Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
This week’s edition of the Health Wonk Review is overflowing with useful information. Can there be too much of a good thing, you ask? Well for those of you who don’t have the time to read every article in this week’s HWR edition, I’ve narrowed the posts into a few, easy-to-use categories. BEST POSTS OF…
In 2006, the federal government first began expanding Medicare coverage to include prescription drugs using the Medicare Part D program. According to one report, Part D will cost taxpayers $47 billion in 2007. Yet it is possible that Medicare Part D could actually save taxpayers money. If prescription drugs and other medical care are substitutes,…
Many health care policy researchers believe that non-physician clinicians, such as physician assistants, nurse practitioners and midwives can help to reduce cost while maintaining quality. Midwifery has gained in popularity over recent years. Groups such as the American Public Health Association, Public Citizen and the National Organization for Women all support increased access to midwifery…
The winners of the 2007 Nobel Prize in Economics are: Leonid Hurwicz, Eric S. Maskin, and Roger B. Myerson. The trio won the prize for their work on Mechanism Design. See the Nobel Prize press release as well as the Scientific Background paper detailing exactly what is mechanism design. The Economist’s View website provides a…
Here’s an entertaining cartoon posted on Cristina Favreau’s Savvy Entrepreneur website.
“In its 1999 report To Err is Human, the Institute of Medicine report estimated that as many as ninety-eight thousand Americans are killed each year by medical error. Another ninety thousand to four hundred thousand patients are harmed or killed by the incorrect use of a drug–they received the wrong drug, or the wrong dose…
An explanation for the recent General Motors-United Auto Workers deal is pretty simple: it is a transfer of risk. GM will set up a Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association (VEBA) which will be controlled by the union. According to the Detroit Free Press (” UAW ratifies”) GM will place about $30 billion dollars in the account…
A recent paper by Franco et al. (2007) claims that increased poverty may improve health (see also NPR’s Marketplace report). How is this possible? Lower income reduces excess food as well as cigarette consumption. Further, poverty makes public transportation less affordable and individuals may substitute walking for taking the bus. The authors study Cuba’s experience…
“Medicare adopted its [Medicare as a Secondary Payer] MSP policy in 1982, effective January 1, 1983. This legislation states that for individuals working at firms with 20 or more employees, and otherwise eligible for Medicare benefits, Medicare serves as a secondary payer for health care expenses. The employer’s health insurance is the first payer. Because…
“It ain’t so much the things we don’t know that get us into trouble. It’s the things we do know that just ain’t so.” — Artemus Ward