Other, general social insurance

Increased use of comparative effectiveness research in funding decisions for Medicare and Medicaid programs will ensure technologic advancements demonstrate cost containment strategies and improved quality of health care services when new medical innovation is proposed for use in the United States’ health care system, thereby reducing overall health care expenditures.

If “market economy” isn’t the first thing that springs to your mind when thinking about social insurance, you are forgiven. Honestly, before attending the 2012 NASI annual conference, Social Insurance in a Market Economy: Obstacles and Opportunities, I was in your shoes. Having spent the last eighteen months deeply immersed in my masters of public health curriculum, I viewed social insurance as a set of policies rooted in the public sector. And while the focus on government and public policy isn’t misplaced, I was missing the broader picture of the impact of social insurance on society. Fortunately, the diverse set of presenters, policy experts, and researchers, at the 2012 NASI conference corrected my lopsided view.

This Thanksgiving, more than 24.0 million Americans, will undoubtedly be thankful for three critical social insurance programs that helped keep them out of poverty in 2010: Social Security, unemployment insurance and workers' compensation.

Since our State has never allowed Compromise and Release in Worker's Comp. I am curious if their are any studies on the impact of C&R on Worker's Comp. This will be a issue of importance in our upcoming legislative session.

You might have heard about AmericaSpeaks: Our Budget, Our Economy, a national non-partisan conversation on June 26, 2010 on the federal budget. Thousands of people will weigh the options available, including options that affect our national social insurance programs, and will voice their priorities in 19 facilitated discussions in cities that are linked from location to location by satellite and webcast.