Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
AARP releases its Guide to Health Reform. How is the Health Reform paid for? The world’s first euthanasia clinic. Golden rule of organ donation. Will Obamacare end health insurance as we know it? Who is Jon Gruber? The $1200 basic blood test.
The latest edition of the health wonk review is up at David Williams’ Health Business Blog. It focuses on the Supreme Court’s deliberations on the Affordable Care Act.
Government spending on wasteful projects is legendary. There is the Bridge to Nowhere, Star Wars, and many more. In Medicare, the government also has a reputation of overpaying for durable medical equipment. For instance, critics claim that Medicare is both paying too high a price for motorized wheelchairs and buying wheelchairs for people who do not…
Today, the Supreme Court is deciding whether to let many of the provisions of the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. ACA, a.k.a. Health Reform, a.k.a. Obamacare) stand. One of the key provisions is the individual mandate. The individual mandate requires all individuals to purchase health insurance. If you don’t buy health insurance, you must pay a…
On the verge of the Supreme Court’s momentous decision regarding health care care reform, it is important to take a minute to examine what most Americans think. A recent poll finds mostly what we already knew: people like their health insurance, but don’t like ObamaCare. Surprisingly, most people (65%) favor changing Medicare to a voucher-based…
Financial incentives matter. If one had to give economists (and health economists as well) a slogan, this would be it. In 2006, the Netherlands instituted a form of managed competition. According to Van Dijk et al (2012) “Before 2006, inhabitants had either compulsory social (sickness fund, 62%) or voluntarily private (36%) health insurance depending, among others, on income (below a gross…
eRx decreases errors by 60 percent. CBO: ACA effect on employer-provided insurance. Effectiveness of Pap Smear screening: U.S. vs. Netherlands. Gingrich to States: Resist implementing health insurance exchanges. Disease mongering.
Medicare is a widely popular program. Most American support increasing taxes rather than making cuts to Medicare spending. Americans prioritize spending on only Social Security and education more than Medicare. Then there is the famous “Keep Your Goddamn Government Hands Off My Medicare!” statement. Medicaid is Medicare’s ugly step-sister. Whereas Medicare beneficiaries qualify primarily due…
In March tens of millions of Americans engage in risky behavior; 60 million people fill out NCAA tournament brackets and over $12 billion are wagered on the NCAA tournament each year. This year, two of my hometown teams (Wisconsin and Marquette) have made it to the Sweet 16 and with one more win they will reach the…
Prior authorization is a common tool that managed care organizations use to reduce patient utilization of medical services. Some physicians believe that prior authorization creates barriers to effective care, but other commentators believe that prior authorizations can be implemented in a more efficient manner. Either way, prior authorizations are a form of rationing care. Although…