Posts by Gail Wilensky, Ph.D.

Information will be a critical component in U.S. healthcare reform, no matter what direction it ultimately takes. As candidates for the 2008 election are again demonstrating, there is little consensus about how to approach healthcare reform. Different proposals abound, and it is far too early to see which, if any, will dominate the political landscape.…

Reauthorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) is one of the “must-do” pieces of legislation during the current congressional cycle. SCHIP has had a known expiration date of Sept. 30, 2007, since its enactment in 1997. As of mid- September, the choices moving forward include either the Senate or the House bills passed…

During 2007, I had the privilege of serving as the co-chair of a congressionally mandated task force on the future of military health care. The task force was established by the FY07 National Defense Authorization Act and directed to make recommendations to Congress about a broad range of measures, including those needed to sustain the…

The challenge of Medicare physician spending continues to be a thorny issue. A year and a half ago, I wrote a column about the subject. The challenge then—and now—is to develop a strategy for reimbursing physicians that promotes the delivery of the appropriate mix and volume of services, provides good access, and moderates physician spending.…

In what seems to have become an annual exercise in fiscal futility, the Medicare trustees dutifully released their annual report in late March indicating impending fiscal disaster for Medicare. And once again, the report was met with scarcely a ripple in the press and hardly more than a yawn from the public. Oh, to be…

As we enter the final phase of the election cycle, discussions of healthcare reform are again claiming a significant place in the campaigns of the two leading presidential candidates. A year ago, it seemed health care would hold a central role in the political discussion. It had been reported as the No. 2 issue for…

Within his first month in office, President Obama can already point to two important pieces of legislation that have been enacted into law. The first is the reauthorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The second is the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The reauthorization of SCHIP was hardly sur- prising. Two…

In what can only be described as a most unlikely achievement, Massachusetts—with a conservative Republican governor and a Democratic state legislature—was able to accomplish what no other state has been able to do to date: pass major healthcare reform legislation that provides essentially universal coverage. As the country contemplates its next moves in healthcare reform,…

Once again a Democratic president has made passage of healthcare reform a major domestic priority for his administration. The focus in Washington, as well as elsewhere, is on whether the Obama administration will be able to deliver on this election promise. Although it is far too early to know for sure, I think the odds…

Sorting through all of the charges and countercharges that have been raised against the various healthcare reform bills is a challenge as we enter what is likely to be the final critical period that will determine the fate of healthcare legislation in 2009. It’s probably not surprising that this is where we find ourselves. Few…