Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
Marketplace Money reports that a PwC study finds that Obamacare plans are actually lower cost than comparable plans outside the Health Insurance Exchanges. “That’s one of the misperceptions out there. That somehow they are barebones or you are not really getting adequate medical insurance,” she says. Connolly says even when you factor in all the…
Brad Wright has posted Health Wonk Review: The New Wright on Health Edition. Check it out! .
As is an annual tradition, below is the Healthcare Economist’s blow-by-blow commentary of all healthcare-related statements made by the President in his State of the Union address. Michelle’s Let’s Move partnership with schools, businesses, and local leaders has helped bring down childhood obesity rates for the first time in thirty years – an achievement that…
From Wonk Blog: There is a positive trend in life expectancy in the U.S. America’s relative ranking on life expectancy, however, is not among the lowest in the developed world.
In many countries with universal public health insurance, the government also provides subsidies for private insurance. Examples of this practice include Australia, Spain and the United Kingdom. Why do they do this? Is it a good idea? There are arguments on both sides. Public subsidies are good. Public subsidies for private insurance can stimulate the…
Both the stimulus bill (i.e., The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 [ARRA]) and Obamacare (the Affordable Care Act [ACA]) contain provisions to increase funding for compariative effectiveness research (CER). According to a Deloitte Issue Brief, ARRA provided the foundation for the ACA’s newly mandated and immediately effective CER entity, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute…
Jeff Root hosts this week’s milestone Cav, with another eclectic and interesting collection of risk-related posts. Check it out. A special thanks to Hank Stern for keeping the Cav going strong since 2006!
Is Google going into the optometry business? You’ve probably heard of Google Glass, but recently Google has built a contact lens. The contact lens would not only improve your vision, but it could also monitor your diabetes levels. From the Google Blog: We’re now testing a smart contact lens that’s built to measure glucose levels…
This blog has been a proponent of increased use of nurse practitioners and physician assistants to reduce the cost of health care. However, do they really reduce the cost of care? On the one hand, NPs and PAs cost less than physicians. On the other hand, if patients must visit an NP/PA and then a…
“I have not advocated the single payer model here because our government is too corrupt. Medicare is a large insurance company whose board of directors (Ways and Means and Senate Finance) accept payments from vendors to the company. In the private market, that would get you into trouble.” Uwe Reinhardt HT: Wonkblog