Posted in Communism/Socialism, bioehtics, health care, insurance, law, markets, politics, research discussion, wealth, tagged doctor, hospital, legislation, politics, economics, New York Times, Medicaid, universal health care, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, primary care physician, Boston, health insurance, Katherine Atkinson, medical school, Patricia Sereno, American Academy of Family Physicians on April 10, 2008 | 3 Comments »
Actually, my title is a bit misleading. Not everyone has coverage…many people have not complied with the new law mandating coverage, and simply pay the fines. So the state still has many uninsured people, and now it has a rising shortage of primary care physicians.
Those of us who have taken a basic economics course saw [...]
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Posted in Communism/Socialism, bioehtics, corporate practices, entrepreneurialism, health care, insurance, law, markets, medicare, misinformation/propaganda, politics, psychology, research discussion, wealth, tagged Africa, atomic bomb, ban, bankrupcy, black market, Britain, Canada, capitalism, China, Communism, congress, CT scan, diabetes, doctors, Dubai, England, entreprenuer, excise tax, food pyramid, GDP, health care, Health Maintenance Organization, HMO, HR 676, human rights, immigration, income tax, India, Israel, Japan, John Conyers, malpractice, Marxism, medicare, Mexico, Michael Moore, peso, physicians, primary care, Russia, Sicko, single-payer, Socialism, Stalin, Stalinism, U.S. Treasury, United Kingdom, United States National Health Insurance Act, universal health care, USNHI on April 3, 2008 | 6 Comments »
On January 27, 2008, U.S. Representative John Conyers Jr. (D-MI) introduced a new version of a previously unsuccessful bill before Congress that would turn America’s health care system into a socialized, not-for-profit, singer-payer system. Previous iterations of the bill had few co-sponsors (25 in 2003), and the current version (H.R. 676), has gained a modicum [...]
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Posted in bioehtics, health care, insurance, markets, medicare, research discussion, wealth, tagged doctor, hospital, government, medicare, bloomberg, patient, health care, Saudi Arabia, medical care, globalization, Aetna, price transparency, Medical Tourism, Thomas Black, insurance companies, Health Net, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Yosef Woodman, Patients Beyond Borders, Mexico, Singapore, Turkey, Brazil, medical malpractice, blood transfusion, Angioplasty on March 26, 2008 | 7 Comments »
Medical Tourism isn’t like regular tourism. It’s a euphemism for traveling to a foreign country for more affordable medical care. And with skyrocketing health care costs in the United States, it’s becoming a reality. Thomas Black of Bloomberg News writes that insurance companies are now offering plans that include procedures in foreign countries, in exchange [...]
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Posted in employee benefits, health care, insurance, markets, psychology, research discussion, tagged America, Brian Klepper, Case Shiller Home Prices Indices, consumer driven health care, consumerism, doctor, Doctorpricing.com, double entendre, drugs.com, economics, economy, ego, HDHP, health care, healthcar, hospital, hsa, nurse, physician, prosperity, Richmond, S&P, SMA Informatics, The Doctor Weighs In, Warren Brennan, webmd.com on March 23, 2008 | 4 Comments »
People like to scoff at the idea of blending health care with shopping. Uttering the very words “consumer driven health care” sends shivers down the spines of “purists” - your local medical specialist, whose life-saving work necessitates the confidence and ego driving the indignancy of the thought. Does consumerism cheapen health care? Well, yes…if you [...]
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Posted in health care, insurance, markets, politics, tagged Barack Obama, cnn, cnn.com, consumer driven health care, Doctorpricing.com, economics, Fortune Magazine, free market, health care, health insurance, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, medical care, political viability, politics, presidential election, Shawn Tully on March 16, 2008 | 5 Comments »
Shawn Tully, editor-at-large of Fortune Magazine, wrote a fantastic summary of each of the presidential hopefuls’ health care plans on CNN Money. He reaches the same conclusions I have have as of late on this blog - we must get health care costs under control.
I haven’t spent a lot of time on the candidates’ plans [...]
