank Stern at InsureBlog hosts this week’s edition of the Health Wonk Review. Check it out for the best in recent health policy blogging.

By mid-fall, Pennsylvania should start receiving funds earmarked for state high-risk pools under the recently passed health reform legislation, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The money will allow the state to serve some of the estimated 140,000 Pennsylvanians who qualify as high risks, Keystone State Governor Edward Rendell said at a Health... Read the rest of this entry »

Changing the way primary care physicians spend their time is key to improving primary care in the United States, Lawrence Casalino said a May 4 Health Affairs briefing. Video and slides from the briefing, held in conjunction with the release of the journal’s May issue “Reinventing Primary Care,” are now available on the Health Affairs... Read the rest of this entry »

Editor’s Note: Other posts by Timothy Jost provide analyses of regulations implementing provisions of the new health reform legislation governing standards for tax-exempt hospitals, the Web portal, reinsurance for early retirees, and  the small employer tax credit. On Monday, May 10, the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury jointly released Interim Final Rules for... Read the rest of this entry »

The White House’s Task Force on Childhood Obesity, headed by First Lady Michelle Obama, today released recommendations to the President designed to lower the child obesity rate from about 20 percent now to 5 percent in 2030.  Currently, one out of three children is overweight or obese, the Task Force report points out. Child obesity is significantly correlated... Read the rest of this entry »