During campaign season candidates from both parties get creative with the facts. It is concerning when aspirants to political office misrepresent any policy issue for personal gain. But it is especially alarming when office seekers distort the truth about something as important and confusing as health reform. ...
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Archives by: Adam Linker
Adam Linker
Adam Linker's articles and posts
Doctors, hospitals, insurance companies, and patient advocates don't generally agree on everything. But almost everyone thinks that Dr. Don Berwick is an inspired choice to lead the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Everyone, that is, except extreme partisans. ...
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Comments Off on Dr. Don Berwick is an inspired, and inspirational, choice to lead Medicare
National reform will not upend the way North Carolinians obtain insurance or health care. Most
people will still receive coverage through work or purchase a policy from a private insurer on the individual market. Seniors will still get their guaranteed Medicare benefits. Nevertheless, reform is a revolutionary shift in how we think about health care. No longer will we focus on whether or not a particular person qualifies for a public program or is eligible for private insurance. Instead, we will work to find where different individuals fit into the system. It will be assumed that every one qualifies for coverage. ...
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Health reform will provide some immediate benefits to small businesses in North Carolina such as substantial tax credits to help offset the cost of providing insurance. Many other important protections will phase in over the next four years. ...
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President Barack Obama has officially signed the $938 billion health care overhaul that guarantees coverage for 32 million uninsured Americans. So, what will this landmark legislation mean for you? ...
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According to recent news reports, a large numbers of Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina customers have been hit with enormous rate increases for their health plans this year. One family received a 54% premium increase for their healthy teenage daughter because - as Blue Cross told her bemused father - she was female and had just turned seventeen. How's that for one of the private industry "innovations" that the defenders of the health care status quo continually invoke as reasons to resist comprehensive national reform? ...
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Hospitals serve as critical safety-net providers for people seeking medical care. In fiscal year 2008, North Carolina hospitals provided $694 million in free care. ...
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It's time to create a program that extends health coverage to the poor much like Medicare insures older Americans. ...
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North Carolina now has an unprecedented opportunity to fix its broken State Health Plan.
The State Health Plan Blue Ribbon Task Force that recently convened in Raleigh brings together lawmakers, state officials, and other stakeholders to discuss ways to improve the insurance plan that covers more than 660,000 current and retired state employees. And the group faces formidable problems.
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Sometimes, you have to hand it to Senator Richard Burr for his creative and imaginative takes on the national health care reform debate. At one moment, he's tossing around inaccurate (often outrageous) claims about the serious reform bills under consideration. Then, the next minute, he's offering proposals of his own that he can't even get his own party to take seriously. ...
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