Our Health Policy Matters

You shouldn’t have to worry about anything during vacation season. So this column is my vacation gift to you. It is about all the health policy matters we seem to worry about the least.  I have written close to 150 columns.  If you look down the right side of the page, you will find links to the ten most-read ones.  The subjects won’t surprise you – fairness in mental health treatment, Obamacare and private insurance, and cursed football players lead the way. But do you ever wonder about the columns with the fewest readers? Based solely and unscientifically on my numbers, here are a half dozen or so health policy matters we seem to care about the least. Long Term Care.  Are you worried about continuing high unemployment rates, taxes on small businesses, or another stock market crash ruining your family’s financial security?   If so, you should redirect that worry.  Because US Trust CEO Keith Banks called long term care costs...

You shouldn’t have to worry about anything during vacation season. So this column is my vacation gift to you. It is about all the health policy matters we seem to worry about the least.  I have written close to 150 columns.  If you look down the right side of the page, you will find links to the ten most-read ones.  The subjects won’t surprise you – fairness in mental health treatment, Obamacare and private insurance, and cursed football players lead the way. But do you ever wonder about the columns with the fewest readers? Based solely and unscientifically on my numbers, here are a half dozen or so health policy matters we seem to care about the least. Long Term Care.  Are you worried about continuing high unemployment rates, taxes on small businesses, or another stock market crash ruining your family’s financial security?   If so, you should redirect that worry.  Because US Trust CEO Keith Banks called long term care costs...

The reasons that 25 states chose not to participate in creating a new health exchange aren’t exactly the ones they’ve been claiming – that Obamacare is too complicated, too anti-consumer, or too politically unpopular.  The truth is that they have never done a very good job of protecting the health and well-being of their people – especially their children – and they were not ready to start now. Now that all fifty states have decided whether or not they will at least participate in running their own health insurance exchanges as allowed by the Affordable Care Act (you can see the updated information about what each state decided on my state rankings page ), a clear picture is emerging of what distinguished the states choosing to participate from those refusing to do so. On the whole, when compared to one another, the 25 states that have chosen to participate in running their exchanges (17 by themselves, 8 in partnership with the federal government)do a much better jo...

The reasons that 25 states chose not to participate in creating a new health exchange aren’t exactly the ones they’ve been claiming – that Obamacare is too complicated, too anti-consumer, or too politically unpopular.  The truth is that they have never done a very good job of protecting the health and well-being of their people – especially their children – and they were not ready to start now. Now that all fifty states have decided whether or not they will at least participate in running their own health insurance exchanges as allowed by the Affordable Care Act (you can see the updated information about what each state decided on my state rankings page ), a clear picture is emerging of what distinguished the states choosing to participate from those refusing to do so. On the whole, when compared to one another, the 25 states that have chosen to participate in running their exchanges (17 by themselves, 8 in partnership with the federal government)do a much better jo...

Except for summertime humidity, the Florida and Connecticut “climates” don’t have a lot in common.  For example, Connecticut has one of the best climates for health and health care, while Florida’s is in the bottom half.  On the other hand, Florida has one of the best business tax climates, while Connecticut’s is near the rear. Their political climates are also polar opposites.  Florida’s governor is a Republican, and its Legislature is overwhelmingly Republican.  Connecticut’s governor is a Democrat, and its legislature is overwhelmingly Democratic. And the difference in their policy climates is reflected in the way they handled their 2011 budget crises.  Connecticut raised taxes and cut spending, while Florida just cut spending.  As a result, Connecticut’s budget now balanced.  Florida, meanwhile, extended its crisis by another year.  And its Governor has just proposed cutting $2 billion from health services alone in his proposed...

Except for summertime humidity, the Florida and Connecticut “climates” don’t have a lot in common.  For example, Connecticut has one of the best climates for health and health care, while Florida’s is in the bottom half.  On the other hand, Florida has one of the best business tax climates, while Connecticut’s is near the rear. Their political climates are also polar opposites.  Florida’s governor is a Republican, and its Legislature is overwhelmingly Republican.  Connecticut’s governor is a Democrat, and its legislature is overwhelmingly Democratic. And the difference in their policy climates is reflected in the way they handled their 2011 budget crises.  Connecticut raised taxes and cut spending, while Florida just cut spending.  As a result, Connecticut’s budget now balanced.  Florida, meanwhile, extended its crisis by another year.  And its Governor has just proposed cutting $2 billion from health services alone in his proposed...

Fifty years ago, we already knew that there were environmental causes of chronic conditions like mental illness.   Had we taken them on as an American nation-building project with the zeal with which we have approached nation-building overseas, we would be a healthier country today.   Will we do any better in the next half-century? I’ve recently been reading a book written in 1969 about the 1968 Presidential campaign, called An American Melodrama .   It is a very long book about a very short political campaign by today’s standards. Bobby Kennedy, for example, didn’t announce for the Presidency until March, and George Wallace – who won several southern states as a third-party candidate – didn’t pick his running mate until October.   Political scientists will find many parallels from that time to today.   One example: former Governor Romney was the early favorite for the Republican nomination.   (He never made it to the starting gate.) It was a campaign a...

Fifty years ago, we already knew that there were environmental causes of chronic conditions like mental illness.   Had we taken them on as an American nation-building project with the zeal with which we have approached nation-building overseas, we would be a healthier country today.   Will we do any better in the next half-century? I’ve recently been reading a book written in 1969 about the 1968 Presidential campaign, called An American Melodrama .   It is a very long book about a very short political campaign by today’s standards. Bobby Kennedy, for example, didn’t announce for the Presidency until March, and George Wallace – who won several southern states as a third-party candidate – didn’t pick his running mate until October.   Political scientists will find many parallels from that time to today.   One example: former Governor Romney was the early favorite for the Republican nomination.   (He never made it to the starting gate.) It was a campaign a...

The late comedian Jack Benny made himself the butt of a running gag about how cheap he was.   A crook would come up to him and demand “your money or your life!”   After a long pause, Benny would deadpan to the increasingly impatient crook, “I’m thinking about it.” It’s funny to think about someone who would hold onto his own money so tightly that he would put his own life at risk.   It’s not funny to think about people who would do the same and put their children’s lives at risk. At the beginning of the 21 st century, we could feel good about the progress we were making to improve the health of our children.   While child poverty rates were doggedly high, other key indicators, including infant mortality rates, low birthweight rates, immunization rates, and violence rates, were all improving.   We had reason to believe that even the “compassionate, conservative” approach to policymaking would continue to get results. It didn’t happen.   Some data from th...

The late comedian Jack Benny made himself the butt of a running gag about how cheap he was.   A crook would come up to him and demand “your money or your life!”   After a long pause, Benny would deadpan to the increasingly impatient crook, “I’m thinking about it.” It’s funny to think about someone who would hold onto his own money so tightly that he would put his own life at risk.   It’s not funny to think about people who would do the same and put their children’s lives at risk. At the beginning of the 21 st century, we could feel good about the progress we were making to improve the health of our children.   While child poverty rates were doggedly high, other key indicators, including infant mortality rates, low birthweight rates, immunization rates, and violence rates, were all improving.   We had reason to believe that even the “compassionate, conservative” approach to policymaking would continue to get results. It didn’t happen.   Some data from th...