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 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 Communism/Socialism, bioehtics, health care, insurance, medicare, politics, psychology, research discussion, wealth, tagged capitalism, coverage, Democrats, doctors, George Stephanopoulos, government, health care, health insurance, HealthPopuli Blog, Hillary Clinton, insurance, Jane Sarasohn-Kahn, John McCain, Kevin Sack, mandate, medical care, medicare, NEJM, New England Journal of Medicine, New York Times, pandering, patients, physicians, political correctness, president, presidential, Republicans, Robert Laszewski, Socialism, tax system, The Health Care Blog, universal coverage on February 16, 2008 | 7 Comments »
John McCain (re: health care in the USA):
“For all the grandiose promises made in this campaign, has any candidate spoken honestly to the American people about the government’s role and failings about individual responsibilities? Has any candidate told the truth about the future of Medicare? Its costs are growing astronomically faster than its financing, and [...]
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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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Posted in Communism/Socialism, health care, insurance, markets, medicare, misinformation/propaganda, politics, psychology, wealth, tagged adaptation, bigot, bigotry, blog, conservative, creed, Democrat, doctor, England, Freakonomics, free market, gender, government, health care, hospital, insurance, judgment, liberal, Medicaid, medicare, Michael Moore, race, religion, Republican, Sicko, Socialism, socialized, Stephen Dubner, UK, United Kingdom, Wall Street on January 12, 2008 | 4 Comments »
When we make snap judgments based on race, creed, religion, or gender, we are bigots. When a Wall Street trader makes a snap judgment, he can either make or lose a lot of money. The latter probably more closely resembles the original reason for the adaptation. Long ago in our development, making judgments that [...]
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Posted in Communism/Socialism, bioehtics, entrepreneurialism, health care, law, markets, medicare, politics, research discussion, wealth, tagged doctor, hospital, nurse, consumer, government, medicare, physician, congress, public, medical, competition, patient, innovation, health care, wealth, American, economics, contraception, orthopedic, Harvard, budget, cardiology, family doctor, BBC, Top Gear, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May, Mercedes, Benz, S-Class, sedan, privilege, African, automotive, cruise control, infrared camera, night vision, rural, seatbelt, anti-lock brakes, electronic stability control, ESC, satnav, mainstream, laboratory, safety, marketplace, metaphor, specialty hospital, internist, general practitioner, frontier, status-quo, research, study, prototype, Ashok Roy, Heritage Foundation, moratorium, unfair competition, Regina Herzlinger, MedPAC, HHS, mortality, costs, lobbyist, death sentence on December 26, 2007 | 1 Comment »
There’s a really cool show on BBC America called “Top Gear.” It’s a witty, irreverent, brutally honest car show hosted by three dry-witted Brits: Jeremy Clarkson (blog here), Richard Hammond, and James May. Last season they road tested the new Mercedes S-Class (video clip). The S-Class is the big, expensive standard example [...]
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Posted in Communism/Socialism, health care, insurance, law, markets, medicare, politics, research discussion, wealth, tagged health, doctor, hospital, nurse, government, medicare, physician, medicine, blog, market, health care, Socialism, economist, Freakonomics, GDP, compensation, primary care, specialist, socialized medicine, incentive, medical care, crisis, American Medical Association, AMA, Harvard, budget, post, PCP, primary care physician, interists, internal medicine, developed countries, med school, resident, family medicine, student, intern, RBRVS, William Hsiao, formula, preventative care, RUC on December 22, 2007 | 6 Comments »
A recent Health Care Blog Post explains the looming crisis in primary care. Some background: great health care systems are anchored by primary care physicians (PCPs), the generalist doctor whom your family depends upon for standard medical care. The PCP must have a workable basic knowledge of nearly all medical specialties and be able to [...]
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