This blog explores how health reform is changing the ways in which we pay for and deliver health care in the U.S. On any given week, that could mean a look at how Republican plans to repeal Obamacare could reshape the individual insurance market, how the safety net system is adapting to new financial pressures, or whether Trumpcare will affect the trend of doctors and hospitals merging into ever-larger entities. We also explore health care costs and whether Obamacare or its successor plans can live up the promise to rein them in. Throughout, we keep watch on how the goals of health reform intersect with the shaping power of markets and human behavior. Contributors include veteran health journalist Trudy Lieberman, David Lansky, executive director of the Pacific Business Group on Health, and independent health journalist Kellie Schmitt. Ryan White, content editor of Center for Health Journalism Digital, serves as the blog's principal editor.
In covering the health care workforce beat, just reporting a simple number detailing the size of provider shortages or surpluses can be very misleading, explains researcher Susan Skillman in this tip sheet.
“We expected to find a larger difference between plans on and off the exchange,” said researcher Simon Haeder. “In both cases, it was very unlikely to get an appointment.”
The goal of health care spending is to achieve good health results, and that requires measuring and rewarding success. Unfortunately, the measures likely to be used for the next stage of health reform won’t get us there.
