Trudy Lieberman : Author Archive : CJR

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Articles by Trudy Lieberman | Email the Author

Campaign Desk

Medicare and the $500 billion bogeyman
May 21, 2012 06:50 AM
Republicans and their allies are dusting off an old $500 billion deception about Medicare, trying once more to scare seniors into voting their way. The logic on this one turns truth on its head, but some in the media have... Continue reading
Campaign Desk

Health costs: Is Mass. the only model?
May 15, 2012 03:19 PM
We all know Obamacare is Romneycare and Romneycare is Obamacare and that the Bay State has set the standard for everything health reform—from the individual mandate right down to ways to cut its gigantic medical bill. Or at least the... Continue reading
Campaign Desk

How an anti-tax HIT squad employs the press
May 10, 2012 11:42 AM
The small-business community has revved up its campaign to repeal a tax on insurance companies intended to help finance subsidies for the uninsured, a part of President Obama’s healthcare reform that would take effect in 2014. Congress... Continue reading
Campaign Desk

Healthcare: Do Americans get too much—or too little?
May 7, 2012 11:00 AM
We’ve become accustomed of late to stories telling us we get too much healthcare. We get too much of the Three Ts—treatments, tests, and technology—which has become the dominant narrative in the ongoing tale of US healthcare spending. So it’s... Continue reading
Campaign Desk

Memo to Kevin Drum
May 3, 2012 04:55 PM
Dear Kevin: I have not written to you before, but I do know your work from the health reform debate. Since your comments about my recent CJR post have made it to the thousands who devour words on <a... Continue reading
Campaign Desk

Memo to Joe Nocera
April 30, 2012 02:01 PM
Dear Joe: I have written to you before. The subject was Medicare, and how tricky it is to cover it. This time I want to say I really liked your column in Friday’s New York Times. You see,... Continue reading
Campaign Desk

Report Card on Social Security Trust Fund Coverage
April 27, 2012 02:17 PM
This week, Social Security trustees issued their annual report on the program’s financial health. The news was expected: Social Security will be able to pay full benefits to Americans currently receiving benefits and those new to the system for the... Continue reading
Campaign Desk

How the Media Has Shaped the Social Security Debate
April 18, 2012 11:55 AM
Shortly after the 2010 midterm elections, Washington Post budget correspondent Lori Montgomery reported that, while a debate raged around major budgetary changes and the wisdom of cutting Social Security, a “surprisingly broad consensus is forming around the actions required... Continue reading
Campaign Desk

EXTRA Unpacks the Media’s Medicare Coverage
April 17, 2012 04:09 PM
I don’t know Amy Poe, a writer and Medicare consumer based in Little Rock, Arkansas. But I like a piece she wrote for EXTRA, a monthly magazine of commentary and criticism of the press. I suspect most Beltway... Continue reading
Campaign Desk

The War of the Dentists and their Competitors
April 13, 2012 06:15 AM
Every once in a while an interesting, well-done piece from public radio comes along that makes you think. This week came a story about a new war in the Great Plains region. You might call it The War... Continue reading
Campaign Desk

WellPoint Raises Rates Again
April 6, 2012 12:24 PM
Anthem Blue Cross—a subsidiary of WellPoint, the country’s second largest insurer—and its 39 percent rate increase in California became somewhat famous early in 2010 as the health reform law stumbled to the finish line. Democratic politicians used the new rate... Continue reading
Campaign Desk

The Case of the Disappearing Benefits Statements
April 2, 2012 11:46 AM
Los Angeles Times columnist Michael Hiltzik deserves a shout-out for his strong piece on how the government is keeping Americans in the dark about their Social Security benefits. Hiltzik, who has been chronicling the politics of Social Security... Continue reading
Campaign Desk

Health Reform and the Supreme Court: Day Three
March 29, 2012 03:06 PM
As the Supreme Court ended oral arguments on the Affordable Care Act, addressing whether the law can stand alone without the individual mandate, the press coverage was dominated by speculation. Justices speculated about the questions put before them, and the... Continue reading
Campaign Desk

Health Reform and the Supreme Court: Day Two
March 28, 2012 01:40 PM
There was one near-universal takeaway from Day Two of oral arguments before the Supreme Court: The requirement that almost all Americans carry insurance, the central point of the Affordable Care Act, may be in trouble. Dire-sounding headlines featuring phrases like... Continue reading
Campaign Desk

Health Reform and the Supreme Court: Day One
March 27, 2012 02:29 PM
Press coverage of the Affordable Care Act’s debut before the Supreme Court yesterday offered a little bit of everything. The reportage generally sorted itself into categories: The politics. Not surprisingly, the political take dominated. The AP, whose coverage reaches... Continue reading
Campaign Desk

Mitt and the Mandate
March 26, 2012 06:14 PM
No matter what decision comes from the Supreme Court, which began hearing arguments Monday on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act health reform’s individual mandate, the individual mandate will continue to be a major flashpoint in the upcoming election... Continue reading
Campaign Desk

Birthday Coverage for the Affordable Care Act
March 22, 2012 04:16 PM
The health reform law celebrates its two-year anniversary tomorrow. There are myriad ways to report on the Affordable Care Act and its sure-to-be-tumultuous future. Two stories showed up this week that illustrate two sides of health reform. The AP, which... Continue reading
Campaign Desk

Nine Lives of a Disputed Fact
March 16, 2012 03:45 PM
The other day, Politico published an opinion piece arguing that Americans should be “extremely anxious about the outcome” of the Supreme Court’s decision on the health reform law. The op-ed, by Scott Atlas, the chief of neuroradiology at... Continue reading
Campaign Desk

Is Buying Health Insurance Like Shopping on Amazon?
March 13, 2012 01:12 PM
On Monday, the AP reported that, as part of its health reform efforts, the federal government would require states to establish online shopping services that would ostensibly make it easier for consumers to research and purchase health insurance. The AP... Continue reading
Campaign Desk

Should Health Journos Use Hospital Safety Data?
March 12, 2012 11:37 AM
In a highly touted effort to improve the quality of hospital care, the federal government has started disclosing data that ostensibly reveals which hospitals are best (and worst) at keeping their patients safe. But a few weeks ago, Kaiser Health... Continue reading

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