Apr 12 2010
Immigration: Could It Solve Social Security, Medicare Woes? Christian Science Monitor
Forty years ago there were five workers for every retiree. Now there are three. Within a couple of decades, there will be only two workers per retiree. There's no way just two workers will be able or willing to pay enough payroll taxes to keep benefits flowing to every retiree (Robert Reich, 4/11).
Could Price Shopping Lower Costs And Improve Health Care? Time
I recently went to a doctor and asked how much my office visit and X-ray would cost. Staffers told me that they didn't know and, since I have insurance, I shouldn't care (Barbara Kiviat, 4/12).
Competitive Pricing: The Political Failure Of A Good Idea? Kaiser Health News
Few Americans should be satisfied with the way the government pays private health insurance plans that participate in the Medicare Advantage program. Taxpayers pay 14 percent more to insure a beneficiary through the Advantage program than through traditional, fee-for-service Medicare (Austin Frakt, 4/12).
New Health-Care Agenda Is Outrageous The Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle
So, the federal government now wants more control over our pocketbooks and even our health? They are forcing all Americans to adopt their socialist style of health care with a promise to manage these costs (Randall Hatcher, 4/12).
Editorial: Sensible Health Savings The Providence Journal
Massachusetts could save $100 million a year by making it easier for cities and towns to put their employees in a flexible statewide health-insurance system. … It's time for the state to give cities and towns the right to join (4/12).
 This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
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An Arm and a Leg: Attack of the Medicare machines