It’s pretty simple, really.

Once people gain actual real-life experience with a government program, they abandon their fear of the unknown, see its benefits more clearly, and become invested in its future.

We’ve seen that with Medicare, which consistently pleases its beneficiaries. Part D has similar traction, and now we’ve learned that the citizens of Massachusetts are increasingly happy with that state’s health reform.

I’m not arguing that Massachusetts, Part D or even …

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If we’re serious about cutting Federal health care expenditures over the long term, here are two changes that will do just that.

1. Requiring HHS to negotiate with pharma for Part D drug costs would reduce annual expenditures by over $20 billion.

As I’ve noted repeatedly(but unfortunately few in the mass media have), Part D’s perhaps the biggest deficit problem we have – the ultimate unfunded liability is now over $20 trillion. …

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There’s no question the Accountable Care Act needs work – everyone agrees on that.

So let’s talk about the specifics – what needs fixing, why, and how can we get those fixes passed.

First, let’s understand how bad our current system is. Some who want to repeal and/or replace the ACA continue to publicly state we have “the best health care in the world.”

While that may – or may not – have …

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We’re learning a lot from Massachusetts’ experiment in universal coverage – and some of the lessons are rather enlightening.

According to Bestwire, Lora Pellegrini, president of the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans, said something along the lines of “That’s the problem with the new U.S. health care reform law … it offers millions of uninsured Americans access to health insurance but doesn’t address underlying medical costs, which are contributing to costly …

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The recess appointment of Dr. Donald Berwick as head of CMS has incited a furor among politicians outraged at what they claim are his advocacy for rationing and fondness for Britain’s National Health Service.

To support their claims, these politicians are using Berwick’s own words, in a way eerily reminiscent of the recent Shirley Sherrod debacle.

It started with Glenn Beck, master of the one-word quote, and then slipped over into more …

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