Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
According to Marshall Poe, drinking in college has more positives than negatives. “Rowdy drinking is not the problem. It is an essential, ineradicable, and largely positive element of American college culture. The problem is students who cannot or will not engage in rowdy drinking safely, for they often harm themselves and others.” How is drinking a…
According to a recent study by Pollack and Lynch (2009), having your house foreclosed is bad for your health. The Penn Gazette summarizes the paper’s findings as follows: “[the authors] presented sobering findings culled from a survey of 250 Philadelphians who had sought credit counseling for home mortgage foreclosure. More than one-third of the study…
In my job, I spend nearly my entire day staring at a computer screen. Whether this is writing computer code, compiling a report, reading papers, or checking my email, I am constantly in a seated position. I do, however, exercise six mornings per week. Does this mean that I am an active, healthy person since…
One measure of longevity that may better reflect the quality of a medical care in a country is life expectancy at age 50. According to a recent article in the Penn SAS Magazine (p. 16-p.17) life expectancy in the U.S. for non-smokers is 84.9 for females and 81.2 for males. These figures rank 7th and…
Conventional wisdom holds that economists advocate for reducing regulation on most policy arenas. Regulation imposes costs and businesses and is often ineffective. Further, as technology and market conditions change, regulations which were originally welfare enhancing can now become archane. The public generally views the FDA’s pre-approval as a worthwhile endeavor. The goal of FDA pre-approval…
The California HealthCare Foundation has an almanac entry on Children’s Health Coverage Facts and Figures. Eligibility requirements for these programs is described in this table. Other key findings include: The proportion of children without health insurance continued to decline through 2007, though the pace of improvement has slowed. Nearly 80 percent of California’s uninsured children…
Two weeks ago, the U.S. government released its H1N1 vaccine to the public. Many people have had a number of questions about whether or not they should get the vaccine. The CDC website has a list of Key Facts and a Q&A section that is helpful. There are five major groups who should have…
After viewing a cute ad, I went to the AHRQ homepage. The agency gives a nice list of 10 recommended questions you should ask your doctor. Additional questions directly pertaining to specific types of care are also available. What is the test for? How many times have you done this? When will I get the…
Economic Inquiry has some interesting articles on the vices of drinking and smoking: Minimum Drinking Age Laws do not affect the rate of traffic fatalities. Fraternity and Sorority membership increases drinking intensity and frequency. Increased Obesity rates are not caused by the Decreasing number of Smokers.