Managed Care - October 2008 - (Page 1) EDITOR’S MEMO Care Editor M A N A G E D Health Care Reform Means More Oversight By John Marcille umor has it that there’s a presidential election going on. You wouldn’t know that, would you, if not for the constant, shrill, obsessive calls for change by both major parties 24 hours a day. Part of me doesn’t understand the fuss. Change is indeed coming, if for no other reason than that we live in a malleable world powered by evolution’s twin pistons of decay and rebirth. Don’t want change? You’re in the wrong universe, bub. Our cover story by Contributing Editor John Carroll on page 14 looks at what to expect under a President Obama or a President McCain in the next four years. Surprise! Expect more regulation. Expect more oversight. Expect (dang it!) change. John’s story notes that those demanding health care reform predict that this election “offers an unprecedented opportunity to move from the generic change they all call for to a specific, nonpartisan agenda that can gain swift legislative approval.” The idea is that there ought to be plenty of areas where most of the stakeholders can agree to improve things, even if, as so often happens, no consensus is reached on a transcendent restructuring of the whole system. As I write this at the end of September, I’m astonished and depressed by the failure of Congress to act decisively to deal with the economic crisis. We may have had more crisis than we can digest, and it would not surprise me if no major health care reform were enacted. As I’ve noted before, any effective reform would also hurt a lot of companies, and Washington is nothing if not hospitable to lobbyists, who long ago replaced journalists as the fourth estate. And if no meaningful reform is enacted? A study by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions says that the number of U.S. citizens who will travel abroad to get health care on the cheap, while relatively low now, is likely to increase eightfold by 2010 — just in time for the next congressional elections. MC JOHN MARCILLE Managing Editor FRANK DIAMOND Associate Editor R TONY BERBERABE Consulting Editor MICHAEL DALZELL Senior Contributing Editor MARGARETANN CROSS Contributing Editors LOLA BUTCHER JOHN CARROLL MAUREEN GLABMAN MARTIN SIPKOFF Design Director PHILIP DENLINGER President and Group Publisher TIMOTHY P. SEARCH, RPH President and Group Publisher TIMOTHY J. STEZZI Eastern Sales Manager SCOTT MACDONALD Senior Account Manager KENNETH D. WATKINS, III Director of Production Services CONTACT E-MAIL ADDRESSES: Editors: editors_mail@managedcaremag.com Circulation: managedcare@icnfull.com Advertising: advertising_info@managedcaremag.com Reprints: reprints_request@managedcaremag.com WANETA PEART Circulation Manager JACQUELYN OTT Clinical judgment must guide each clinician in weighing the benefits of treatment against the risk of toxicity. Dosages, indications, and methods of use for products referred to in this publication may reflect the professional literature or other clinical sources, or may reflect the clinical experience of the authors, and might not be the same as what is on the approved package insert. Please consult the complete prescribing information for any products mentioned in this publication. MediMedia USA Inc. assumes no liability for the information published herein. MANAGED CARE (ISSN 1062-3388) is published monthly by MediMedia USA, Inc. at 780 Township Line Road, Yardley, PA 19067. This is Volume 17, Issue 10. Phone: (267) 685-2788; fax (267) 685-2966. Send letters to the editor to Frank Diamond, MANAGED CARE, 780 Township Line Road, Yardley, PA 19067. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. Copyright 2008 by MediMedia USA, Inc. All rights reserved under the United States, International, and Pan-American copyright conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, photocopying, electronic, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of MediMedia USA Inc. The copyright law of the United States governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Subscriptions for individuals or institutions in the U.S.A. are $100 per year, $10 per single copy; elsewhere, $120 per year, $22 per single copy. Inquiries about paid subscriptions: Lisa Gardineer, telephone (267) 685-2789; e-mail: lgardineer@medimedia.com-. Postmaster: Send address changes to MANAGED CARE, PO Box 2019, Langhorne, PA 19067. Periodicals postage paid at Morrisville, PA, and at additional mailing offices. Major articles are reviewed by appropriate members of the editorial advisory board and/or other qualified experts. Opinions are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the institutions that employ the authors, nor of the publisher, editor, or editorial advisory board of MANAGED CARE. OCTOBER 2008 / MANAGED CARE 1
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