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Archive: Michael Critelli
Do it right, not just fast
The President has done a masterful job keeping this legislation on the front burner and pushing it forward even when it looked like it could have gone off the rails. He should give Congress a chance to work out the tough issues even if it takes beyond the end of the year.
By Michael Critelli | November 16, 2009; 08:56 PM ET | Comments (0)
Improving health in the shorter term
Some of the relatively low-cost, high-return ways to improve health and reduce health care cost increases are relatively unglamorous and do not involve big government programs. For example, at Pitney Bowes, we reduced the rate of seasonal influenza and other...
By Michael Critelli | November 5, 2009; 10:55 AM ET | Comments (1)
Congress is not doing enough to cut costs
Congress has not come close to addressing the drivers of health care spending. We have to understand, as pointed out in Dr. Deborah Cohen and Dr. Tom Farley's book, "Prescription for a Healthy Nation" and former Surgeon General Dr. David...
By Michael Critelli | October 29, 2009; 10:56 PM ET | Comments (0)
No perfect system
There is no perfect system outside the United States for health promotion, heath care or health insurance, but there is much done overseas from which we can learn.
By Michael Critelli | October 20, 2009; 06:02 AM ET | Comments (3)
Much to Like
As a person who built and refined an employer-based health care program, and who feels passionately about health-care delivery and payment reform, as well as promotion of public health, I feel there is much to like in the bill, as well as some troubling provisions.
By Michael Critelli | October 13, 2009; 06:05 PM ET | Comments (0)
A Misguided Way of Thinking
The notion that employers either provide a specified level of coverage or pay a penalty, the so-called "employer mandate," is the wrong way to think of the employer's role.
By Michael Critelli | October 6, 2009; 09:12 AM ET | Comments (1)
A Suspicious Assertion
I am highly suspicious of any assertion that the government can achieve significant cost savings by scaling back the Medicare Advantage program without harming patients.
By Michael Critelli | October 2, 2009; 03:14 PM ET | Comments (1)
Well-Designed Plans Produce Results
I support taxes on "Cadillac" plans as long as we adjust the cost for plans that enroll a higher percentage of less-healthy patients. Research shows that a richer plan does not produce better health or health care.
By Michael Critelli | September 22, 2009; 10:21 AM ET | Comments (2)
Incentives for Quality, Not for Quick Answers
The current Medicare and private insurance payment systems encourage professionals to rush through patient encounters and get quick answers, since health care professionals earn more by doing more activity, and earn nothing extra for better quality.
By Michael Critelli | September 16, 2009; 07:56 PM ET | Comments (0)
Highs and Lows
Only time will tell whether his speech succeeded, but it was well-crafted and well-delivered.
By Michael Critelli | September 9, 2009; 10:29 PM ET | Comments (0)
Sen. Kennedy's Unique Gift
It is highly unlikely that any current leader can single-handedly do what Kennedy would have done. However, sometimes groups of leaders will emerge to fill a vacuum, and that could certainly happen here.
By Michael Critelli | August 28, 2009; 04:17 PM ET | Comments (0)
Address the Health Crisis First
The president needs to decide which of these problems he wants to address, in which order, and he needs to articulate what problem he is addressing, how he is addressing it, and what will happen. His message and actions need to be simple, clear, credible, and powerful.
By Michael Critelli | August 25, 2009; 09:25 AM ET | Comments (1)
Are Member-Owned Cooperatives the Answer?
Unless healthy people are part of the insurance pool to subsidize the unhealthy, it will not work. To attract the healthy, young insured, there must be an individual mandate, that is, a requirement that every adult American purchase health insurance.
By Michael Critelli | August 17, 2009; 04:21 PM ET | Comments (1)
End-Of-Life Preferences Are Key
A courageous part of the legislation attempts to get everyone to document end-of-life preferences. We spend a lot on keeping people alive while they are in extreme pain and discomfort with no hope of recovery, or while they are in comas, without knowing what they would have wanted.
By Michael Critelli | August 10, 2009; 10:55 PM ET | Comments (1)
A Public Plan Is a Bad Idea
I cannot imagine that any public health plan operated under the same rules as a private insurance plan could be competitive.
By Michael Critelli | August 4, 2009; 12:42 AM ET | Comments (6)
The Upside of Recess
The President has demonstrated finely tuned political instincts on other issues. The recess will give him to time to rethink his approach on this vital issue, and should increase the chances of legislation passing.
By Michael Critelli | July 28, 2009; 09:49 AM ET | Comments (0)
Waiting for the Roof to Leak
If someone is very obese and is at risk of getting diabetes, a doctor cannot be reimbursed for helping them lose weight in the Medicare system -- the patient must be diagnosed with a disease first. That's like saying that we wait until the roof leaks and ruins our living room furniture before we repair a hole in the roof.
By Michael Critelli | July 20, 2009; 11:10 PM ET | Comments (0)
Tax Unhealthy Behaviors Instead
As an upper-income American, I would want to know whether what I pay is being well-spent. If it is for health-care reform, I would want to know whether it is good reform or just an overly ambitious and misguided public plan.
By Michael Critelli | July 13, 2009; 03:46 PM ET | Comments (1)
Why I Favor Individual Mandates
Individuals who have and pay for health insurance, even in a nominal amount, feel a greater stake in taking care of their health and in the quality of the health care they receive.
By Michael Critelli | July 7, 2009; 03:04 PM ET | Comments (1)
Great Employer Health Plans Work
Many self-insured employers have great prevention, health-care delivery and health insurance plan design. Rather than treating these employer programs as interesting exceptions, we should figure out how to increase their reach and reduce regulations covering them.
By Michael Critelli | June 30, 2009; 08:43 AM ET | Comments (0)
The Missing Pieces
President Obama zeroed in most of the right issues and made a number of common-sense suggestions on health-care transformation. However, there were some missing pieces to the picture that need to be filled in.
By Michael Critelli | June 15, 2009; 10:12 PM ET | Comments (0)
It's About Health
Although elected officials focus most on making sure that all Americans have affordable health insurance and care, President Obama was right that, if we do not control overall health care costs, our economy will collapse. To control costs, Congress' number...
By Michael Critelli | June 5, 2009; 06:46 PM ET | Comments (1)
