Kaiser Health Tracking Poll -- November 2011

http://www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/8259.cfm

support for law rebounds some.  still misconceptions.  

Doctors Value Quality, Not Quantity, at Life's End, Poll Shows

http://tinyurl.com/7q5s6ea

according to this poll, doctors favor palliative care over extending a person's life.  while I would like to think this is true, is it consistent with what doctors practice.  

Comparison of Medicare and Medicaid Provisions in Deficit and Debt Reduction Proposals

http://www.kff.org/medicare/8124.cfm

this page provides links to documents that summarize various proposals on deficit reduction.  Useful summaries.   Would be nice if supercommittee took the best of these ideas. 

Seniors Save More Than $1.2 Billion on Prescriptions Thanks to the Affordable Care Act

http://tinyurl.com/3ll28y7


this article shows seniors saving on drugs and preventive services.

Understanding Affordable Care Act

http://www.rwjf.org/coverage/product.jsp?id=72918

here are some videos that help explain the act. Fairly good.  

Half-Trillion More in Medicare, Medicaid Cuts?

http://tinyurl.com/453v8zq

here is an article about cuts that Baucus is considering for the supercommittee.  Pretty brutal cuts and not all that wise.  But it maybe part of what has to be done to ensure that a deal is reached.   While I don't like these cuts, I respect Baucus because he was the brains behind the affordable care act.  

Medicaid and dual eligibles

previously I posted  thoughts on how to integrate long term services and support (previously called long term care)


http://tinyurl.com/67q9ku5

today, I went to an Alliance for Health Reform session on Medicaid managed care.  see allhealth.org

A webcast of this session which includes my questions can be seen at
http://tinyurl.com/3fukrkc

Judy Feder had an interesting paper (see Komisar + Feder, 2011) in which she suggested that Medicare take over the system for duals, perhaps thru special needs plans.  Matt Salo from the new Natl Assn of Medicaid Directors said that Medicare has shown little interest in that. 

In my view, one way or another, we need to integrate the payments between medicare and medicaid especially for the duals, which are the most costly, integrate services between medicare and medicaid, and ensure adequate quality of care, such as using the medicare measures.