health care Archives

Health Care: A Philosophical Approach

October 16, 2017

Health Care: A Philosophical Approach

Health care has been on my mind lately. Renewal time comes shortly, and there’s no little bit of anxiety about: (a) pricing, (b) availability, and (c) just plain getting onto the flipping website. (Tell me I shouldn’t think the site might just crash, right about the time when tens of millions of people—like me—need it!)

Health care means insurance. Wait. What? Care and payments differ? An insurer’s decision not to pay doesn’t prevent someone from getting health care?

Actually, I know the argument first-hand. And it’s clap-trap, plain and simple! Back in the 1990s I represented a health insurer. People sued, claiming that when the insurer failed to pre-certify procedures, it deprived them of

djt, health care, leviathan, Mark Rubin, MarkRubinWrites, thomas hobbes

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Gotta Love Those Rs on Health Care

July 15, 2017

Mark Rubin

Gotta Love Those Rs on Health Care

Senator Ted Cruz (R-Tex.)

Republicans love them their free markets. In response to any problem, we hear about markets. Free markets require rational, knowledgeable buyers and sellers, acting freely. Advocates tell us free markets will always allow us to achieve optimum outcomes. That’s the mantra!

Rational

Rational? Easy it is to talk about too much spending in the last year of people’s lives, but if it’s your mom or dad, well … that’s different. I’ve been there, at both ends of the spectrum. When you love someone, don’t expect rational judgments.

Knowledgeable

Knowledgeable? Uh, no! We spend a fortune educating and training health care providers, and I say we because, while students pay

Affordable Care Act, free market, health care, Mark Rubin, Republicans, Senator Ted Cruz

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Trouble Ahead: Thoughts on Health Care

June 26, 2017

Mark Rubin

Trouble Ahead: Thoughts on Health Care

Ugh!!! Here’s the Congressional Budget Office’s Cost Estimate for H.R. 1628, the Senate version of the so-called Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017. Dense, but I read it. Characterization? “Despicable,” but only because I must be civil.

Some random thoughts:

Process. When you design a plan secretly, you’ll get a bad plan. Always, but especially when you are dealing with health care, which involves almost 20% of the American economy. The Affordable Care Act process involved 100+ hearings. Tons of input from stakeholders. The Senate Finance Committee’s bipartisan Gang of Six worked for months, as well. That process helped, even though the three Rs voted no on the bill in the end. And—in

Affordable Care Act, health care, Obamacare

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