Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
It is common knowledge that healthcare institutions such as the government (through Medicare and Medicaid) and HMOs are able to negotiate with hospitals for low prices due to their market power. Most individuals who pay out of pocket for medical services can expect face prices which are 30%-50% higher than those of Medicare patients. A…
Interested in the medical field but not a doctor? Looking to help those in developing countries who are live without access to a physician? A great resource to use is Where there is no doctor, a classic text published by Hesperian Books. I recently bought a copy in Spanish (Donde no hay doctor) while I…
One of the largest healthcare risks in many countries is war. Between 1980 and 1992, El Salvador experienced a violent civil war between the right-wing military government and the FMLN (Frente Farabundo Mari para la Liberacion Nacional) communist guerrilla forces. The conflict began to boil over in 1977 when armed forces arrived at Universidad Centroamericana…
In El Salvador, one finds two parallel health care system. The first uses state-of-the-art technology, qualified doctors, and physician spend ample time with patients. The second employs third world technology, treats severe illnesses superficially, and doctors are overworked. Which of these systems is run by the government? Which of these systems serves the poor? As…
Plastic bottles strewn on the street, trash fires burning in front of homes, and primitive latrines…El Salvador is pretty much the antithesis of a stereotypically pristine European city. While in the US, we take trash collection for granted–we put our waste into the trash/toilet and it is taken away–in El Salvador waste disposal does not…
“What are the most significant problems facing El Salvador today?” I asked ‘Chungo’, the nickname of a fifty one year old representative of Ciudad Romero? His response was: 1) clean water, 2) electricity and 3) paved roads. When visiting a clinic in the village of Isla de Mendez, I asked the resident doctor what single…
This week, I will be doing a five part report on what I have learned from my eight-day community service trip to El Salvador. The trip was organized by the non-profit AJWS and was led by employees of the Salvadoran non-profits La Coordinadora del Bajo Lempa and the Foundation for Self Sufficiency in Central America…
For the next week I will be headed to Ciudad Romero in the department of Usulatan in El Salvador to assist the local population through their NGO La Coordinadora del Bajo Lempa (Lempa is for the Lempa river which runs near the town). Directed by La Coordinadora, I will work on social justice projects such…
The poor can not afford health care. Health care costs rise above inflation year after year. Serious errors committed by hospitals and physicians are reported by the news media on a daily basis. How can we fix these problems? Can we rely on Uncle Sam to do what’s needed? Will Wilkinson doubts that government intervention…
Kate Steadman’s Healthy Policy blog is hosting the Health Wonk Review #3 for this week. The HWR distills two weeks of health policy blogging to bring readers the best of the best. Topics include: Reform: Whatâs the definition of âisâ? edition Changes are Aâ Comin Medicine and Health Policy From the Unbeaten Health Blogosphere Path…