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Vox published a piece about a Democratic senator from Hawaii wanting to allow more individuals the choice to buy into Medicaid plans. The article raises some interesting points. First, the article points out that Medicaid prices (widely known to be low enough that many providers opt out of accepting Medicaid) are 72 percent of Medicare prices (which the article says is less than corresponding prices from private insurers). The proposal would like to raise Medicaid prices to be comparable to those of Medicare -- it would be interesting to know how those premiums (and benefits) compare with options from private insurers. Second, it highlights how the Democratic party is deliberating multiple options to improve the current insurance coverage landscape in the US: in addition to this proposal (which allows, but does not require, states to participate), Democrats in the House of Representatives are considered a single-payer plan, while Senator Sanders is expected to release a different single-payer proposal. The article notes that the Democratic party is using its time as the minority party to consider competing plans in preparation for when they do get a chance to propose significant healthcare reform.

Vox published a piece about a Democratic senator from Hawaii wanting to allow more individuals the choice to buy into Medicaid plans. The article raises some interesting points. First, the article points out that Medicaid prices (widely known to be low enough that many providers opt out of accepting Medicaid) are 72 percent of Medicare prices (which the article says is less than corresponding prices from private insurers). The proposal would like to raise Medicaid prices to be comparable to those of Medicare -- it would be interesting to know how those premiums (and benefits) compare with options from private insurers. Second, it highlights how the Democratic party is deliberating multiple options to improve the current insurance coverage landscape in the US: in addition to this proposal (which allows, but does not require, states to participate), Democrats in the House of Representatives are considered a single-payer plan, while Senator Sanders is expected to release a different single-payer proposal. The article notes that the Democratic party is using its time as the minority party to consider competing plans in preparation for when they do get a chance to propose significant healthcare reform.

Engagement on this issue contrasts sharply with the Republican rhetoric during President Obama's administration. If Republicans had considered a similar strategy at that time, they might have been able to offer a more cohesive plan than what happened recently.

Dr. Ashish Jha wrote a piece defending the idea that clinical outcomes -- even at the individual surgeon level -- should be released to the public. The idea of reporting outcomes at the level of individual providers has historically been controversial within the medical community. Dr. Jha rebuts three of the common arguments against such transparency, and does so in a readable manner.

Dr. Ashish Jha wrote a piece defending the idea that clinical outcomes -- even at the individual surgeon level -- should be released to the public. The idea of reporting outcomes at the level of individual providers has historically been controversial within the medical community. Dr. Jha rebuts three of the common arguments against such transparency, and does so in a readable manner.

While the medical community may still be opposed on balance, the tide might be turning ever so slowly.

Kaiser Health News reported on a survey of over 1,000 physicians that found that the majority of respondents support single-payer healthcare. The article notes that a minority of surveyed physicians supported single-payer healthcare in 2008. If these surveys are representative of physicians nationally, they mark a significant shift in attitudes of the medical community, which has historically strongly opposed certain government involvement in healthcare.

Kaiser Health News reported on a survey of over 1,000 physicians that found that the majority of respondents support single-payer healthcare. The article notes that a minority of surveyed physicians supported single-payer healthcare in 2008. If these surveys are representative of physicians nationally, they mark a significant shift in attitudes of the medical community, which has historically strongly opposed certain government involvement in healthcare.

In other news, Vox reported on a seemingly corresponding change in the attitudes of Americans in general towards single-payer healthcare. The article notes that although the popularity of the Affordable Care Act only rose 5%, the recent legislative attempts to repeal it may have ironically strengthened the public's support for government plans such as Medicaid. National single-payer healthcare in America still seems reasonably distant, but the topic is likely to surface in future elections.

Kaiser Health News published a piece on the near-term outlook for the Affordable Care Act. Its assessment seems reasonably positive ("insurers are on track to be profitable and the market appears to be stabilizing in the country overall"), although it notes that there are markets that are "fragile." Of course, the related headlines dominating the news tend to be about insurers that are retreating from the exchanges because of losses and how a number of counties have been left without options (here's a map of the number of options each county is expected to have in 2018) . Also of note is that 83% of people buying their own coverage on the exchanges receive subsidies.

Kaiser Health News published a piece on the near-term outlook for the Affordable Care Act. Its assessment seems reasonably positive ("insurers are on track to be profitable and the market appears to be stabilizing in the country overall"), although it notes that there are markets that are "fragile." Of course, the related headlines dominating the news tend to be about insurers that are retreating from the exchanges because of losses and how a number of counties have been left without options (here's a map of the number of options each county is expected to have in 2018) . Also of note is that 83% of people buying their own coverage on the exchanges receive subsidies.

The piece calls out three actions that the government can undertake to undermine the health of the markets, all of which appear to have been threatened: weakening the individual mandate, scaling back on efforts to engage the consumers to sign up, and stopping the cost-sharing subsidies. It's too early to tell whether the health insurance exchanges will survive.

Medicare continues its polices of penalizing hospitals who re-admit patients too quickly if they were treated for certain conditions. The push embodies the effort to change reimbursement to become more value-based: paying for what works instead of simply paying for procedures performed. Kaiser Health News reported that Medicare expects to save $564 million from this program this year.

Medicare continues its polices of penalizing hospitals who re-admit patients too quickly if they were treated for certain conditions. The push embodies the effort to change reimbursement to become more value-based: paying for what works instead of simply paying for procedures performed. Kaiser Health News reported that Medicare expects to save $564 million from this program this year.

The article suggests that the program is achieving its goals, as re-admissions in the targeted conditions have been dropping.