Prescription for Change http://www.prescriptionforchange.org/ en Copyright 2010 Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:47:47 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=3.2 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Health insurance didn't start out this way Health insurance hasn't proven to be the best market for head to head competition. Rather than improving price and service, companies began to increase profits by picking the healthy and shedding the sick.

]]> http://www.prescriptionforchange.org/2010/03/health_insurance_didnt_start_o.html http://www.prescriptionforchange.org/2010/03/health_insurance_didnt_start_o.html Blog Post Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:47:47 -0500 Insurance execs sit on bags of money, while policyholders feel the pinch States can’t even keep health insurance rates down when the insurance company is sitting on piles and piles of surplus cash (and investments).

]]> http://www.prescriptionforchange.org/2010/03/insurance_execs_sit_on_bags_of.html http://www.prescriptionforchange.org/2010/03/insurance_execs_sit_on_bags_of.html Blog Post Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:07:56 -0500 In case you were wondering, we've been at this a year now Those who say we should scrap the health reform bill and start over have yet to say what would happen differently the next time. It took a year to get to this point--with efforts to reach compromises large and small dating back to this time last year.

]]> http://www.prescriptionforchange.org/2010/03/in_case_you_were_wondering_wev.html http://www.prescriptionforchange.org/2010/03/in_case_you_were_wondering_wev.html Blog Post Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:21:43 -0500 In the alternative, fund high risk pools? Rather than try and insure everyone, perhaps we should just try and insure the sick people. The problem is, states have been trying that idea for years and it's time we learn from failure.

]]> http://www.prescriptionforchange.org/2010/02/in_the_alternative_fund_high_r.html http://www.prescriptionforchange.org/2010/02/in_the_alternative_fund_high_r.html Blog Post Wed, 24 Feb 2010 11:01:29 -0500 Breathtaking cost savings claims are nothing but hot air In Sunday's New York Times, Newt Gingrich announced that tort reform would save the health care system $600 billion a year--a breathtaking number, but unfounded.

]]> http://www.prescriptionforchange.org/2010/02/breathtaking_cost_savings_clai.html http://www.prescriptionforchange.org/2010/02/breathtaking_cost_savings_clai.html Blog Post Tue, 23 Feb 2010 09:10:31 -0500 Free markets? Compete across state lines? They alone won't solve our health insurance problems As Washington tries to come together on a health reform plan, opponents are still throwing out the same old ‘solutions’ that they claim will lower costs and get more folks health coverage. The only problem is, they don’t.

]]> http://www.prescriptionforchange.org/2010/02/post_40.html http://www.prescriptionforchange.org/2010/02/post_40.html Blog Post Thu, 18 Feb 2010 10:46:42 -0500 Empty threats--Agencies probably can't stop Anthem rate increase California insurance regulators, federal agency heads and Congress are all responding to Anthem's huge rate increases with, well, saber rattling. Because the rate increase is probably perfectly legal under existing insurance law--a law that works great for insurance companies and not so great for people. That's why so many millions of Americans desperately need Congress to finish and pass health reform.

]]> http://www.prescriptionforchange.org/2010/02/empty_threatsagencies_probably_1.html http://www.prescriptionforchange.org/2010/02/empty_threatsagencies_probably_1.html Blog Post Fri, 12 Feb 2010 11:09:47 -0500 Simple ideas turn out to be pretty complicated after all Would a few simple changes to the way health insurance works fix our health care system? Consumer Reports is looking at the ideas now circulating. See what our investigations come up with.

]]> http://www.prescriptionforchange.org/2010/02/simple_ideas_turn_out_to_be_pr_1.html http://www.prescriptionforchange.org/2010/02/simple_ideas_turn_out_to_be_pr_1.html Blog Post Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:34:00 -0500 Afraid of health care legislation? If so, relax. You’re probably all worked up about four of the myths polluting this debate.

]]> http://www.prescriptionforchange.org/2010/01/afraid_of_health_care_legislat.html http://www.prescriptionforchange.org/2010/01/afraid_of_health_care_legislat.html Blog Post Wed, 13 Jan 2010 11:23:33 -0500 Top priority: Making sure insurance is affordable Health insurance must be affordable for American families if we are all to buy it. So how do we get there?

]]> http://www.prescriptionforchange.org/2010/01/the_insurance_must_be_affordab_1.html http://www.prescriptionforchange.org/2010/01/the_insurance_must_be_affordab_1.html Blog Post Tue, 12 Jan 2010 13:36:56 -0500 It’s not sexy, but the new ‘insurance exchange’ could be the key to good health reform You probably haven’t heard much about the proposed ‘insurance exchange’ in the health reform bills. It doesn’t make sexy fodder for political talk shows. But it very well could be one of the most important things Congress does to get health reform right – and the Senate and House bills take different approaches to the exchange. How they’re combined in the final bill could make all the difference to health reform’s success.

]]> http://www.prescriptionforchange.org/2010/01/its_not_sexy_but_the_new_insur.html http://www.prescriptionforchange.org/2010/01/its_not_sexy_but_the_new_insur.html Blog Post Thu, 07 Jan 2010 14:07:59 -0500 Fighting for the best possible final health reform bill The next few weeks we’ll see furious work in Washington on a final health reform bill, as both House and Senate leaders attempt to merge their respective bills into one measure that gives all Americans access to affordable, reliable health coverage.

]]> http://www.prescriptionforchange.org/2010/01/fighting_for_the_best_possible.html http://www.prescriptionforchange.org/2010/01/fighting_for_the_best_possible.html Blog Post Mon, 04 Jan 2010 17:03:50 -0500 No insurance and too young to qualify for Medicare? How health reform would fill the gap As Consumer Reports senior editor Nancy Metcalf points out, losing your health coverage in middle-age can be a real disaster because most people in "mid-life" have some kind of pre-existing condition that makes insurance companies shun them. Or if they are lucky enough to get coverage, the costs of the policies are simply outrageous.

]]> http://www.prescriptionforchange.org/2009/12/no_insurance_and_too_young_for.html http://www.prescriptionforchange.org/2009/12/no_insurance_and_too_young_for.html Blog Post Tue, 08 Dec 2009 11:40:41 -0500 Senate will vote to begin debate; expect to hear a lot about the public option This weekend the Senate will vote to begin debate on its health reform bill -- needing 60 votes just to begin talking about the issue on the floor and allowing amendments.

]]> http://www.prescriptionforchange.org/2009/11/post_39.html http://www.prescriptionforchange.org/2009/11/post_39.html Blog Post Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:22:25 -0500 Reasons why the House bill is a workable solution to our health care problems Any proposal that addresses one-fifth of our economy, and deals with an issue as important to Americans as their health care, deserves our careful reading and intense scrutiny. With that firmly in mind, and with our decades of experience analyzing incremental health reforms at the state and federal levels, Consumers Union supports H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act. We believe this bill contains workable solutions to the critical problem that so many Americans face right now – namely, the inability to afford dependable, quality health care.
To read about our reasons why, click here.

]]> http://www.prescriptionforchange.org/2009/11/reasons_why_the_house_bill_is_1.html http://www.prescriptionforchange.org/2009/11/reasons_why_the_house_bill_is_1.html Blog Post Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:39:00 -0500