Date Post Title Post Summary Topics
Jan 27, 2011 New Year’s Resolution: A Healthier America? January 1st each year millions of us resolve to improve our health—to eat less, exercise more, quit smoking, and so on. Seems simple enough. Sounds like basic willpower. But if staying healthy was that easy—we’d all keep our resolutions. Health Policy | Health Reform
Jan 24, 2011 We Can’t Bend the Cost Curve Without Talking About Costs Data from the National Health Statistics Group at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services shows that health spending accounted for 17.6 percent of the gross domestic product in 2009—up a full percentage point from 2008. There was a time when a 10 percent share was viewed as apocalyptic. Costs & Economic Analysis | Health Reform
Jan 20, 2011 The Case for Unstructured Play and Its Connection to Better Health Play has been receiving some long-overdue attention in recent months. Major media are abuzz discussing the benefits of play, the consequences of its removal, and how parents and communities can work to actively restore play for their children. Chronic Disease | Obesity | Public Health
Jan 18, 2011 Will "Repeal and Replace" Really Result in "Repeal and Confuse"? The Republicans pledged to “repeal and replace” health reform, but some political observers are now concerned that the result could be little more than “repeal and confuse.” Health Policy | Health Reform
Jan 13, 2011 Electronic Health Records for All: Will We Fulfill the Promise or Defer the Dream? A key component of Public Law 111-5, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, is seen by many observers as having the potential to energize the creation of a national high-quality, patient-focused, equitable, and cost-effective health care system. Health Disparities | Information Technology
Jan 11, 2011 Bad Policy Can Kill: A Case Study on Competition from the English National Health Service Over the last six months, a new government in the U.K. has proposed a series of sweeping reforms for the English NHS, many of which I support, including expanding patient choice, increasing quality transparency, and increasing competition. However, the type of competition the new government wants to introduce—simultaneous price and quality competition—has me worried. Health Policy | Managed Care
Jan 6, 2011 Is a Good Education the Best Medicine of All? "Junior, do your homework so you can grow up to be big and strong". There is an undeniable link between education and health, even as we age. Health Policy | Public Health