Health Policy Program: Publications, Events and More

Len Nichols in the Boston Globe |'McCain Plan May Cost Northeast'

Communications — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 15:41:00 -0400

New America in the News:

"If you're a healthy person in a low-cost area, this is a pretty good deal," said Len Nichols, a healthcare economist who directs the health policy program at the New America Foundation. "If you're a healthy person in a high-cost area, not so much. If you're an unhealthy person in a high-cost area, good luck."

To make sure these older and sicker people can afford insurance, McCain has proposed a pool funded by the states and federal government that the campaign says would provide them access to care at a "reasonable" rate. Critics say it would be either far more expensive than the $15 billion to $20 billion McCain says it would cost, or that premiums would have to be high.

Barack Obama's plan would not result in the same geographical disparities. The Obama plan would preserve the tax breaks on employer contributions to health insurance, so the value of those exemptions would remain directly related to the cost of insurance. Obama would provide tax credits for people who can't afford the full price of health insurance; those credits would also be directly related to a person's income and the price of the plan, said Neera Tanden, director of policy for the Obama campaign. LINK

Len Nichols in the San Francisco Chronicle | 'McCain, Obama agree: Health Care Needs Fixing'

Communications — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 11:25:00 -0400

New America in the News:
"The cost of doing nothing just got higher if more and more people are losing their jobs," said Len Nichols, health economist with the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan policy group in Washington, D.C., that supports covering all Americans. "People really want security, and part of economic security is having your health care." LINK

Health Policy Program in Bloomberg News | 'Save Lives Instead of Bankers' Bloated Pay: Michael R. Sesit'

Communications — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 10:56:00 -0400

New America in the News:

A comprehensive national-health program also makes good business sense for three reasons. First, the lost productivity associated with the poor health and shortened life spans of the uninsured cost the U.S. economy $102 billion to $204 billion in 2006, according to a March report published by the Health Policy Program of the New America Foundation.

``The economic cost imposed on the nation by the uninsured is as much as, and perhaps greater than, the public cost of covering them,'' the authors said. LINK

Len Nichols in Bloomberg News | 'Peabody Pays Mayo Clinic Prices to Save on Health-Care Costs '

Communications — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 09:53:00 -0400

New America in the News:
Many U.S. businesses try to contain health spending by encouraging smokers to quit or opening at-work clinics. The two coal companies are pioneers in trying to boost quality of care by directing employees to nationally ranked hospitals, according to Len Nichols. Nichols is head of the health policy program at the New America Foundation in Washington and worked in President Bill Clinton's administration.

Len Nichols in The Salt Lake Tribune | 'Credit Crisis May Delay Big Changes for U.S. Health'

Communications — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 15:16:00 -0400

New America in the News:

The federal intervention in the credit crisis may make health-system changes even more dramatic when they do arrive, said Len Nichols, who heads [the health policy program] in Washington, D.C.-based New America Foundation, a policy research group.

"We can't just do nothing without bearing the cost of doing nothing, which is high and rising," said Nichols, a former adviser to President Clinton. "If we just do what we're doing, we're just taxing ourselves at an increasing rate in terms of lost opportunities, while we cover fewer and fewer people every year." LINK

Len Nichols in AAFB News Now | 'Primary Care Assumes Prominent Role in Candidates' Health Care Reform Plans'

Communications — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 14:20:00 -0400

New America in the News:
Len Nichols, Ph.D., a health care economist and director of the health policy program for the New America Foundation, agrees with King's assessment, saying the "medical home is consistent with the spirit of where both candidates are headed."

"Regardless of who wins, I think we will be talking about the medical home going forward," he says. LINK

Len Nichols in The New York Times | 'Studies Show Strain of Medical Bills'

Communications — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 10:02:00 -0400

New America in the News:

The studies, policy analysts say, underscore the need for the government to address the growing unaffordability of care, despite the distraction -- and cost to taxpayers -- of a proposed $700 billion bailout of the financial sector.

