Optum-izing Paul Ellwood’s HMOs.

Paul Ellwood and Richard Burke Mike Magee According to Paul Ellwood, often labeled “The Father of the HMO”, the seeds of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) were buried in a report that he delivered to the 34-year-old Assistant Secretary of Health, Phil Lee, in 1969. As Ellwood recalled in 2010, […]

Lewin Report: “Uh Oh – Health Care Costs Are Skyrocketing Again!”

Jack Lewin Health care costs went up by over 5% in 2015 after a mind boggling 7-year run of relatively flat costs. But in 2016 — and for the next few years — the annual increase is thought by CBO and others to be 8% or more. Private insurance and even the new Affordable Healthcare Act […]

The Economic Determinants of Homeland Security: Why The U.S. Is A Better Bet Than China or Russia.

Mike Magee Homeland security is all about economics. And the two levers most critical to the U.S. economy are energy independence and health care. On these two measures, I like America’s odds when compared to China and Russia. Growing up through the 50’s and 60’s, I’d listen to my parents discuss politics with their friends. […]

The 62 Billion Dollar Question: Can Health Care Overcome Geography?

Mike Magee Sixty-two billion. That is what Medicare spent in 2012 on post-acute care. (1,2) “Post-Acute Care” is the term applied to various types of intermediate care provided to newly released patients from an acute care hospital. The care is provided by home health agencies in the home or by brick and mortar employees at […]

Health Care Costs: “Slain or Sleeping”? Avoiding Brick & Mortar.

Mike Magee The Affordable Care Act has officially arrived. Obstructionism persists, but appears increasingly desperate and politically ill conceived. What remains in the policy backwaters is the legitimate debate over whether Accountable Care Organizations, and a host of other structural changes, are to be credited with the slowing of health cost inflation, and with maintaining […]