John Leppard

Bio

John Leppard is a healthcare analyst in Washington, DC, with a Masters degree focusing on health systems management and health policy analysis. His work has appeared in peer-reviewed journals, and he has a B.A. in Public Policy and Political Science. He has worked on health policy issues with the White House, think tanks, policy consultants, investment analysts, and Congress.
Obama Wins Second Term: The Only Thing That is Certain Now is More Uncertainty
By John Leppard
With Ohio going for President Obama, his second term at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is secure.  However, in the run-up to this moment, for which we have all been waiting these past many months, a more thorough discussion of what happens next has been…
Ohio Election Results LIVE: Obama and Romney Battle for the Most Important Swing State
By John Leppard
Both the electoral math and Mitt Romney's Election Day travel schedule tell you all you need to know: It all comes down to Ohio. More specifically, however, the election will come down to which campaign's polling assumptions carry the day, and both…
Paul Ryan Medicare Plan Is Not Really That Radical
By John Leppard
Almost as soon as Mitt Romney announced that Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) would be his running mate for this fall’s election, the ads started. Unsurprisingly, the Democratic line of attack has focused on the Wyden-Ryan plan for reforming Medicare, so named…
Why Expanding Health Coverage Will Not Necessarily Help the Poor in America
By John Leppard
Since the Supreme Court’s ruling on the constitutionality of the 2010 health reform law, much has been made over the implications for the requirement that states expand their Medicaid rolls up to 138% of the federal poverty level (FPL).   The…
Is Health Care Unconstitutional? Everything You Need to Know to Understand the Obama v. SCOTUS Fight
By John Leppard
In response to the tougher than anticipated questioning posed by the Supreme Court justices in last week’s oral arguments over the constitutionality of the 2010 health reform law’s individual mandate, many on the left are now urging the Court to…
Government Provides the Wrong Prescription for Drug Shortages
By John Leppard
Recent shortages of high profile drugs have brought this issue back into the news, and with it the predictable efforts of well-intentioned lawmakers to do something about it. Unfortunately, the ideas being proposed by these policy makers fail both…
New Gov't Health Board Hinders Long-Term Health Care
By John Leppard
A series of hearings were concluded on Thursday in which Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was called to defend the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) created by last year’s health care reform legislation. The board, which…
Health Care as a Right Opens Pandora's Box
By John Leppard
Intrinsically, we would all like to say that every human being has a right to health care. With that, however, follows certain dilemmas and, in fact, deeming it as a right distracts us from the goal of expanding access to quality care. A right is…
American Medical Group Association Rejects Centerpiece of Obama's Health Care Plan
By John Leppard
It’s been a rough week for what is more or less the structural cornerstone of President Barack Obama’s vision for a new healthcare system, the Accountable Care Organization (ACO). The first bit of news was the startup costs associated with creating…