Lobbying
Business As Usual: California's Health Reform Proposal
12/20/07
Like the other reform efforts we're seeing, California's is characterized by politics, back room dealmaking, and who will win the biggest purse. That's not a probable recipe for real change.
Policy- vs. Market-Based Reforms: RHIOs As A Case Study
12/20/07
RHIOs as Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) offered great promise in theory, but have been blocked by interest groups concerned that the exchange of data would hurt their competitiveness. But that role is now taking on much greater power through Health 2.0 ventures, which will make data available independent of the wishes of those who wish to keep information secret.
Why Consumers' Checkbook v HHS Is A Sideshow
10/20/07
The battles over transparency information will ultimately be swept away and remembered as anachronisms, as the overwhelming pressure for data that can drive decisions wins out.
We Are What We Eat: Where Is America's Leadership
10/18/07
The obesity epidemic has the power to crush America's future, but it's roots can be found in the lobbying efforts of agribusiness and the fast food, prepared food and junk food industries. Like the health care reform problem, we can't solve this unless we fix the way America's policies are developed.
Bogle on the Financial Sector's Threat to Democracy
10/02/07
John Bogle, founder of the Vanguard Group, has written a clear-eyed, worrisome description of how America's financial sector threatens our democratic foundations. Required reading.
Reform's Tougher Problem
08/29/07
Most reformers frame the problem in terms of universal coverage. But the much more difficult issue is cost and how to control waste in a policy landscape controlled by powerful special interests.
Laszewski on Rove and Medicare D
08/17/07
When you look deeply into it, it becomes clear that Medicare D was the worst kind of public policy, a tremendously expensive and cynical scam perpetrated for the political and financial advantage of the Administration and the drug industry.
In McDonalds vs. Kids, Guess Who's Ahead
08/16/07
Until we rein in fast food and give them less free sway with our kids, we're contributing to a national disaster.
Mr. Bush's Health Care Reform Proposall
07/24/07
The Wall Street Journal ran an article on Mr. Bush's health care reform proposal. In terms of ameliorating the crisis, its functionally meaningless.
The Distribution of the Uninsured and the Total Population By Income Level, 2004
Source: US Dept. of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Tabulations of the Current Population Survey
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The Distribution of the Uninsured and the Total Population By Income Level, 2004
Source: US Dept. of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Tabulations of the Current Population Survey
Read More...
To Fix Health Care, Fix America First
07/15/07
We can't fix health care because Congress and our legislatures are bought off by the health care industry, and there's no more powerful force that has influence over our lawmakers. If you don't believe it, look at the size of the 2006 lobbying contributions in the table below.
Those Crazy Californians: This Time Its Childhood Diabetes
07/13/07
California has taken a bold step in the fight against childhood diabetes. Even so, its hardly a match for the influence exerted by the fast food industry.
Why Its Unlikely We'll Curb Obesity and Diabetes
07/09/07
Like the health care reform problem, we can't fix the obesity problem because Congress ensures that big contributors, the agribusiness and fast food sectors, can have their way with our kids. Its wishful thinking to believe that we can simply train a generation of children to be disciplined in the face of overwhelming advertising.
