Wednesday Links

Recent articles

• Have States made any progress towards implementing Health Exchanges?

  February 6, 2012 in CHIP, Health Reform, Medicaid

  The answer depends on the state. Today, I examine an Urban Institute research paper that looks at this progress in more detail. Dividing States into 3 Group The most advance States fall into Group 1 (CA, CO, CT, DC, HI, IN, MA, MD, NV, OR, RI, UT, VT, WA, WV). These states have either enacted [...]

• Celebrity Product Endorsement in the 1800s

  February 3, 2012 in Books, Quotation

  “The first customers bough pairs of telephones for communication point to point: between a factory and its business office, for example.  Queen Victory installed one at Windsor Castle and one at Buckingham Palace (fabricated in ivory; a gift from the savvy [Alexander Graham] Bell.” from The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood by James [...]

• The Latest Health Wonk Review is up

  February 2, 2012 in Carnivals, Current Events

  Check out the latest edition of the Health Wonk Review at the Colorado Health Insurance Insider.  If the HWR hasn’t fulfilled your need to read, here are some additional links of interest as well. Hospital room vs. chain saw. Hand Egg. The Tax Foundation: Which states are best for business? Is America in Decline? “‘Patient [...]

• How much is rent in your area?

  February 1, 2012 in Data, Medicare, Physician Compensation

  The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is responsible for answering just that question.  To determine what level Section 8 vouchers should be set, HUD measures the rents for every county across the nation.  Specifically, they measure the 40th percentile and 50th percentile (i.e., median) rents in each area.  They choose to use the [...]

• Does Obamacare Limit Profits for Health Insurance Companies in Your State?

  January 31, 2012 in Health Insurance, Health Reform

  One of the provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (a.k.a ACA, a.k.a. Health Reform, a.k.a. Obamacare) is that it limits the profits of health insurance companies.  The ACA imposes a minimum medical loss ratio (MLR) on all insurers.  The MLR is the amount of money spent on covered person medical care divided [...]