The Debate: Policy that Should be Discussed

Tonight’s presidential debate should be policy focused but likely, won’t be or won’t be with sufficient detail.  There are a ton of policy issues that should be discussed. Healthcare policy, in my opinion, should be very much a topic of open and frank discussion. I know I am a geek when it comes to economic … Read more

Wednesday Feature: Budget Stuff…Cubed

Happy Hump Day! Busy day so far but wanted to sneak this post in, wrapping up the last two days of posts on budget (federal, Medicare) stuff. This being the third day and post on budgets (and last for a while, I promise), the title fits – cubed. https://rhislop3.com/2024/04/15/monday-budget-day/ https://rhislop3.com/2024/04/16/medpac-report-to-congress-a-wrap-with-monday/ What follows is a different … Read more

Monday = Budget Day

As much as politics consumes the news, little on policy is included. Most days, the political stuff such as trials, Congressional hearings, back and forth tabloid (almost) stuff is front and center, missing is the “meat”. Reminds me of the 80’s Wendy’s commercial titled, “Where’s the beef?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riH5EsGcmTw While I know that the national election, … Read more

Politics and Health Policy

Last week, the 2024 Presidential campaign season kicked into full swing with the first candidate debate. Arguably, momentum has been building ahead of the debate, especially in Iowa, during the State Fair, where candidates roamed, gave speeches, and pressed the flesh. I was there one day and enjoyed seeing Tim Scott and few other notables, … Read more

Debt Ceilings, Government Shutdowns and Health Policy

Most of my readers know by now that I am an economist by training and formal education.  My clients know this as well.  The net result is that I’ve been queried, almost to death as of late, as to what this current round of Washington folly is really all about.  Is it about the ACA?  … Read more

Healthcare Polar Express

With the Holidays fast approaching and me, heading into a break and a brief vacation, the time is right to recap the current health policy landscape.  As the title states, now it seems as if the industry is riding on the Healthcare Polar Express; head first into the dark, cold, snowy north. Fiscal Cliff: Wow, what … Read more

What’sTrending: A Tad Late

Travel last week took me off schedule a tad so this post, normally scheduled for last Friday, didn’t make it on-line until Monday.  Below is the list of what I am trending (watching) followed by last week’s Fall Outs (worth noting but not worth watching). Hospice Fraud Redux: This issue is one that I have … Read more

Medicare Doc Fix Redux

The failure of the Super Committee to achieve any measure of “go forward” spending reform left unresolved, a whole host of Medicare program spending messes, many of which will rear their ugly heads come January 1.  While many lament the Committee’s failure to resolve equitably, what is set to become automatic cuts, the truth of the matter … Read more

Post-Acute Outlook Post Debt Ceiling, Post Medicare Rate Adjustments, Etc.

OK, the title is a bit wordy and trust me, I could have included more “posts” but I think I got the point across.  First, I’ll admit to having a crystal ball however, the picture I see is a bit like the first (and only) television set I remember having as a kid: Not in … Read more

The Unraveling of the PPACA

OK readers and requesters, I haven’t gone, as Robert Frost wrote, into the “woods lovely, dark and deep” but I have been preoccupied by work and things familial.  Sadly, energy wanes as one focuses intently on the delicate balance that is juggling a frenetic work schedule, a mile of other professional commitments, travel, and family.  … Read more