Health Care

With junk insurance, you get what you pay for

Opinion

With junk insurance, you get what you pay for

How the Trump administration is undermining women’s health and what to do

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INSPIRED BY MARCHES, movements (#MeToo, #TimesUp), and momentum (the unprecedented surge of females running for office), women are standing up for the issues that matter most to them. Let’s make sure that healthcare continues to be on that list. Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), American women have made dramatic gains. The number of uninsured(...)

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Health Policy Commission should do more

Opinion

Health Policy Commission should do more

Agency should listen more and weigh ballot question evidence

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THE 2012 LAW CREATING the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission (HPC) includes a provision setting up an advisory council to the executive director of the commission.  The charge to the advisory council is to “advise on the overall operation and policy of the commission.”  There are about 30 or so people drawn from various health care(...)

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Blazing the trail for universal health coverage

Opinion

Blazing the trail for universal health coverage

Taking stock 30 years after landmark state law was passed

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THIRTY YEARS AGO today, Massachusetts made history with the passage of the Universal Health Care Law, a triumph that continues to teach us how broad coalitions can win crucial battles and overcome daunting obstacles with time and tenacity. As two veterans of three decades of health care fights, we can bear witness to the long(...)

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The Codcast: A devilish health care merger

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Two of the state’s leading health care analysts say they aren’t sure whether creating a powerful alternative to Partners HealthCare will reduce health care costs in Massachusetts or increase them. “It’s the devil you know versus the devil you don’t know,” said John E. McDonough, a professor of public health practice at the TH Chan(...)

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Unlikely partners protect contraceptive coverage

Opinion

Unlikely partners protect contraceptive coverage

Compromise key for health insurers, reproductive freedom advocates

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A YEAR AGO IN MASSACHUSETTS, reproductive freedom advocates and health insurance plans sat down for an unlikely meeting: to find a way to protect access to birth control in the Commonwealth. Our groups have historically been at odds about access to certain coverages and the insurance mandates to pay for therm. The health plans knew(...)

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Tufts CEO slams BI-Lahey merger

Tufts CEO slams BI-Lahey merger

Warns ‘duopoly’ will control commercial market

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THE CEO OF TUFTS MEDICAL CENTER took issue with the stated rationale behind the proposed megamerger of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Lahey Health, and several other hospitals, saying the combined entity would not end up challenging Partners HealthCare for supremacy in Massachusetts. “This is a false argument,” said Michael Wagner, testifying at an educational(...)

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Democrats have a lot to learn from Trump

Spring 2018

Democrats have a lot to learn from Trump

He won’t drain the swamp, but they should  

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OUR DAILY FOCUS on Donald Trump’s narcissistic behavior diverts attention from something much more significant: the likelihood that his presidency may constitute an important historical transition for the United States. It is obvious that the election of Trump represented a departure from the norm. It is not obvious that his departure from the presidency will represent(...)

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An upstart helps to reshape MassHealth

Opinion/ Spring 2018

An upstart helps to reshape MassHealth

Health centers band together to form an innovative ‘accountable care organization’ 

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ON MARCH 1, the state’s Medicaid program—known as MassHealth—entered a new era with the launch of 17 accountable care organizations, or ACOs, aiming to provide better coordinated care at lower costs to its low-income enrollees. It’s an ambitious effort with lots of risk and big potential rewards. Within this is another compelling effort to redefine(...)

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How we end the opioid epidemic

Opinion

How we end the opioid epidemic

Eliminate the stigma, treat the person

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IT’S DIFFICULT TO WATCH OR READ the news without seeing another family torn apart by the opioid crisis. The epidemic is so widespread that it’s been declared a national public health emergency – and Massachusetts is on the forefront in many ways.  In the last few weeks, we’ve seen countless examples of how opioids can(...)

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BI-Lahey merger gets a break on cost growth

BI-Lahey merger gets a break on cost growth

State officials remove benchmark mandate they enforced with Partners

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STATE HEALTH OFFICIALS stripped language from a document that would have required the merger of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Lahey Health to prove they’ll meet legislatively mandated cost growth benchmarks, a requirement officials made sure was adopted as part of the recent merger between Partners HealthCare and Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. The(...)

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