March 3rd, 2010 by EvanFalchukJD in Better Health Network, Health Policy
No Comments »
Barely a week after Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick said he wants state controls on the price of health insurance, President Obama apparently wants to do the same at the federal level. Both men must believe it’s good politics, because there are about 4,000 years of evidence that it’s not good policy.
But the trouble for reformers has never really been about policy. It’s been about a fundamental misunderstanding of how people view health care and the very bad things that happen when you give people the impression you’re going to mess with what they have.
In this sense, the reform bills are like perpetual anxiety machines. Contraptions that continually produce more public anxiety than they consume.
But why is this?
Well one of the surest ways to create anxiety in someone is to make them feel uncertain about something important to them. It’s one reason why companies suffer from problems with morale in tough economic times. If a company doesn’t level with its employees about what’s happening, smart employees start to assume it must be because the news is bad. Otherwise, why wouldn’t the management come out and explain that everything is ok? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at See First Blog*
February 17th, 2010 by EvanFalchukJD in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
No Comments »
“I’m from Massachusetts,” I told the audience. “So depending on how you feel about reform, I will say either ’sorry,’ or ‘you’re welcome.”
The audience, made up of large employers and benefits professionals seemed to like this. But it was clear that they were pleased that the health care reform legislation is Congress is pretty well dead now.
Now, if it’s true that health care costs are rising (they are) and this heavily impacts employers (it does) why would the death of a bill meant to address this problem make those people happy?
I’ve written before that part of the problem with the reform bills in Congress is the huge divide between what benefits professionals know about the real world of health care and the things that get “policy wonks” excited. And so a big reason why these bills never really had widespread support among professional benefits people was because they never made a whole lot of sense to them. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at See First Blog*
February 15th, 2010 by EvanFalchukJD in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
1 Comment »
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick announced this week he has had enough of rising health care costs.
So he is proposing a novel solution: make them illegal.
Well, it’s not fair to call this idea “novel.” Governments have tried price controls for 40 centuries. And even though they don’t work, they keep trying. The explanation isn’t complicated. It’s an easy way for a politician to seem to do something about rising prices. In this case, it won’t do much about the underlying problem, but it is a terrific way for a governor to look like a man of action. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at See First Blog*
February 6th, 2010 by EvanFalchukJD in Better Health Network, Health Policy
1 Comment »
Prevention. Also, prevention, prevention, prevention, prevention,prevention, prevention,prevention, prevention, prevention, and prevention. Finally, prevention, prevention, prevention, spam, prevention,prevention, prevention,prevention, prevention,prevention, prevention, prevention, prevention.
I’m overstating it, but this was the major theme of the Employer Health and Human Capital Congress which I attended yesterday outside of Washington, DC. It’s a major event for benefits professionals and in spite of the pending snowpocalypse, was very well attended. I moderated a panel about how people need help navigating the health care system. But the gap between all the talk about prevention and the reality that a lot of people are going to get sick no matter what was the talk of this group. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at See First Blog*
February 1st, 2010 by EvanFalchukJD in Better Health Network, Health Policy
No Comments »
Japan is completely different from the United States. But it’s exactly the same.
I’m talking about health care, of course.
Japan is a country of about 130 million people, and one of the richest countries on Earth. They enjoy a system of universal health care coverage, and some of the best doctors in the world. But there are problems.
The country is is straining under the twin burdens of an aging population and rising health care costs. At some point in the next two decades, retirees will outnumber active workers. Medical expenses per person have almost doubled since the 1990s and continue to rise. In a country with little immigration and low birth rates, it’s a bad combination. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at See First Blog*
