The media and the fate of the Medicare Catastrophic Extension Act

Article Abstract:

The news media's influence on public opinion and Congress helped to get the Medicare Catastrophic Extension Act of 1988 enacted and then repealed in 1989. The media served to mobilize the affluent elderly against the bill and showed the success of James Roosevelt's National Committee to Preserve Social Security in marshaling opposition. Moreover, trends in public opinion on the bill could be predicted based on analysis of the media's reporting. The media's coverage can be used to gauge the persuasiveness of direct mailing and other opinion-swaying tactics.

Laws, regulations and rules, United States. Congress, Media coverage, Medical policy, Health policy, Insurance, Catastrophic illness, Medicare

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Reordering priorities, not Medicare

Article Abstract:

Questionable social spending in the US goes far beyond the subsidizing of affluent Medicare enrollees by their low-income counterparts demonstrated by Sandra Christensen. US social programs abound with senseless favoritism for the well-to-do such as tax exclusions to help high-income wage earners obtain employer-based private health insurance. The nation's lack of spending to improve conditions for poor children and their families is especially damaging. Social policy in general rather than Medicare alone needs new priorities.

Social aspects, Evaluation, Government spending policy, Poor children

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Regulatory rent-seekers in the media, bar, and bureaucracy

Article Abstract:

Representing consumers as helpless victims works to the advantage of lawyers, bureaucrats and the media. Typically, a public interest group identifies some problem, which then becomes exaggerated by the media. Government regulation is followed by a large class action suit that generates fluid recoveries that return to the original public interest group. This form of rent-seeking is especially profitable for lawyers. Examples include litigation over asbestos, breast implants and tobacco.

United States, Class actions (Civil procedure), Class action lawsuits, Political aspects, Economic rent

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