Our Health Policy Matters

Back in 1980, Republicans nominated a television star with a limited understanding of federal government, zero foreign policy experience, and a platform of platitudes about reigning in a big government run amok. Image copyright unclear (on multiple websites); His main populist appeal was to middle class moderates and conservatives who were struggling both to keep their heads above water in a frightening economy and to understand the enormous changes that had democratized (and integrated) our society during the late 1960s and early 1970s.   To reassure us he led with this – a new theory of “trickle down” economics.  It held that if the government made the rich richer through historic tax cuts for the wealthy, they would re-invest those dollars in jobs for everyone else, and we would all become wealthier for generations to come. That didn't happen, but Ronald Reagan promised a new approach to governing, and a new way of life for the American people. Today, ...

Back in 1980, Republicans nominated a television star with a limited understanding of federal government, zero foreign policy experience, and a platform of platitudes about reigning in a big government run amok. Image copyright unclear (on multiple websites); His main populist appeal was to middle class moderates and conservatives who were struggling both to keep their heads above water in a frightening economy and to understand the enormous changes that had democratized (and integrated) our society during the late 1960s and early 1970s.   To reassure us he led with this – a new theory of “trickle down” economics.  It held that if the government made the rich richer through historic tax cuts for the wealthy, they would re-invest those dollars in jobs for everyone else, and we would all become wealthier for generations to come. That didn't happen, but Ronald Reagan promised a new approach to governing, and a new way of life for the American people. Today, ...

It has been a busy health policy year.  Here are my choices for the top health policy stories.  They all may not have made big headlines, but all will reverberate for some time.  The Slowing of Healthcare Inflation This was on my watch list coming into this year , and I’ll lead with it today because it was the best health policy news of the year.  When healthcare inflation came in low this year, it did all sorts of good things.  It helped balance state budgets, extended the life of the Medicare Trust Fund, and dropped the price tag of the Affordable Care Act.  Inflation is supposed to jump up this year as millions more become insured, but we can at least hope that a more modest trendline continues. Mental Health Parity And for some more good news… It took five years and incessant lobbying from heroes like Patrick Kennedy, but the final rule implementing the Mental Health Parity Act of 2008 was finally released this year , coinciding roug...

It has been a busy health policy year.  Here are my choices for the top health policy stories.  They all may not have made big headlines, but all will reverberate for some time.  The Slowing of Healthcare Inflation This was on my watch list coming into this year , and I’ll lead with it today because it was the best health policy news of the year.  When healthcare inflation came in low this year, it did all sorts of good things.  It helped balance state budgets, extended the life of the Medicare Trust Fund, and dropped the price tag of the Affordable Care Act.  Inflation is supposed to jump up this year as millions more become insured, but we can at least hope that a more modest trendline continues. Mental Health Parity And for some more good news… It took five years and incessant lobbying from heroes like Patrick Kennedy, but the final rule implementing the Mental Health Parity Act of 2008 was finally released this year , coinciding roug...

Thirty years ago, AIDS was a total mystery to us. Six years into what CDC already termed an epidemic, 358 AIDS cases in twenty states had been confirmed and 136 people had died.  No one knew why. Several people I knew were probably already infected with HIV.  I learned this only as they died over the next few years.  One was a popular Connecticut Congressman, Stew McKinney, who was a moving force behind federal funding for services for homeless people.  Another was a lawyer named Jim Hurley. I first met Jim when we were high school debaters.   His school debated against my school at several local and regional debate tournaments.  I remembered him as bright, easy-going, and friendly. We reintroduced ourselves during our first year in college, when we crossed paths in his dormitory one day.  He hadn’t changed much.  He was personable, still friendly, and happy to exchange a few stories about Catholic high schools and debating...

Thirty years ago, AIDS was a total mystery to us. Six years into what CDC already termed an epidemic, 358 AIDS cases in twenty states had been confirmed and 136 people had died.  No one knew why. Several people I knew were probably already infected with HIV.  I learned this only as they died over the next few years.  One was a popular Connecticut Congressman, Stew McKinney, who was a moving force behind federal funding for services for homeless people.  Another was a lawyer named Jim Hurley. I first met Jim when we were high school debaters.   His school debated against my school at several local and regional debate tournaments.  I remembered him as bright, easy-going, and friendly. We reintroduced ourselves during our first year in college, when we crossed paths in his dormitory one day.  He hadn’t changed much.  He was personable, still friendly, and happy to exchange a few stories about Catholic high schools and debating...