“This makes clear the cost of doing nothing is high and growing,” said Len Nichols, a health economist at the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan policy group in Washington that advocates universal medical coverage.

While policy analysts acknowledge that finding any new money to expand coverage may prove difficult, some also say the terms of the debate may be changing as policy makers and the public rethink their positions on the need for regulation and the role of the government in industry -- including the health care system.

“We can now imagine a government takeover that we could not imagine before,” Mr. Nichols said. LINK

Len Nichols on MSNBC.com | 'Overhauling Health Care: Two Divergent Visions'

Communications — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 15:11:00 -0400

New America in the News:

First, analysts emphasize that the health reform plans offer citizens a general guide to the candidates’ views, but may be lacking in crucial details.

“Campaign documents should be thought of more like the watercolors of impressionists instead of photographs or blueprints,” said Len Nichols, director of the health policy program at the New America Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy institute. LINK

Health Care Quality

Communications — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 05:00:00 -0400

A New America Event
09/19/2008 - 10:00am

Whether you are insured or uninsured, the serious quality problems in the American health care system affect you. There are many excellent health care providers in America, yet there are too many preventable mistakes and too few efforts to coordinate patient care. Our Emergency Departments are over-burdened and inefficient and many Americans experience unequal health care outcomes because of race, ethnicity, and income.

Fundamental changes are needed in health care delivery in the United States. Indeed, efforts to improve the quality of patient care are central to reforming our struggling health system.

At this New America Foundation event, the panelists below discussed the various opportunities to improve the quality of patient care in the U.S. An MP3 recording can be downloaded below, as can the presentation slides from this discussion.

Shannon Brownlee in New Scientist | 'Condition Critical: The Medical Crisis Facing America'

Communications — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:51:00 -0400

New America in the News:
In their speeches, both candidates stress increased access. McCain favours tax credits to encourage families to get insurance, while Obama proposes mandatory coverage for children, a new public insurance plan and a requirement for employers to provide health benefits for their workers. Yet each will struggle to widen coverage if they cannot control costs. “We need to do both at the same time,”says Shannon Brownlee, a specialist in health policy with the New America Foundation, a non-partisan think tankin Washington DC. LINK (subscription required)

Health Policy Program in The News Journal | 'Controlling Costs Is as Important to Reform as Providing Quality Service'

Communications — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 16:32:00 -0400

New America in the News:

According to a recent report from the New America Foundation, health care costs hurt the nation's products in the world market.

The report said, "Employer health costs for manufacturing firms in the United States, $2.38 per worker per hour, were much higher than the foreign trade-weighted average of $0.96 per worker per hour in 2005." LINK

New Report Says Ambulance Diversions are Just another Symptom of a Struggling Health System

Communications — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 08:39:00 -0400

U.S. hospitals routinely turn ambulances away in an emergency -- further proof that our health system is in need of comprehensive reforms, according to a report released today by the Health Policy Program at the New America Foundation.

In the report entitled, "Ambulance Diversions: What They Are, Why We Care, and What To Do," Guy Clifton, MD, neurosurgeon and Physician Advisor to the New America Foundation, suggests that ambulance diversions are a result of an increased reliance on Emergency Departments (EDs) for primary care (especially by the uninsured), inefficiencies in hospital practice, and bed capacity that is inadequate or unstaffed. "The pervasiveness of ambulance diversions puts us… more

Ambulance Diversions

Health Policy — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 08:26:00 -0400

Every minute in the United States, an ambulance is turned away from a hospital because of a practice known as ambulance diversion. Diverting ambulances away from emergency departments (EDs) poses a serious threat to the health outcomes of both the insured and uninsured population. Ambulance diversions also indicate a struggling health system in need of comprehensive delivery system reforms.

What is an Ambulance Diversion?

