Here are a few articles I found interesting about long-term care:

1) Long Term Care Insurance
2) Ethical Issues in Long Term Care
3) Only Compulsory Long Term Care Would Work
4) An Analysis on Medicaid’s Long Term Spending Habits

‘YES! Magazine’ released this article recently calling for individual citizens to host meetings and become active in national health care reform. There are multiple links embedded in the article, as supplemental data, to support the authors argument for reform.

Health Care By and For the People

Article Excerpt (source: YES! Magazine)

"The Obama transition team is asking you to help create a new health care policy. Really. Host a meeting , invite friends and associates, look at the Obama team’s proposal , and let the transition team know what you decide . If you are among a lucky few, Senator Tom Daschle, Secretary-designate for Health and Human Services, may show up at your meeting."

"This may be more important than it sounds. The key dividing lines over how to fix our country’s broken health care system are becoming clear. It may take the same sort of grassroots involvement that got Obama elected president to keep the private insurance industry from hijacking the process as they have during previous reform efforts."

An interesting interview with Andy Webber, as he discusses issues of medicare, "value based purchasing," employer-based health care systems, and Obama’s plan for reform. One point I really support is when he points out a flaw in our health care delivery system, which focuses too much on illness treatment versus early illness prevention.

"The National Business Coalition on Health (NBCH) is a coalition of employer-led coalitions that focus on “value-based purchasing” in health care."

Audio Interview with Andy Weber

(Click on the play button to start the audio file)

Source: HealthBusinessBlog.com

It will be interesting to see how insurance companies will contribute to health care reform. Reform meetings, "originally envisioned as a way to make good on Obama’s commitment to health care reform that comes from the ground up; which turns into a “living-room lobbying sessions, involving some of the biggest stakeholders in the health care industry."

A number of insurers fears that a new public insurance program would compete directly with private insurers…giving the public program an "unfair advantage."

Insurers Seek Presence at Health Care Sessions

Article Excerpt (source: NY Times)

"When supporters of President-elect Barack Obama hold house parties to discuss ways of fixing the health care system over the next two weeks, they may find some unexpected guests."

"The health insurance industry is encouraging its employees and satisfied customers to attend. A trade group representing some of the nation’s largest health care businesses, including drug companies, is organizing several meetings. The American Medical Association and other medical societies are encouraging doctors to get involved."

"The meetings, originally envisioned as a way to make good on Mr. Obama’s commitment to “health care reform that comes from the ground up,” could thus turn into living-room lobbying sessions involving some of the biggest stakeholders in the health care industry."

…Health Care so expensive?

…the cost of some doctors more than others?

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