Today is Saturday, February 04, 2012


Air ambulance crashes raise questions about safety and standards

Recent air ambulance crashes have raised questions about safety and standards, and there may not be enough experienced pilots. The N.Y. Times’ impact graphs:

Social Security: Economists predict tepid economic growth, stock market returns for next 44 years

The Wall Street Journal polled 10 economists and found that most of them are less optimistic about the stock market and economy than President Bush. The thrust of the story is that if the public is bearish on stocks, personal savings accounts won’t be part of any SS reforms. What the article doesn’t say is that between 1959 and 2004, equities returned an average of 12.5%. If similar returns were achieved over the next 44 years, they would make personal savings accounts a very good deal. Nobody can forecast more than six months ahead, much less 44 years. Here are the impact graphs:

Social Security: GOP congressmen meeting resistance to Bush’s “plan”

Many GOP congressmen are finding their constituents aren’t eager to tie personal savings accounts to Social Security, and, as a result, the GOP is not as unified in support of SS reform as Democrats are firmly against it.

Social Security: USA Next seeks to minimize AARP’s power to block reforms with ads

USA Next will seek to minimize the AARP’s power to block Social Security reforms. The conservative organization is hiring some of the consultants who helped the Swift Boat Vets expose John Kerry’s war record in last year’s presidential campaign. USA Next and the White House say they will operate very independently of each other. Some questions:

Social Security: Did Bush blow it by making 2042 the far-off crisis trigger date instead of 2018?

Charles Kruathammer, M.D., a national sysndicated political columnist, lament’s President Bush’s decision to promote 2042 instead of 2018 as the year that Social Security will become a major financial crisis, but if 2018 is the year that resonates with voters, a mid campaign adjustment can be made. There are plenty of other reasons that Bush might not get the reforms he wants.

Social Security: Democrats will cave?

It is pretty well recognized that Bush already is backing off on aspects of his ideas about reforming Social Security. And Democrats also will cave on Social Security if the Republicans somehow agree to a combination of a payroll tax increase, changes in benefits and some kind of add on personal savings/investing accounts, according to the Washington bureau chief of the Denver Post, John Aloysius Farrel. He has been accused by the Rocky Mountain News and others of sticking to the Democrats’ party line. This column, however, seems to reflect some solid reporting and analysis. Here are the lede graphs of his Feb. 20, 2005, column:

Social Security: Politics makes reforms seem remote

David Broder explains the politics of Social Security reform. Democrats think they can swing the third rail against Republicans, and so do Congressional Republicans. Thus, the stalemate. Other commentators note Bush’s success in getting what he wants from Congress and say that while a long battle may ensue, it’s too early to call SS reforms dead on arrival. Bush will take what he can get. The question is, does Congress have the integrity to face reality or will it look out for itself instead of doing what’s best for future generations? Pessimists are betting against integrity and for Congressional careerism and greed.

Social Security: Personal accounts involve risks; lessons learned from U.K., Chile, Singapore

Today’s lede editorial in the Washington Post says the Bush Administratin seems to have learned from three countries that made major mistakes in implementing private personal accounts, the U.K., Chile and Singapore. And, the editorial discusses additional risks as well as possible options open to policy makers. What the editorial needs is a new lede: Social Security personal savings accounts will succeed only if the PSA market is highly regulated, workers are given numerous low-cost investment options, workers are not allowed to touch their money until they retire or die and workers are given strong financial incentives to participate in personal savings accounts, but no one is required to. Impact graphs from the editorial follow:

Social Security: Why conservatives oppose higher tax caps

Cato’s Alan Reynolds explains the problem.

Martin Peretz: American liberalism is dead

Martin Peretz, editor in chief of the liberal political news weekly, The New Republic, essays that liberalism is dead in America. Free registration required. One of his many important points:

 

Check out John Mansfield’s ‘The Planning Deskbook’

“The Planning Deskbook” blogs on using Excel in health care planning as well as about using Expression Engine and other web tools. Check it out.

 

Tenet Healthcare trial ends in hung jury; physician recruitment issues unresolved

A hung jury in the Tenet Healthcare trial on charges that its hospital illegally recruited physicians shows how complex and confusing the laws are and leaves hospitals uncertain about how they should go about recruiting physicans. Key points in the LA Times story:

 

House GOP opposes Social Security tax increase; Bush says he has to sell the problem

The top two leaders of the U. S. House oppose any effort to increase Social Security taxes, saying that increasing taxes would not be a fundamental reform. And President Bush says he has to convince the country and Congress that Social Security benefits are at risk, or his proposed reforms are going nowhere. Thus, the administration already is negotiating with itself and signaling that it will take any reforms Congress will enact.

 

SCHIP programs, states’ Medicaid budgets, bloated by workers whose employers offer health insurance

Lower-income workers employed by companies that offer health insurance are gaming the system by enrolling their kids in SCHIP instead of buying health insurance through their employers, The Wall Street Journal reports today. Because most states shift Medicaid costs to private insurers, this hurts all employers, especially small employers. The Journal’s key graphs:

Sidney M. Wolfe’s 34-year career as drug industry critic profiled

Sidney M. Wolfe, M.D., of Public Citizen, is profiled in today’s Times. It’s a good read.