May 29 2010
The High Cost Of High Drug Costs The Detroit News
According to the Labor Department, overall inflation has averaged about 2.5 percent annually, and prescription drug prices have gone up about 3.6 percent each year, over that time frame. Co-pays, though, have increased four times faster than inflation (Peter J. Pitts, 5/28).
With Health Reform, Familiarity Is Breeding Contempt The Washington Post
On the theory that the distribution of lollipops usually doesn't provoke riots of resentment, opposition to the health entitlement requires explanation. One cause is simply economic (Michael Gerson, 5/28).
Medicare And Double Standards The Wall Street Journal
In the full-circle department, recall the moment last September when Senator Max Baucus and Medicare went after the insurer Humana for having the nerve to criticize one part of ObamaCare. It turns out those same regulators have different standards for their own political advocacy (5/28).
Who Pays For Medical Complications? The New York Times
While the original list [of preventable medical errors] is horrifying to read, these newer lists ... fail to strike the same chord. The original complications derived their emotional power because they were truly "never events," both devastating and eminently preventable. But in the newest lists compiled by C.M.S. and other insurers, the emotions are gone (Pauline W. Chen, 5/27).
A Chance To Close A Health Insurance Loophole San Francisco Chronicle
Sacramento can help consumers today by plugging a loophole in health care rules -- or it can side with the insurance industry, which doesn't want hefty premium raises scrutinized (5/28).
 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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