MEDICARE: Another Voice for Reform

Joanne Kenen — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:02:00 -0400

Medicare reform is in the air this month, with events and forums all over Washington (even more than usual—it's not exactly like Medicare is ever off the table in D.C.). The Century Foundation is chiming in, starting a reform task force, including some of the experts we had at our own Medicare conference last week. They plan on issuing a report later this year, in time for any new administration to take their thoughts into account. Maybe it's wishful thinking on our part, but the whole debate seems to have shifted significantly in the last year or so. (Or maybe it's just me spending more time listening to think tankers and less time wandering around Congress). But there seems to be less partisan fighting about privatization and premium support, and more bipartisan discussion about how to use Medicare as a model for an improved health care delivery system for everyone. Topics that Century will address include:

Physician Payment
The role of Medicare Advantage
Drug costs
Efficiency
Comparative effectiveness
Care Coordination
Health IT
How to reward quality of care instead of volume of care
Palliative care

Good to see that Diane Meier (a doctor I've written about for several publications and mentioned in the past in this blog) is included. Dr. Meier is a geriatrician and palliative care specialist at Mount Sinai, and she also heads the Center to Advance Palliative Care, which is both a research and a training resource for hospitals around the country that seek to improve care of the seriously (although not always terminally) ill. Hard to imagine how we can fix Medicare without also fixing the care we give to its sickest patients and their families.

EVENT: Today - Making Medicare Sustainable

Joanne Kenen — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:50:00 -0400

The New America health team will be over at the Capitol Hilton today for our event, "Making Medicare Sustainable: Transforming Our Health Program for America's Seniors." The day-long session will launch our Medicare Reform Project. Rising health care costs and retiring baby boomers will make improving and sustaining Medicare a salient issue during the next president's first term. Medicare needs to become a smarter purchaser (and wiser utilizer) of health care. Join us and hear top academics, physicians, economists, legislators, and policy experts from across the ideological spectrum discuss how that can happen.

Not sure whether we'll be able to live blog it. If not, we'll try to post quickly, and we'll put up a link to a webcast (probably on Friday).

In the meantime, since your bloggers won't be around to attract your attention for at least part of the day check out this Colbert Report interview with Elizabeth Edwards (it's a week old, but we got a bit behind on our satire...)

Heath Reform

MEDICARE: Another Voice for Reform

EVENT: Today - Making Medicare Sustainable