Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
Of course they should! Non-profit hospitals treat the poorest patients in the most underserved communities using a bare bones administrative budget…right? According to the New York Times (“Nonprofit Hospitals Face Scrutiny Over Practices“), the traditional view of non-profit hospitals as altruistic institutions may be flawed. The commissioner of internal revenue, Mark W. Everson, said tax…
In November 2004, California passed Proposition 71 which allocated $3 billion over ten years to stem cell research. Many of my friends–especially those in the medical field–strongly supported the bill. While I support stem cell research, I do not approve of the referendum system by which this bill was enacted. Spending $3 billion on unproven research…
H&R Block, one of the largest tax services businesses in the United States, has incorrectly filed its taxes in 2003 and 2004. The tax error understated H&R Block’s tax liability by $32 million. Oh the irony!!! Check out the complete article in BusinessWeek (“H&R Block falls on 3Q results, tax issue“).
On February 15th, Health Care Economist reported on British Colombia‘s attempts to reforms its health care system. Now the Canadian province of Alberta is proposing its own reform as well. The CBC in “Alberta’s ‘Third Way’ could mean health-care showdown with Ottawa” reports that: Under the so-called ‘Third Way’ patients will be allowed to pay…
Sunday’s San Diego Union Tribune (“Doctors object to ultimatum on health care: Sharp wants every senior on one plan“) had an interesting article on Sharp’s decision to issue its physicians an ultimatum: either provides services exclusively for our patients or find work elsewhere. Let us look at this from a variety of perspectives. Sharp: Sharp…
Thursday’s edition of the New York Times contained an article (“British Clinic is Allowed to Deny Medicine“) describing how a British court ruled that local health authorities could deny coverage of a breast cancer medicine since it was not yet approved. The drug in question is Herceptin. “Herceptin, made by Roche, is currently licensed for…
While most Americans envy the Canadian single payer system, Canadians may be looking south for inspiration to reform their health care system. Today’s Vancouver Sun reports that: British Columbia’s Liberal government is launching a sweeping review of medicare, promising to let citizens decide if they want a health care system that might feature even more…
Forbes magazine reports that William W. McGuire, CEO of UnitedHealth Group) received compensation of $124.8 million in 2005. Managed Care Magazine also says that the average executive compensation (excluding unexercised stock options) for an executive of a ‘top 10 for profit health plan’ was $11.7 million and that was back in 2000. Are these high…
General Electric (my employer between 2002-2004) unveiled an interesting program named ‘Bridges to Excellence.’ This program will compensate participating physicians up to $50 per patient in exchanged for instituting IT systemts for patient records, electronic prescription writing, etc. GE estimtates that the $50/patient figure will be about half of the projected savings from the project. …
In the State of the Union address, President Bush dedicated portions of the speech to the health care problems facing the United States. A summary of his proposals is located on the White House website. I will comment on a few noteworthy additions to the Bush plan, of which I was not aware of during my…