Truth and Trust in 2021.

Mike Magee Exactly three years ago, veteran Health Policy expert, James A. Morone, Ph.D., made an interesting argument for single payer health care in the NEJM. In proposing a sweeping change that would directly address “the American patchwork”, assert “the norms of communal decency”, promote planning and efficiency, and empower “a righteous band of reformers, deeply […]

Lundberg’s Words: “System-shaking, even convulsing.”

Mike Magee Last week, Medscape’s editor-at-large, George Lundberg, wrote, “In 2017, I published a Medscape column that asked, “How many books will it take?” listing several titles that were intended to provoke repairs or rebuilds. Still nothing happened. Then came COVID, adding massive insult to injury of our already overpriced, overworked, bloated, inefficient, ineffective megalith […]

ACA – A Ticking Time Bomb For Republicans.

Mike Magee Watching the Amy Conan Barrett hearings last week, I couldn’t help but wonder who exactly was running the Republican Death Star at the moment. Specifically the Supreme Court candidate’s vulnerability based on an outspoken disdain for the ACA seemed to release a quiet, below-the-surface, Democratic scream “Go ahead. Make our day!” For nearly […]

The Future of the ACA Four Years Later – and The Perils of Being A Futurist.

Mike Magee Tonight we witness the first Presidential debate of 2020, and the future of the ACA (in the middle of a pandemic) is once again on the line. If past is prologue, make predictions of the outcome at your own risk. Four years ago, 1 month before the election, the New England Journal of […]

The Origin Story of PBM’s.

Mike Magee Do you know the origin story of PBMs, and why they and their middlemen hold 6 of the top 25 spots in the Fortune 500? Here’s a starter course, excerpted from “CODE BLUE: Inside the Medical Industrial Complex” where the full answer resides. “When PBMs began, insurers and employers believed that this new […]

We Cannot Afford Leaders Who Lie.

Mike Magee In the re-build of Germany and Japan under the Marshall Plan, we elected to start with a health plan – in part because we recognized that all other social determinants – justice, housing, nutrition, education, clean air and water, transportation, safety and security – would be enhanced in the process. We understood that […]

What Is The Next Shoe To Drop?

Mike Magee As Americans haltingly reemerge through the smoldering embers of the Covid-19 blaze, many wonder, “What will be the next shoe to drop?” Most realize this crisis is far from over. Erratic leadership at the top will be with us at least until the November election. And even with a successful defeat of President […]

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