Home » Blog
05/14/2012 Poverty and Health: A Connection We Can't Ignore
04/30/2012 Cardiac Care - A Case Study in Practice Variation
04/16/2012 One Courageous Woman
costs poverty aca variation cost use quality health policy research politics health reform policy health insurance acos hmos communication essential benefits reform coverage sgr congress drugs class long term care va employers e-prescribing emrs patient safety medicaid states medicare for-profit nonprofit block grant tanf welfare reform hospice end of life non-profit evidence-based care waste washtenaw county uninsured population health managed care cms access cancer end-of-life care individual mandate ryan proposal obesity pharmaceutical industry r & d comparative effectiveness research evidence based care quality improvement collaborative quality initiatives cqi pharmaceuticals regulations prematurity exchanges heath reform antibiotics overuse geographic variation medical appropriateness health websites imrt radiation therapy medical errors constitutionality courts translate health care economics rationing insurance regulation incentives cardiology pcmh health disparities election british health care system safety net fqhc guidelines radiology pain early childhood electronic medical records physician employment aco dartmouth atlas cover michigan health care coverage insurance preventive care public health

In early August, when the debt ceiling agreement was reached, many news reports noted the agreement did nothing to address core reasons for the debt, namely: Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare. Indeed, nearly every article written about the debt ceiling talked about the need to “deal with” (aka: cut) Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.

When I was in graduate school and early in my career, hospices were viewed as one of the most altruistic components of the health care system. With a philosophy of caring holistically for those at the end of life by controlling symptoms, supporting families, and providing a “good” death (preferably at home), hospices seemed to represent the vision of compassion that should be embodied in a caring profession. Hospice care was formalized in Great Britain in the late 1960s, and federally funded in the U.S. for the first time in a 1979 demonstration project. The hospice benefit became a part of the Medicare program in 1982 and fully incorporated in 1986.