Health Affairs

Editor’s Note: In addition to Alain Enthoven and Leonard Schaeffer (photos and bios above), this post is coauthored by David Helwig and Phil Lebherz. Helwig retired as President and CEO West Region for WellPoint, Inc., and he also served as chief executive officer and president of Blue Cross of California. Lebherz is Chairman of LISI,... Read the rest of this entry »

Atul Gawande, MD, is one of the best medical writers of our time. I subscribed to the New Yorker just so I could read him.  I reached eagerly for my Dec. 14, 2009 New Yorker when I heard he had an article there. I was deeply disappointed. What worries me is that his article will... Read the rest of this entry »

The Senate Finance Committee is now considering a proposal that would impose an aggregate tax of $6.7 billion dollars per year on “any U.S. health insurance provider,” in proportion to market share, whether for profit or not for profit, but not on employers who “self fund” their employees’ coverage. About 160 million Americans have private... Read the rest of this entry »

In the debate about health reform, many issues are getting an inordinate amount of attention, but one is not getting the detailed consideration it deserves. How it is finally resolved is likely to be one of the key factors of the ultimate plan’s success or failure. That issue is the design of the health insurance... Read the rest of this entry »

Michael Porter and Elizabeth Olmsted Teisberg’s overall vision for health care delivery is an archipelago of free-standing Integrated Practice Units (IPUs), each focused on the total cycle of care for a medical condition. This contrasts to the view of competition among integrated delivery systems (IDSs) [2-week free access] that organize or arrange comprehensive health services... Read the rest of this entry »