IN MY EXPERIENCE, precious few Americans recognize the variety and depth of policies included in the Affordable Care Act. Over the past several months, we have seen numerous report cards and other evaluations of the ACA on the occasion of its 5th anniversary. To communicate the law’s diversity, I offer an alternative five-year report card […]
John E. McDonough
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
Reality and unreality in new Congressional Medicare deal
THIS WEEK, YOU can be confident that the US Senate will approve bipartisan legislation approved on March 26 in the House of Representatives by an overwhelming (392-37) bipartisan majority to repeal a long-standing feature of Medicare physician payment policy called the Sustainable Growth Rate, or SGR. If you’ve never heard of SGR, you are among […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
Explaining Obamacare to foreigners
On the fifth anniversary of the signing of the Affordable Care Act, I ponder how non-Americans view our momentous and controversial health reform law. Like many US health policy analysts, I get requests from groups outside the US to explain the ACA, or “Obamacare.” I have traveled to Brazil, Australia, and South Africa, and also […]
Posted inHealth Care
The Affordable Care Act is working
IN LATE NOVEMBER, Sen. Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, publicly opined that Democrats blew it in 2009 by pursuing passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) instead of maintaining a focus on the economy. Shortly thereafter, now-retired Sen. Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat and key ACA architect, opined that Democrats missed the chance to […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
Baker’s health care moment
THOUGH THE 2014 gubernatorial campaign lacked any real discussion of health care policy, this will soon be forgotten because Massachusetts has never had a new chief executive as steeped in health policy and politics as is Charlie Baker. Baker’s legacies affecting the Massachusetts health policy landscape span 25 years and provide clues to the directions […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
Vermont ends single payer bid
Many American dislike the Affordable Care Act not because it goes too far but because it does not go far enough, as observed in the chart below from the Kaiser Family Foundation and the dark blue. About 24 percent of Americans believe the ACA should be expanded, and by that, many mean a Medicare-for-All single […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion, Politics
How the new Congress will try to undermine the ACA
It’s no secret that the new majority Republican Congress will seek any and every opportunity to undermine the existence and operation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). But how? One approach seems more likely to me than any other – divide ACA supporters from each other and play to the law’s deepest vulnerability The tack […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion, Politics
Obamacare in the wake of the GOP romp
So Republicans won enough seats to take control of the US Senate in January for the first time since 2006. Given their continuing opposition to the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare), is this an existential threat to the law’s survival, and what might we expect over the next two years? The ACA’s lifespan has included […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
Teacher leftovers story sends wrong message
While we appreciate coverage on our efforts to ensure great teachers in every classroom, we worry that Bruce Mohl’s recent article, “Teacher Leftovers,” sends the wrong message. The Boston Public Schools and the Boston Teachers Union share the goal of ensuring every child has a great teacher in every classroom. This year, the district extended […]
Posted inHealth Care
Counterpoints
Dear Gov. Romney: First of all, thank you. Your willingness to confront the dual crises of health access and affordability has enhanced prospects for reform. We may now be on the cusp of a “third wave” of Massachusetts health reform, building on gains achieved in 1988 and 1996, progress that has driven our rate of […]