Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
Everyone wants to be a knowledgeable voter. Yet your life is busy; you work, or are in school, or have kids. There is only one day left before the election. How do you choose your candidate? For health related issues, I of course recommend reading a post from this blog. But what about other issues? Fortunately,…
“Nothing is more permanent than a temporary program.” David Frum, resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, as stated on Marketplace, 29 Oct 2008.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Apple has donated $100,000 for the No on Prop 8 campaign. Proposition 8 is a California referendum that aims to pass the “Marriage Protection Act” which would outlaw gay marriage. Apple may gain some customers who approve of gay marriage, but most people won’t buy a computer just because Apple…
What are the tax implications of John McCain’s health care proposal? The key components are that health insurance will no longer be tax deductible but individuals will receive a $5000 credit of purchasing health insurance. Let’s work out some simple math to see how this will impact the life of a typical American. Example with…
The Star Ledger reports that “uninsured patients are less likely to visit the emergency department for non-urgent care than insured patients.” The conclusion is based on an article in this month’s edition of JAMA written by Newton, Keirns, Cunningham, Hayward, and Stanley (2008). The authors examined 127 articles which studied adult medical and surgical care of uninsured patients in emergency…
The New York Times has an revealing article on Henry Cisneros. Mr. Cisneros was the U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under President Clinton. In an attempt to expand home ownership rates, especially among low-income households, Mr. Cisneros loosened mortgage restrictions. ” Families no longer had to prove they had five years of stable income; three…
What is AIG doing with the bailout money it has received from the federal government? The Wall Street Journal reports that AIG is “…using taxpayer money in its effort to soften new federal controls over the mortgage industry.”
Today I attended a seminar by Eli Berman on his paper, “Can Hearts and Minds Be Bought? The Economics of Counterinsurgency in Iraq.” He noted that the U. S. Military often employs pediatricians to collect information. When, the military pays for a pediatrician to serve an Iraqi community., not only does this engender good will…
In Europe and North America, the influenza vaccination rate is about 20% to 40%. In China, this figure is only 2%. The pharmaceutical company Sanofi-Aventis smells opportunity. China Business Daily reports that Sanofi-Aventi will invest €7 million to build a new vaccination prodction facility in Shenzhen. The article continues: “after the company’s the pharmaceutical factory…
One of the goals of a government-run, single-payer, centralized health system is to give everyone equal access to quality care. The availability of health care in the UK’s National Health System should be the same for all people regardless of income or employer. An article in the Telegraph reports that NHS employees are getting preferential…