Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
Yesterday I was invited to a small-group conversation with Senator Ron Wyden regarding the Healthy Americans Act that was recently proposed. Unfortunately I could not make it the conference, but Senator Wyden’s own Stand Tall for America website gives some (very biased) details and analysis of the plan. Joe Paduda of Managed Care Matters has…
On Wednesday, The New York Times reported (“What Money Doesn’t Buy in Health Care“) reported on the relative ineffectiveness of drug-coated stents (aka drug-eluting stents). (For more information regarding what is a stent, visit the Angioplasty.org webpage.) On Friday, December 8th, the FDA recommended that “…doctors and patients be given stronger warnings about the dangers…
The BBC reports (“Italian man…“) on a court case in which a paralyzed man suffering from muscular dystrophy is requesting that “his artificial respirator turned off and to be given sedatives to ease his pain until he dies.” Euthanasia is illegal in Italy as it in the United States. On the other hand, euthanasia and…
A recent Economist article (see a reprint at the Librarian’s Place blog) chronicles the career of Mena Trott. Mrs. Trott (along with her husband) founded Six Apart, a company whose blogging enterprises include Typepad, Movable Type and Live Journal. The most recent and perhaps most profound innovation by the couple at Six Apart is the…
According to the Economist magazine (“Bit by bit“), firms such as Wal-Mart, Pitney Bowes, and Intel are announcing plans to launch an online patient-information service next year with the non-profit firm Omnimedix Institute. The consortium aims to develop Dossia, which—according to the institute—is “a secure, private, independent network for capturing medical information and delivering it…
Today, the New York City Board of Health has decided to ban artificial trans fats at city restaurants. The New York Times (“…Trans Fats“) reports that “Trans fats are believed to be harmful because they contribute to heart disease by raising bad cholesterol and lowering good cholesterol at the same time. Some experts say that…
An interesting post from Joe Paduda of Managed Care Matters gives us an inside look of ‘What insurance people are really like.’
Most economists believe preferences are monotonic. This means that economic researchers believe the more of something you have (e.g.: money, burritos, cars, friends, etc.) the more well-off you become. This assumption likely holds if we view health as an argument in a person’s utility function; more health generally makes people better off. Putting ‘medical services’…
Time for a day of family, turkey, and of course football. Enjoy!
What is do be done regarding the long waits for those needing a donated organ to save their life? As expected, economists recommend market creation as the solution. Freakonomics authors Stephen J. Dubner and Steven D. Levitt argue in the New York Times (“Flesh Trade“) that the creation of a market for organs makes sense.…