CDHPs and Small Business

Consumer directed health plans (CDHP) seem like an attractive option for small businesses. CDHPs utilize high deductible health plans (HDHP) making patients pay more money out of pocket. Because of this, insurance premiums are lower. These HDHPs can be linked to Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs) or Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). Since small businesses do not…

Health Insurance keeps us from getting sick?

John Tierney writes in The New York Times (“Appeasing the Gods…“) that “”We buy insurance not just for peace of mind or to protect ourselves financially, but because…we think buying health insurance will keep us from getting sick.” A rational person would believe that buying insurance against an event will not alter the probability that…

Why California Health Reform failed

The Health Affairs blog has an interesting article on why Arnold Schwarzenegger’s health care reform plan for California has been shelved. Hat tip to Joe Paduda of Managed Care Matters. As General Eric Shinseki, former Chief of Staff, U. S. Army, said “If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less.”

Rate your doctor

Rating websites are all the rage on the internet. From RateMyTeachers.com to RateMyCop.com, you can rate practically anything nowadays. A new website called Vitals.com allows you now to rate your doctor as well. In addition to being able to read reviews from other patients, there are also other physician statistics. For instance, Vitals.com informs you…

Wal-mart: $10 for 90-day supply of generic drugs

Is the free market working?  Looks like.  Wal-mart just dropped its prices on pharmaceuticals.  According to a Marketwatch article (“Wal-mart…“) : Wal-mart will fill prescriptions for as many as 350 generic drugs costing $10 for a 90-day supply Over 1000 over-the-counter drugs are priced at $4 or less.  Many of these include Wal-mart own private…

Sunday Quotation

“I mean, a man has to stand for something.” James Woodard, wrongfully convicted of killing his girlfriend 27 years ago, on why he did not lie and admit his guilt during one of the twelve times he came up for parole. The full story is on 60 Minutes.

Violence as a Public Health Issue

Can we think of issues related to violent crime as basically similar to that of a contagious disease?  This is the question an article in the N.Y. Times Magazine (“Blocking the Transmission of Violence“) attempts to answer. Violence may spread like an epidemic; murders lead to revenge killings, which lead to more revenge killings.  Stopping…

Ghostwriting by Pharmaceutical Companies

Academic journals are places where medical practitioners can go to view the latest, most cutting-edge, medical technologies. These journals are peer reviewed and are supposed to be places where rigorous, unbiased research is conducted. Some of these articles may not be as unbiased as once thought. NPR’s Marketplace reports (“Drug Companies…“) that drug companies have…