Why is the U.S. only the 35th healthiest country in the world? According to the 2019 Bloomberg Healthiest Country Index, the U.S. ranks 35th out of 169 countries. Even though we are the 11th wealthiest country in the world, we are behind pretty much all developed economies in terms of health. In the Americas, not just Canada …
Read More »Obamacare in the next few years
The Future of the Affordable Care Act: Unscathed by Attacks from the Right, Overtaken on its Left? Having survived years of attacks from Republicans, will the surviving ACA be rendered obsolete by Democrats’ local and state efforts towards universal health care? This could be an ironic twist of fate for Obamacare. Conceived out of the …
Read More »Why ACA Enrollment is Down This Year
Why ACA Enrollment is Down – and Why It Might Stay That Way Enrollment in Obamacare is down this year Enrollment in Obamacare is down this year. Halfway through the sign-up period for ACA health care insurance plans, which ends on December 15, the federal website Healthcare.gov reported early in December that enrollment was down …
Read More »The U.S. Government as a Leading Venture Capitalist
The U.S. Government as a Leading Venture Capitalist Uncle Sam supports entrepreneurs The U.S. Government as a leading venture capitalist, wow, is this a joke? This sounds like industrial policy, public intervention, and “picking winners.” It is something that European and East Asian governments do, but not us, right? Think again. The U.S. government has actually …
Read More »The Midterms and U.S. Health Policy: What Changes?
The Midterms and U.S. Health Policy: What Changes? The Democrats have taken control of the House. And Utah, Nebraska and Idaho have approved Medicaid expansion. What does this portend for U.S. health policy? In a nutshell, four health care developments will take place or are likely to occur within the next two years: Medicaid expansion …
Read More »The November 6 Midterm Elections and Their Impact on Obamacare
The November 6 Midterm Elections and Their Impact on Obamacare A Q&A on the ACA and the upcoming elections What is the likelihood the ACA will be repealed? This straightforward question has a very simple answer: It depends on the results of the upcoming November 6 U.S. congressional elections. If the Republicans retain control …
Read More »A Rare Moment of Bipartisanship in U.S. Healthcare
The end of “gag orders” prohibiting pharmacists from informing patients on the cheapest way to buy prescription drugs On September 18 of this year, Congress passed a couple of bipartisan bills in health care: These two bills, one for Medicare and Medicare Advantage beneficiaries, and the other for employer-sponsored and individual health coverage, were passed …
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