Posts by year
2013
Cancer trumps ideology in reform debate
September 29, 2013 – She is not a political pawn in the partisan battle. She is a mother of two young children, a wife, a friend, a working and breathing part…
Obamacare and the bad-news bearers
September 26, 2013 – In the marketplaces where people who do not have access to employer-sponsored insurance will be purchasing their own coverage, rates will…
Excuse me. Could we lower our premiums?
September 12, 2013 – In just three weeks, Americans who don’t have employer-sponsored coverage will begin signing up to buy their own insurance in state…
Will ‘the bros’ buy health insurance in 2014?
August 31, 2013 – What reform's opponent don't tell them is that under Obamacare, a 25-year-old waiter who lives in North Los Angeles and earns $17,200 a…
ACA benefits far outweigh tax-time burdens
August 23, 2013 – When we move to a system that requires insurers to send tax forms to insureds, it's unlikely to be any more complicated than the tax forms…
Re-envisioned reform: a ‘gigantic blunder’?
August 18, 2013 – Last week, eight prominent health policy analysts released a new health plan at the conservative think tank, American Enterprise Institute.…
A fuss over subsidies for Congressional staff
August 7, 2013 – The decision to let Congressional staffers keep their federal subsidies to help buy coverage through the exchanges makes sense from a human…
‘Going bare’: risky, irresponsible suggestion
August 3, 2013 – Conservative organizations are mounting a cynical campaign to undermine the Affordable Care Act by encouraging young healthy adults to "go…
30 economists: We need individual mandate
July 18, 2013 – Yesterday, a small group of health policy experts organized by David Cutler, Jon Gruber, and me wrote a simple letter to Congress laying…
‘Is this thing on?’
July 11, 2013 – The media's coverage of the implementation of the health care reform law has been so much like the way most reporters cover political…
Projections evidence ‘rate shock is a crock’
May 28, 2013 – Critics of Obamacare who warned us that health reform would result in "rate shock" haven't had much to say lately thanks to surprisingly…
The ACA and mental health coverage
May 17, 2013 – Perhaps the most under-covered aspect of health reform is its dramatic expansion of coverage for the treatment of psychiatric and substance…