Ryan's Medicare Reform: More, Please

A few months ago, News Corporation launched a new publication, The Daily, which is designed specially for the iPad.  Regrettably, I don't have an iPad, but the editor ran my column anyway.  It's about Paul Ryan's and the House Republicans' Medicare reforms (and especially timely in the wake of Republican defeat in the Congressional special election in New York a couple of days ago).

Now, I can fantasize that everyone whom I see playing with his or her iPad is reading my column.  If you don't have an iPad, you can read it here.

Will Kathy Hochul Vote to Repeal Obamacare?

The surprise victory of the Democratic candidate in NY-26’s special election yesterday teaches a curious lesson: Seniors who rose up against Obamacare’s Medicare cuts at town-hall meetings in the summer of 2009 appear to have risen up against Paul Ryan’s Medicare plan in the spring of 2011.

Or maybe they didn’t. Read the entire post at National Review Online.

If Air Travel Worked Like Health Care

This may be the best health-care video ever!  By Jonathan Rauch of National Journal.

Comparative-Effectiveness Research: How Many Lives Will It Cost?

I write a lot over at John Goodman's Health Policy Blog.  For every original post, I also write about half a dozen comments on others' posts.  I don't usually share the latter here.

However, I was interested to see Dr. Goodman's take on a new paper published by the Center for Medicines in the Public Interest, an outfit which is often tagged as simply a mouthpiece for Big Pharma.  Here's what I wrote:

Governors Declining Health Benefit Exchanges

I was interviewed in a story for Health Care News about states whose governors are declining to implement Obamacare Health Benefits Exchanges.  Read it online here.

Massachusetts En Route to Single-Payer Health Care

Mitt Romney has thorwn himself in front of a buzzsaw with his continuing defense of his 2006 health reform in Massachusetts.  The other day, the Wall Street Journal editorial board sharply criticized Mr. Romney's approach.  In a letter by yours truly that the WSJ published today, I noted another problem with the Massachusetts reform: It amplified political incentives that have put the solvency of Bay State health plans at risk.  Read the letter here.

For non-subscribers, the text is copied below:

Who Is The Republican Health Care Candidate?

The Wall Street Journal and most NRO writers have pretty much written off both Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich as acceptable Republican presidential candidates because of perceived weaknesses on health care. Health care has become the third rail of American politics — just not the way we used to understand it.

Until recently, a Republican could churn out crowd-pleasing sound bites about fixing health care but never put the pedal to the metal by investing political capital in a serious proposal for reform. Republicans understood that when the talk turned to health care, Democrats won the debate and Republicans lost. It was just a fact of life. Not anymore.