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Posted in Communism/Socialism, health care, insurance, markets, medicare, politics, research discussion, tagged government, medicare, health care, economy, income tax, New York Times, transparency, Medicaid, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, medical care, preventative care, free market, Greece, Doctorpricing.com, Robert Pear, federal, Iraq War, defense spending, peace dividend, Soviet Union, Cold War, Congressional Budget Office, black hole on March 9, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Robert Pear’s New York Times article about Hillary Clinton’s and Barack Obama’s health care plans has an alarming statistic. Medicare and Medicaid, our two government-funded health programs, cost our country $627 billion last year - or 23% of all federal spending. Many people like to criticize the Iraq War for its cost - proclaiming that [...]
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Posted in Communism/Socialism, bioehtics, health care, insurance, kidney transplant, law, markets, psychology, research discussion, wealth, tagged Alan Johnson, Avastin, breast cancer, cancer, capitalism, Debbie Hirst, Dialysis, Doctors for Reform, England, ethos, government, Great Britain, health care, healthcare, hearing aid, hemodialysis, justice, kidney transplant, liberal, Liberalism, MRI, N.H.S., National Health Service, New York Times, oncologist, oncology, orthopedic surgeon, pancreatic cancer, Parliament, Paul Charlson, pension, philosophical, philosophy, politics, principles, Sarah Lyall, selling your kidney, Socialism, socialized, Tarceva, taxes, UK, United Kingdom, Yorkshire on March 1, 2008 | 3 Comments »
A reader of mine left an interesting comment on my post about selling your kidney. Here is an excerpt:
“I am waiting for a kidney and have been dialysising for 2 [and a] half years on hemodialysis and 5 years on capd - a gentler type of dialysis… I am…using up resources and cos[t]ing a lot [...]
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Posted in Communism/Socialism, bioehtics, health care, insurance, markets, medicare, misinformation/propaganda, politics, psychology, research discussion, wealth, tagged doctor, consumer, government, medicare, cancer, patient, health care, economics, philosophy, chronic disease, treatment, medical care, heart disease, preventative care, bureaucrat, liberal, conservative, Doctorpricing.com, incentives, Ezra Klein, The American Prospect, Peter Suderman, Doublethink, Andrew Sullivan, The Daily Dish, Healthcare Economist, Jason Shafrin, United States of America, libertarian, heart attack, chemotherapy, trauma, coronary artery bypass, price transparency, life and death, moral agency, Kant, freedom on February 20, 2008 | 9 Comments »
Journalists Ezra Klein and Peter Suderman debate the government’s role in the future of U.S. Health Care (thank you Healthcare Economist). Whose argument carries more weight?
Klein’s main argument is decidedly anti-libertarian, which makes perfect sense because I don’t think he is a Libertarian. Klein’s conclusion is that it will take substantial government resources, research and [...]
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Posted in bioehtics, health care, insurance, markets, misinformation/propaganda, psychology, research discussion, tagged doctor, insurance, physician, medical, cigarettes, medicine, blog, health care, obesity, America, American, economy, economist, Freakonomics, Steven Levitt, markets, fat, Stephen Dubner, McKinsey, Eric Finkelstein, The Fattening of America, incentives, innovations, calories, BMI, Body Mass Index, Pharmaceuticals, blood pressure, hypertension, lipid, Amish, Maslow, smokers, second-hand smoke on February 9, 2008 | 10 Comments »
I frequently make a big deal about obesity - how it’s probably one of the primary reasons Americans have comparatively low life expectancies, and how it contributes largely (no-pun intended) to our skyrocketing health care costs. My generalizations are imprecise at best…just plain wrong at worst.
Check out this Q and A with health economist Eric [...]
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Posted in entrepreneurialism, health care, insurance, markets, research discussion, wealth, tagged A/R, accounts receivable, billing, bills, bounty hunting, cash network, Cheryl Hall, clinic, collections, Dallas Morning News, doctor, Doctorpricing.com, emergency room, financial, health care, Health Savings Account, hospital, hsa, insurance, John R. Thomas, McKinsey, medicine, MedSynergies, metaphor, military, patients, payer, physician, provider, third-world, uninsured, University of Texas, wealth on February 4, 2008 | 4 Comments »
A solution for America’s uninsured always seems financially unsustainable. Sure, other countries have it, but they don’t have 300 million people, vast disparities in household incomes and general wealth, a third-world country next-door neighbor with a broken fence latch, and a military.
Well, thanks to the embarassing inefficiencies present in our current health care system, the [...]
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