Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
Healthcare Economist was named one of the Top 100 Economics blogs of 2020 by the Intelligent Economist website. In fact, it was the first blog listed in the “Sub-field economic blog” category. Please do check out the full list as well.
Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less Marie Curie
How much should we value life? This is the question put forth in an interesting book by Howard Steven Friedman called Ultimate Price. The book reviews how economists, policymakers, philosophers and others place a monetary value on life. This could be a value courts place when making awards in lawsuits due to harm or death,…
Very useful video from math vlogger 3Blue1Brown: CNET also has an explainer as well.
What is the true unemployment rate? Why are the police in charge of road safety? The problem with free college. CURE-ID for COVID-19. Volver es ganar.
Electronic health records (EHR) are supposed to improve quality. While EHRs certainly are highly useful for information sharing, they may have adverse consequences. One issue may be that EHRs may induce fatigue in physicians and sap their needed energy/concentration away from their primary task: caring for patients. To test whether EHRs increase physician fatigue and…
From Cahan, Kocher, and Bohn in the Health Affairs blog: Since passage of the 2010 “Biosimilars” Act aimed at stimulating non-inferior innovation and competition in therapeutics markets, only 17 agents have been approved, and only seven have made it to market. Why haven’t biosimilars been more attractive? Blackstone et al. (2013) cites 3 key issues:…
Health insurance companies are not spending as much money as expected. While COVID-19-related costs are up, the cost savings from people foregoing or delaying elective care has more than offset the COVID costs. Health insurers are refunding much of that savings to their enrollees. However, this is due to a provision of the ACA that…
Drug overdoses rise. Medicaid episode-based payments. Patient preferences for lung cancer treatments. COVID-19 at the border. NBA is coming back!
That are the results from a recent Washington Post-ABC News survey. It is pretty dispiriting that only 71% of people will probably or definitely get a vaccine. Is this because people are not scared of COVID? No. In general, most people are concerned. 63% of people say they are very or somewhat worried that they…