P4P for Maryland Hospitals

Maryland is a unique state for Hospitals. Since 1977, Maryland’s Health Services Cost Review Commission sets payment rates for all hospitals regardless of the payer. This approach is only feasible because Maryland receives a federal waiver that exempts its hospitals from national Medicare and state Medicaid fee schedules. Just as Medicare has begun implementing its…

“Child Pornography is Great!”

What is it great for?  Censorship.  A book called The Pirate Organization quotes  a spokesperson for an intellectual property lobby in Denmark: Child pornography is great! It is great because politicians understand child pornography. By playing that card, we can get them to act, and start blocking sites. And once they have done that we can…

Healthcare Outsourcing in the UK

Many liberals laud Europe’s government-run health care sectors as a model to emulate.  In particular, Great Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) often is seen as the ideal single payer system.  In reality, however, the British government itself does not supply all services. A study from the Public Services International Research Unit (PSIRU) describes the gradual…

Avoid Christmas Health Hazards

The BBC gives 10 tips to stay healthy over the Christmas holiday.  Five tips in particular to  pay attention to include: Do not wash your turkey before cooking. Inspect your Christmas tree lights Monitor tea lights to prevent fires Drive safely to your Christmas parties Watch the kids.  Makes sure they do not swallow tree…