Our Health Policy Matters

Why did the health care debate in this year’s election campaign pivot so quickly from the Affordable Care Act to Medicare? It may well be because of this:  While people still feel strongly about ACA, they don’t really see it as relevant to them.  But Paul Ryan made Medicare relevant to everyone when he proposed changing the program for the under-55 population. Some new data from the U.S. Census Bureau may explain why most people don’t see ACA as relevant to them. We learned this month that the number and percentage of people without health insurance changed modestly in the year after ACA passed.  The number of uninsured people went from 50 million to 48.6 million.  The percentage of uninsured decreased from 16.3 percent to 15.7 percent. These changes were small, as were some others.  The percentage of people with employer-based insurance decreased slightly, from 45.7% in 2010 to 45.1% in 2011, and the percentage of people who purchase privat...

Why did the health care debate in this year’s election campaign pivot so quickly from the Affordable Care Act to Medicare? It may well be because of this:  While people still feel strongly about ACA, they don’t really see it as relevant to them.  But Paul Ryan made Medicare relevant to everyone when he proposed changing the program for the under-55 population. Some new data from the U.S. Census Bureau may explain why most people don’t see ACA as relevant to them. We learned this month that the number and percentage of people without health insurance changed modestly in the year after ACA passed.  The number of uninsured people went from 50 million to 48.6 million.  The percentage of uninsured decreased from 16.3 percent to 15.7 percent. These changes were small, as were some others.  The percentage of people with employer-based insurance decreased slightly, from 45.7% in 2010 to 45.1% in 2011, and the percentage of people who purchase privat...

I am writing this column just a few hours after the birth of my second grandchild, Haley Marie.  Haley Marie looks like her father.  She is long and thin, and she is going to be very pretty when she is older. Our first grandchild, Noah, was born four months ago.  He’s in the 5 th percentile in weight, and my wife and I joked that it would be hard for Haley to beat that when she came along. She did.  She weighed in at two pounds and eleven ounces, which means that, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation Kids Count project, she is one of the 1.5% of all U.S.  babies who are born each year at “very low birth weight,” or less than 1500 grams (3 pounds, 4 ounces).  So Haley Marie will spend her first days in a hospital neonatal intensive care unit.  Haley is fortunate.  She was beyond thirty-two weeks of gestation.  Her Apgar scores were stellar.  She is strong and has good lungs.  I can also offer direct testim...

I am writing this column just a few hours after the birth of my second grandchild, Haley Marie.  Haley Marie looks like her father.  She is long and thin, and she is going to be very pretty when she is older. Our first grandchild, Noah, was born four months ago.  He’s in the 5 th percentile in weight, and my wife and I joked that it would be hard for Haley to beat that when she came along. She did.  She weighed in at two pounds and eleven ounces, which means that, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation Kids Count project, she is one of the 1.5% of all U.S.  babies who are born each year at “very low birth weight,” or less than 1500 grams (3 pounds, 4 ounces).  So Haley Marie will spend her first days in a hospital neonatal intensive care unit.  Haley is fortunate.  She was beyond thirty-two weeks of gestation.  Her Apgar scores were stellar.  She is strong and has good lungs.  I can also offer direct testim...