Last week’s House budget had great news for many concerned with state funding and programs. This was particularly true in areas like child welfare, which traditionally has had a limited group of advocates able to work to secure funding. However, after cuts proposed by the governor of up to 20% to some key programs at DSHS, many services fared pretty well. (more…)
“The wrong service, in the wrong setting, at the wrong time.” Otherwise known as dentistry in the ER. It’s on the rise. (more…)
It’s been a busy time in policy circles in the last few weeks. Here are a few things to keep your eye on this week. (more…)
A budget proviso is making the rounds in Olympia that would address the rejection of CUP from the state’s Medicaid managed care plan, Healthy Options. (more…)
The House Republican Caucus is the first of the four caucuses in the state legislature to put forth a budget proposal. Introduced by Rep. Gary Alexander (R-Olympia), the Ranking Member of the Ways & Means Committee, the proposal looks to make some modest changes to the governor’s initial proposal, as PubliCola points out (emphasis mine): (more…)
In talking with legislators about budget and health care issues, the frustration is apparent. (more…)
The list of policy implications to the rural health care marketplace got even bigger this week when President Obama released his FY 2013 budget. (more...)
Regence BlueShield supports the development of a health insurance exchange that adds value to consumers. The creation of a stable, viable health insurance Exchange is critical to the future of health care in Washington, which is why we believe it is of paramount importance that the legislature gets the details right. (more…)
A week ago, OFM announced that they had begun to review the final insurance exchange regulations. In an interview, Joel Ario, who until recently was the Director of Office of Insurance Exchanges at HHS, said that those exchange regulations should be coming out here in February. (more…)
The Unbearable Irrelevance of Primary Care
Tuesday, February 28th, 2012Given the tremendous interest in this post, we thought we’d move it back up to the top for a re-read.
It’s quite a paradox. Read any recent healthcare article, blog, or post; the pages and posts are resplendent with detailed descriptions of new payment methods, organizational structures, and realignments. They all extoll the central role of primary care in the high quality cost effective healthcare system of the future. (more…)
Tags: Cindy Robertson, commentary, Medicaid
Posted in Commentary |