Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
The 2008 Nobel Prize in Medicine was given to three European researchers who discovered viruses that cause cervical cancer and AIDS. German virologist Harald zur Hausen discovered that HPV causes cervical cancer. This discovery eventually lead to the creation of the HPV vaccine against cervical cancer. Two French virologists, Francoise Barre-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier, shared the…
Jonathan Gruber (2008) has a nice review article in the most recent edition of the Journal of Economic Literature. This article is especially good for those who are not schooled in the basic issues of the uninsured. It is also useful for professors wishing to teach students about the uninsured in America. The article reviews…
The Economist magazine took a poll of academic economists working at NBER to see who they would vote for. Barack Obama came out as the favorite. Even though 46% of academic economists list themselves as Democrats compared to only 10% who claim to be Republican, Obama came out overwhelmingly ahead. Seventy percent of economists would…
With the Senate passing a $700 billion Wall Street bail-out last night, the Healthcare Economist wonders who else needs a bail out. The best and brightest health bloggers have your answer. In this edition of the Health Wonk Review, we will examine six groups looking for help: Wall Street Health Insurers Healthcare Reformers Doctors The…
Last night I watched a powerful documentary chronicling about the plight of four of the 47 million uninsured Americans. P.O.V.’s “Critical Condition” by Roger Weisberg follows four individuals through their experience of getting sick and attempting to secure medical care without insurance. “What happens if you fall sick and are one of 47 million people…
Does an increase in family physicians (FPs) increase individual health? A naive research might believe that we could uncover whether or not this was true by comparing the average health levels of areas with lots of doctors with the average health levels of areas with few doctors. However, doctors often work where there are lots…
A few papers have found that mortality rises after the death of the spouse. Some researchers have inferred that this is due to a causal effect of this emotionally traumatic event. Further, married individuals generally live longer, so the loss of this “marriage protection” could be the cause of increased mortality. On the other hand,…
The Health08.org website has a great tool to give voters a side-by-side comparison of John McCain and Barack Obama’s stance on a variety of health care issues. For some commentary on each of the candidates health care reform proposals see my post on Obama vs. McCain health care policies.
The Milwaukee Brewers have made it to post-season play for the first time since 1982! If you are a Brewers fans, check out Bob Uecker’s call of Ryan Braun’s HR and CC Sabathia getting the final outs. The Brewers first playoff game will be in Philadelphia on Wednesday. Go Crew! Coverage: Michael Hunt at the…
Who are health care bloggers? Ivor Kovic, Ileana Lulic, Gordana Brumini (2008) conducted a survey to find out. “The majority of responding bloggers were white (75%), highly educated (71% with a Masters degree or doctorate), male (59%), residents of the United States (72%), between the ages of 30 and 49 (58%), and working in the…