Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
The Austrian Economists blog has a great post (“Hard Work Pays Off“) giving a bunch of advice for grad students. Below are some of my favorite quotations: Don Lavoie — “Why are you doing this? Don’t ever forget your answer to that question.” James Buchanan — “All work is work in progress. Don’t get it…
What’s a doctor to do when a child comes in with the symptoms of vomiting, infected ears and being “clingy and cranky”? Dr. Perri Klass assumed that this was an ear infection, but discussion with the patient’s mother revealed that the child had fallen on his head just a day earlier. Should the doctor order…
A recent paper in the May 2008 edition of the Journal of Health Economics by Carpentera and Stehr finds that mandatory seat belt laws save lives. “…we find consistent evidence that state mandatory seatbelt laws – particularly those permitting primary enforcement – significantly increased seatbelt use among high school age youths by 45–80%, primarily at…
The Second Anniversary edition of the Cavalcade of Risk has been posted at the always informative InsureBlog. Two especially interesting posts from Cato-at-Liberty and Colorado Health Insurance Insider discuss the individual–compared to the group–health insurance market.
As mentioned in previous posts, most health insurance in the France public health care system involves significant copayments. While this helps to reduce the moral hazard problem, it may prevent poor individuals from utilizing the care they need. In 2000, France introduced free complementary health insurance plan which covers most out-of-pocket payments for the poorest…
When you are sick and need a doctor, you need hope that you are given the best care possible. Most people assume that doctors will tailor their treatments to the individual patient needs. However, a paper by Frank and Zeckhauser (JHE 2007) explain that this may not be the case. The authors claim that there…
The American Society of Health Economists (ASHE) has honored Michael Grossman as the winner of the Victor Fuchs Lifetime Contribution Award. Much of Dr. Grossman’s research deals with child and adolescent health, as well as drug and alcohol use. An interview with Dr. Grossman is available in the ASHE spring newsletter.
The Berkeley Electronic Press’ Studies in Nonlinear Dynamics & Econometrics journal has a video interview with James Hamilton, a UCSD economist and one of the best instructors I have had.
How much care should doctors give to terminally ill patients in the ICU? This is a question which can be answered on many levels (e.g., societal, individual, technical). One physician gives his thoughts in an n+1 magazine article titled “First, do no harm.” While advanced medical technology has lead to greater longevity and healthier lives,…
Have scientists found a vaccine for brain tumors? Scientists have found that the cytomegalovirus is present in the 90% of glioblastoma brain tumors. The Economist reports on two doctors who are attempting to create a vaccine for the cytomegalovirus which (hopefully) can greatly reduce the incidence of brain tumors around the world.