Mark Blum's Blog

Kaiser-Permanente and Some Congressional “Blue Dogs” Support Coordinated Care

mcblum@igc.org — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 23:30:00 GMT

At the Second Annual Kaiser Permanente (KP) Health Care Institute Conference last Friday, I heard Kaiser CEO, George Halverson, make the case for Kaiser’s emphasis on prevention and “integrated care” -- the term KP uses for care coordination. It was a sympathetic audience as the room was full of front line health care providers who had designed and worked in coordinated care teams.

THE KEY ARGUMENT IN THE PRESIDENT’S TWO CASES FOR HEALTH REFORM

mcblum@igc.org — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:44:00 GMT

The agenda for health care reform actually addresses two main items: “health care delivery system reform” and “insurance reform,” a term the president used in his press conference comments Wednesday evening. In fact, the President made the case for both.

VOTER CONSENSUS ON REFORMING HEALTH CARE SYSTEM

mcblum@igc.org — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 19:54:00 GMT

The debate over health reform is heating up, and now it’s more important than ever to understand the broad common ground that exists among business, labor, government leaders, and as we learned yesterday, Republican and Democrat voters

America’s Agenda Holds Press Event to Announce a Bipartisan, Consensus Approach to Health Care Reform

mcblum@igc.org — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 16:17:00 GMT

On Tuesday, June 9th, our America’s Agenda member organizations held a press conference in Washington, D.C. to highlight our growing bipartisan alliance of business, labor and heath care leaders who are working together to pass legislation in Congress that modernizes our health care system while improving quality and reducing cost.

It’s been a very busy week on Capitol Hill and for America’s Agenda.

mcblum@igc.org — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 17:24:00 GMT

It’s been a very busy week on Capitol Hill and for America’s Agenda. To build upon last Friday’s post from Dr. Ken Thorpe on how chronic disease prevention and management will drive down health care costs, today’s guest is Dr. C. Martin Harris, CIO & Chairman of the Information Technology Division at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

Health Care debate on Capital Hill is becoming more important than ever before.

mcblum@igc.org — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 17:16:00 GMT

As each day passes, the health care debate on Capitol Hill is becoming more important than ever before.

Members of Congress are back from Memorial Day recess and work on health care reform continues.

mcblum@igc.org — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 17:30:00 GMT

Members of Congress are back from Memorial Day recess and work on health care reform continues. Today’s post features comments from Dr. Ken Thorpe, America’s Agenda Sr. Director for Policy and the policy architect of Vermont’s landmark 2006 Health Care Affordability Act.

Dr. Donna Shalala offered her thoughts on health care reform at our January Summit Conversations in Miami.

mcblum@igc.org — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 02:36:00 GMT

During our January Summit Conversation in Miami, Dr. Donna Shalala, President of the University of Miami, offered her thoughts on the need for health care reform in order to address the current health care crisis.

It’s an exciting time for those of us who work on health care issues here in Washington.

mcblum@igc.org — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 20:02:00 GMT

It’s an exciting time for those of us who work on health care issues here in Washington. As the national discussion about health care reform continues, America’s Agenda will work with leaders from our past Summit Conversations to highlight some of the key policy issues related to reducing health care costs and finding consensus on bipartisan comprehensive health care reform.

San Francisco "Summit Conversation:" Another Successful Dialogue on Health Reform! – A behind the scenes look at the San Francisco event

mcblum@igc.org — Thu, 28 May 2009 15:49:00 GMT

We had a great event in San Francisco where we hosted the fourth "Health Care Summit Conversation." Held at the University of California-San Francisco’s Mission Bay Conference Center, we brought together 12 government, health care, labor and business leaders to talk about how to modernize our health care system.