Surprise Bills Often Hit in Emergencies December 9, 2019 Perspective In an Axios column, Drew Altman previews new data highlighting that people with critical health issues are especially vulnerable to these bills.
The Connection Between Health Coverage and Income Security August 3, 2015 Perspective In this column in The Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank, Drew Altman shows how expanding health coverage and improving economic security for working Americans are connected even though they are often part of separate policy debates.
The Republicans’ Jekyll-and-Hyde Health Care Plan June 22, 2017 Perspective In this New York Times op-ed, “The Republicans’ Jekyll-and-Hyde Health Care Plan,” Drew Altman examines the Senate health plan.
No, Medicaid Isn’t Broken May 15, 2017 Perspective With Medicaid about to be a focal point of debate in the Senate, Drew Altman’s Axios column looks at why the idea that the program is broken is more urban legend than fact.
Pulling It Together: The “R” Word Is Back December 9, 2008 Perspective Longer ago than I care to admit, I got my start in health policy at M.I.T. when I wrote a book about health care regulation. The book was about a long forgotten attempt to rationalize the health care system through an elaborate health planning program set up in the seventies under the National…
Peering Into the Black Box of Insurance Rating June 7, 2011 Perspective Recently, the New York Times reported that private health insurers continue to seek large premium increases despite seeing lower than expected use of medical care and booking record profits. The story highlights a significant problem for health policy: the lack of good, public information about how health insurers manage health…
Measuring the Affordability of Employer Health Coverage August 24, 2011 Perspective A recent draft regulation issued by the Treasury Department describes who is eligible for premium tax credits to help them afford coverage offered through health insurance exchanges beginning in 2014. Tax credits will be available to people with incomes between 100 and 400 percent of the poverty level who are…
In Employer Health Insurance Costs, Stability Is the New Normal September 12, 2014 Perspective In his latest column for The Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank, Drew Altman looks at the sharply slower growth in premiums for employer health benefits and what it might mean for the future of employer-sponsored coverage.
Pulling It Together: Keeping the Health Reform Coalition Together November 7, 2008 Perspective We could be headed for a new schism in the debate about health reform. Not the familiar gulf between advocates of the market and government, or the predictable one between deficit hawks and spenders, but a new one that crosses traditional partisan and ideological lines between advocates of long-term reform of the health care delivery…
Pulling It Together: Moving Away From Employer Based Coverage: Don’t Forget Public Opinion June 25, 2008 Perspective One of the underlying big issues in the unfolding health reform debate is whether most Americans should continue to get insurance through work where they get it today, or purchase it themselves in the individual private health insurance marketplace. Senator McCain promotes moving to individual insurance and having individuals rather…
