Food for thought, relevant to this year’s forthcoming Big Discussion on expanding health care to more MA folks. None of this stuff is brand-spanking new, but it behooves us to know the terms of the debate.
"The Best Care Anywhere" by Phillip Longman in the Washington Monthly: talks about how Veterans Administration hospitals are actually flourishing, and why. (By the way, VA negotiates prices with pharmaceutical companies. Who woulda thunk that’d save you money.)
Polling Report: Health Care delivery: Always fascinating to know what folks think.
Roadmap Report from the Urban Institute and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation (don’t worry, just read the executive summary if you’re short on time). The upshot: stop throwing money at ER medicine, get folks covered and seeing doctors before they get really sick. Makes moral sense and mucho economic sense. Here’s our commentary.
Health Care for All: Major players, putting together a coalition to get more folks covered. This has legs.
Paul Krugman’s column on health care policy, including how single-payer is cheaper and better: Not too shrill, I promise. Government health care sucks if you want to die young. (Thanks to Liberal Oasis.
Mitt’s op-ed in the Globe for "Commonwealth Care".
James Mongan’s op-ed in the Globe: "Health Care as a moral imperative"
Add your own links in the comments. I’d love to see other stuff folks have been reading.
for a cogent case for a single payer healthcare system in mass. check out masscare.org.while a lot of people talk a good game about universal coverage, the frank hynes sponsored health care trust bill that was introduced last december is going to present a put-up or shut-up dilemma for many lawmakers.if the political fear factor is breached, and the public really starts looking at single payer in a sane,logical way,look for the initiative to start rolling.