This FAQ is a work in progress. All answers will be a list of links to posts in the TIE archives. You can participate by submitting questions. Better, you can even supply the answers if you do the work to search the archives yourself. User-supplied answers will be posted with attribution, if you wish.
Any links below that don’t work will in a few days.
ACA
Medicare
- What are some problems with Medicare spending?
- What are consequences of raising the Medicare retirement age?
- What’s good and bad about Medicare Part D?
- What’s good, bad, and ugly about premium support?
Medicaid
Cost Shifting
- To what extent do hospitals cost shift, or charge private payers more for shortfalls in public payment?
- How much cost shifting is due to the uninsured?
- How much cost shifting is there by physicians?
- How much cost shifting is there in the pharmaceutical industry?
Health Care Prices and Spending
- What is the effect of hospital market concentration on hospital prices?
- What are the consequences of insurer market power?
- What makes the US health care system so expensive?
- How does the US health system compare to that of other nations?
- What is “competitive bidding”? How does it work? Etc.
- Which controls health care costs better, public programs or private insurers?
- What does big pharma do?
Health Care Quality
Health Insurance
- Does health insurance save lives/improve health?
- What does increasing cost sharing (deductibles, copayments) do?
Health Care Delivery
- What does research tell us about the value of prostate cancer screening and treatment?
- Why isn’t emergency department care adequate health care?
by Ezekiel Chang on October 21st, 2011 at 19:47
Dear TIE,
Thanks for all your great articles.
I feel like the greatest obstacle facing appropriate health care changes is the lack of awareness of the core systemic issues for the general population.
I have attempted to frame these core issues in an article that I hope the masses can understand. If you have time, I would love for your feedback on how I might improve my article:
http://knol.google.com/k/affordable-health-care-reform
Thank you very much.
Sincerely,
~Ezekiel Chang
by Austin Frakt on October 21st, 2011 at 21:42
This is a big undertaking. There are many relevant and good scholarly articles that can help you. However, I cannot lead you to them all. Start with this blog’s FAQ. In particular, note the cost shifting info linked from there. After that search this blog on whatever subtopic you’re working on. Most, though not all, answers are here.
Best of luck!
by CHRIS BRUNO on March 22nd, 2012 at 14:07
IS THERE AN ESTIMATE OF WHAT IT WOULD COST THE USA TO HAVE A NATIONAL HEALTHCARE SYSTEM LIKE IN GERMANY OR CANADA PER YEAR?
by Peggy on April 4th, 2012 at 21:23
I don’t know where to send this message – I just to let you know that I learn so much from his blog! Thank you all for the effort and time it takes to help educate a lowly retired RN, BSN like me. (I frequently link your posts to my friends.)
THANK YOU!
by Austin Frakt on April 5th, 2012 at 06:54
Thank you, and please keep spreading the word about TIE.
by Jim Scheltens on April 6th, 2012 at 12:30
Could you please address what the pros and con’s are of trying to implement universal health care by using the Massachusetts system as a model? In other words push to have RomneyCare in the Northeast, Upper Midwest, and West Coast ‘blue states’ and let the southern and west central states use tort reform, greater cost sharing, market based rationing, etc. for their health care. This seems to be a federalist approach that would appeal to conservatives, while letting people vote with their feet if necessary to get the health care they want/need.
What are the main downsides to this approach?
by Jim Scheltens on April 16th, 2012 at 14:12
If we think universal health care is an important goal we need a fallback position in the event that Affordable Care Act mandate is ruled unconstitutional. A state by state approach may not be the best, but it may be better than nothing (or perhaps not, that’s why I would like to see what the Incidental Economist thinks). If Romney is our next president it would be good to get him to campaign on making it easy to implement RomneyCare in other states.
by Charlee on October 31st, 2012 at 09:05
Why are there no women contributors to this important blog website? It seems the inclusion of women and/or minorities (and there are plenty in Academia) would bring some much-needed diversity, and a generally marginalized perspective to this health care focused informational resource.