At medicareresources.org, Steve Anderson did an outstanding job with this week’s Money Changes Everything edition of the Health Wonk Review (although I think we can all agree that it’s actually the “Broncos Won the Super Bowl!!” edition?). There are a ton of great reads from some great health wonks. Here are some of my favorites:
- Joe Paduda‘s Super Bowl of Drugs. Yes and yes. Last fall, the AMA called for a ban on pharmaceutical ads directed at consumers. Judging from the Super Bowl commercials, that hasn’t gone anywhere.
- Charles Gaba‘s article about how close we could get to universal healthcare coverage. A good look at where we are now, what can be expected going forward, and changes we could make to improve the numbers.
- This Health Affairs Blog article about the ACA’s impact on employment, written by Joseph Antos and James Capretta. This issue has been hotly debated ever since the ACA was signed into law. The employer mandate, Medicaid expansion, and premium subsidies can all have an impact on employers’ willingness to hire people, and on workers’ willingness to be employed. The take-away at this point? it’s still too soon to tell what the long-term impact will be – and it’s important to note that the employer mandate for businesses with 50 – 99 employees just went into effect last month, so again, it’s way too soon to know how that’s impacting employment.
There’s plenty more where that came from, so head over to the Health Wonk Review and check it out. Many thanks to Steve for hosting!