Kaiser roundup of health policy-related blog posts

While mainstream news coverage is still a primary source of information for the latest in policy debates and the health care marketplace, online blogs have become a significant part of the media landscape, often presenting new perspectives on policy issues and drawing attention to under-reported topics.

To provide complete coverage of health policy issues, the Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report offers readers a window into the world of blogs in a roundup of health policy-related blog posts. "Blog Watch," published on Tuesdays and Fridays, tracks a wide range of blogs, providing a brief description and relevant links for highlighted posts.

The American Prospect's Ezra Klein argues for the creation of a health care agency similar to the Federal Reserve because he believes U.S. residents would put more trust in an agency comprising several different stakeholders than one run by the "government" or the "profit-focused" market.

Brad DeLong discusses some problems with health care financing and reform and concludes that "one thing is clear. We could be spending half as much on health care as America is today and still be as healthy." The Atlantic's Megan McArdle responds by suggesting that rather than providing current types of aid, the federal government should distribute additional funds to citizens based on health care needs. McArdle adds that "one of the things that everyone involved in the health care debate should get over is the notion that we will find a perfect system."

The Cato Institute's Cato@Liberty points to a new issue brief by fellow Michael Tanner that compares the health plans of presumptive presidential nominees Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.), and that finds "McCain's proposal is much more consumer centered and taps into the best aspects of the free market."

Colorado Health Insurance Insider's Louise discusses free-market advocates' criticism that government-run health care would diminish choice, saying that "our current system -- a combination of private health insurance, government-run Medicare and Medicaid, and state-run high-risk pools -- only provides true choices to those with perfect health who can be choosy about their health insurance policy, or those with an employer who offers lots of coverage options."

Arnold Kling from EconLog critiques economist Mark Thoma's post (here) discussing potential savings from government administered health care, saying, "I am reluctant to start toting up lots of savings that could occur in theory when we do not see those savings in practice."

Merrill Goozner of Gooz News discusses a New York Times article about how some countries maintain databases that keep track of artificial joints, which can lead to faster detection of problems and errors, saying, "Isn't this really a story about electronic medical records and public reporting, and how America, despite spending nearly twice as much on average as other advanced industrial nations on health care, lags behind on these measures of performance, just as it does on life expectancy, infant mortality and unnecessary medical errors?"

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt discusses his visit to Alaska to meet with leaders of the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium, an Alaska Native community health organization.

Harvard Pilgrim Health Care CEO Charlie Baker on The Health Care Blog discusses health reform efforts that address affordability and insurance coverage and writes that lawmakers in Massachusetts have focused too much on expanding coverage, adding, "People who care about health care coverage need to engage as aggressively on the cost question as they do on the coverage question."

Jason Rosenbaum of the Health Care for America Now Blog discusses the connection between health care costs and the economy, saying, "How do we expect to get our economic situation fixed with 15% of our economy tied up in a wasteful system?"

Health Care Policy and Marketplace Review's Bob Laszewski discusses high-risk pools as an option for the uninsurable -- a component of McCain's health care proposal -- saying that "we could accomplish something better by putting [the uninsurable] in mainstream health plans using proven market-based reinsurance principles and underwriting rules."

Health Populi's Jane Sarasohn-Kahn discusses a new Pricewaterhouse Coopers report that projects a higher trend for health care costs in 2009 and says costs will "continue to exceed general consumer price inflation for the foreseeable future."

Joanne Kenen from the New America Foundation's New Health Dialogue reports on a NAF event where former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) discussed health care reform.