Benefits are an important reason that employees value jobs, and Duke University’s tuition benefit for the children of employees is an example of one that makes Duke an attractive place to work. Interestingly, my experience is that outsiders greatly over-estimate the value of the benefit, as do many employees with young children. To whit, I […]
Don Taylor
Don Taylor is an associate professor of public policy at Duke University, where his teaching and research focuses on health policy.
Posted inPolitics
Federal Flood Insurance
Word today that President Obama has indicated his support for a Senate bill to reform and extend the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Here is WSJ coverage of the proposed changes, which would reduce subsidy for second homes, commercial property, and homes with a history of flooding, reducing the cost of the program by $4.7 […]
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Making the Case for Universal Coverage
I was doing a bit of prep this week for my Fall 2012 class, Intro to the U.S. Health Care System. I have taught it many times, and I am trying to decide how to put what has happened the past three years into perspective for 19 year olds (with a big shoe left to […]
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What Flip Flops on the Individual Mandate Mean for Democrats and Republicans
Governor Mitt Romney is just four years too late. If he had beaten Senator McCain for the 2008 Republican nomination, the individual mandate would have been front and center in his campaign; a ‘make the trains run on time’ corporatist approach to pooling health insurance risk that could save the country from the wild-eyed liberal […]
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Congressional Budget Office Report on Cigarette Taxes
CBO has a new report “Raising the Excise Tax on Cigarettes: Effects on Health and the Federal Budget.” The study cites some of the work I have done with colleagues, namely our AJPH paper The Effect of Smoking Cessation for Longevity (2002) and The Price of Smoking (2004). capstone post (with links) for a 4 […]
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Young Adults and Health Insurance
Sarah Kliff highlights a study from Commonwealth that finds 2 in 5 young adults (age 18-29) reported a cost-related barrier to receiving health care in the past year. Her main point is that the so-called “young invincibles” are apparently not as invincible as they think. Tangentially related is United Health Care’s announcement recently that the […]
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Food Trucks As a Model to Reduce Non-Emergent ER Care Use
Bill Gardner has a nice post on the use of Emergency Rooms (ER) for non-emergent care. Such use clogs the ER and is an expensive way to deliver basic care. However, many poor persons have no viable alternative. This is an old problem, and providing everyone with health insurance will not fix it. We need […]
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The Jobs Report: What Should We Do?
My first post of 2012 said the top public policy priority for 2012 was to: …enact policies that encourage economic growth now, while moving toward a sustainable budget over the long run. This main policy need is unchanged from 2011, and we didn’t manage to do either very well. This is still true. The jobs […]
