The Hollywood Liberal

Experiment to lower Medicare costs did not save much money

A key government experiment that set out to lower costs and coordinate care for Medicare patients — now the blueprint for an innovation the Obama administration is trying to move to a national scale — has failed to save a substantial amount of money.

The five-year test enlisted 10 leading health systems around the country and offered financial bonuses if they could save enough by treating older patients more efficiently while providing high-quality care.

In 2010, the final year, just four of the 10 sites, all long-established groups run by doctors, slowed their Medicare spending enough to qualify for a bonus, according to an official evaluation not yet made public. Two sites saved enough to get bonuses in all five years, the evaluation shows, but three did not succeed even once.

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ACLU challenges drug tests of Fla. workers

The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida is suing Florida Gov. Rick Scott over ordering drug testing for all state employees, regardless of suspicion. (June 1)

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Government Against Blacks
John Stossel, FOX Business
The other day, I went to Times Square to ask people what government should do to help poor people. Most everyone agreed on the answer: “more social programs and a higher minimum wage.”It's intuitive to think that way. I used to think that, too. When President Johnson declared a “war on poverty,” he said “compassionate government” was the road to prosperity for poor people. That made sense to me. At Princeton, I was taught that government's central planners had the solution to poverty.But then I watched them work. Government spent trillions of dollars on…

A Skeptic Drop-Kicks the “Science”

The Auto Rescue Was Right Choice
Timothy Geithner, Washington Post
On June 1, 2009, General Motors filed for bankruptcy, backed by $30 billion in support from the federal government. The same day, in the same New York courthouse, a judge approved Chrysler's plan to forge an alliance with Fiat and emerge from bankruptcy as a restructured business with an uncertain future.Two years later, all three American automakers have returned to profitability, the industry has added new shifts and 115,000 jobs, and GM and Chrysler have returned more than 50 percent of the government's investment. The industry is mounting one of the most improbable …

Feds, Edwards Argue Over Campaign Laws