An ambulance diversion occurs when a hospital ED cannot care for additional emergency patients. When a hospital is “on diversion” it redirects ambulances from their ED to another hospital or medical facility. more

Len Nichols on FOX Business | 'With 45 Million Lacking Coverage, Pressure Still On Health System'

Communications — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:49:00 -0400

New America in the News:

The portion of people covered by job-based and other private insurance declined and likely will continue to do so, placing more pressure on public programs, said Len Nichols, a health economist and director of the health-policy program for the New America Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research group in Washington.

"While it's superficially good news in that more people have coverage, it exemplifies the stress the system is bearing," Nichols said. "I don't think most governors are going to be happy to sustain the current [Medicaid and S-chip] rolls they have as the economy weakens." LINK

Len Nichols in BNA News | 'Census Bureau Says Fewer Lack Coverage; Decrease Reflects Shift to Public Insurance'

Communications — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 10:51:00 -0400

New America in the News:

The number of uninsured Americans decreased by 1.3 million from 2006 to 2007, a change largely attributable to an increase in government-sponsored coverage, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Aug. 26.

The Census Bureau's annual report on income, poverty, and health insurance found that the number of uninsured people decreased from 47 million in 2006 to 45.7 million in 2007, or 15.8 percent to 15.3 percent of Americans.

However, during that time period, the percentage of people with private insurance decreased while the percentage of those covered by government health insurance increased, a shift some health policy analysts and advocates said is problematic.

“That's not a sustainable way to maintain our health care system over time,” Len Nichols, director of the health policy program at the New America Foundation, told BNA. ... LINK

Len Nichols in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | 'Health Care Gains Status as Election Issue'

Communications — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:16:00 -0400

New America in the News:

...[T]he economic slowdown means that more people who now are middle class could find themselves uninsured. It also means that more people are worried that they could lose jobs and their health insurance.

“It is a deep and growing -- and you could say even gnawing -- fear among the middle class,” said Len Nichols, director of the Health Policy Program at the New America Foundation, a public policy institute. LINK

Making Practices Perfect

Articles — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:58:00 -0400

The waiting room of Ramona Seidel's family medicine practice is empty, and she works hard to keep it that way.

After several years in a traditional suburban group practice that blended pediatrics and family medicine, Seidel quit to start her own micro-practice in Annapolis: a low-overhead, high-tech office that gives her more control over how she treats patients and more time to spend with them. She's happier. Her patients are happier. And she's pretty convinced they are healthier having a physician who knows them well.

"It's more friendly; it's personal. She's very good about giving answers. It feels comfortable talking to her," said Ronald Porciello, 41, a contractor… more

Len Nichols in Reuters | 'Health Care Debate May Hinge on Pooling'

Communications — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 14:06:00 -0400

New America in the News:
“Both (bills) encourage a new marketplace that would have a common set of rules to enable the health insurance market for small business to work better than it does today by increasing efficiencies and economies of scale,” says Len Nichols, director of the Health Policy Program at the Washington, D.C.-based New America Foundation, a nonpartisan public policy group. “They represent the bipartisan agreement we need for small business and all Americans to secure quality, affordable health coverage.” LINK

Joanne Kenen in Health Care Policy and Marketplace Review | Health Wonk Review

Communications — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 10:16:00 -0400

New America in the News:
(Health Wonk Review)--What to do about Medicare and its many challenges? Joanne Kenen gives us a summary of the Medicare Conference recently ran in Washington in her post, "REFORM: Medicare versus Cassandra" at the "New Health Dialogue" blog.

Len Nichols in Clinical Psychiatry News | 'Obama Plan Combines Public and Private Systems'

Communications — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 11:18:00 -0400

New America in the News:

Sen. Obama also has been vague about subsidies, requirements on businesses, and the interaction of the public and private plans, said Len Nichols, director of the Health Policy Program at the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan public policy institute.

And Sen. Obama's plan would likely get a warm reception in Congress next year, Mr. Nichols predicted. Unlike in 1992, there has been far more “plowing of the ground,” he said. The debate over SCHIP has started the conversation about the need for universal coverage and at the same time a majority of Americans are worried about the affordability of health insurance, he said. LINK