Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
In Sunday’s L.A. Times I found two articles regarding population growth. The first (“America at 300 million“) notes that although the U.S. is nearing 300 million people, there is plenty of space available for these newcomers. Although the birth rate is still not at replacement, the recent increase in immigration has allowed the U.S. to…
Today the Princeton Review named my alma matter (University of Pennsylvania) as the university with the best business school (the Wharton School). While I don’t believe the rankings accurately reflect school quality, its always nice to be number one. ‘Hurrah, Hurrah, Pennsylvania…Hurrah for the red and the blue!’
Which health state is better? Of course everyone knows that it is better to be healthy then sick, but what if you were faced with the following choice: Scenario A: being too sick to prepare your own meals or dress yourself, but are able to move around the house without fear, Scenario B: being able…
What do you need to do to win a Nobel Prize these days? Simple, just figure out a way to shut down individual genes in the body. This is what Andrew Fire and Craig Mello–the 2006 Nobel Prize winners in Medicine–achieved in order to merit the award. Their technique holds the possibility of new therapies for…
In one 1998 survey, 52% of patients preferred a female gynecologist while only 4% preferred a male gynecologist (44% expressed no preference). If the healthcare market were competitive, the high demand for female gynecologists would lead to higher fees for female doctors (in the short term) and more female physicians entering the gynecology specialty (in the long…
Ever wonder what Newt Gingrich is up to? You may be surprised to learn that he’s working to change healthcare in the U.S. Mr. Gingrich has founded the Center for Health Transformation. On the Consumer Health World Blog, Gingrich proposes dividing Medicaid into 3 different programs. Capabilities Program – This program would help both Americans…
The current tax system is complex. If a researcher would want to correctly model the current tax system, they would have to take into account the myriad of deductions in the federal tax code (e.g.: Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, mortgage interest deduction, etc.) as calculate these deductions for each type of household. …
The Health Care Renewal blog cites an editorial in the British Medical Journal describing how the spirit of medical professionalism is dying due to top-down administrative decision making. “And although medicine has embraced the need for evidence based medicine, policy making remains largely an evidence-free zone. [Richard Lehman wrote,] ‘the personal responsibility of our professional…
The New York Times (“In India, Water Crisis Means Foul Sludge“) gives a detailed look into the disastrous state of New Delhi’s water supply.
Introduction Much of health care today is paid for by managed care plans. If the managed care plans are profit maximizers–which I assume them to be–then they face a tradeoff. By offering a lower quality of care, they will make more money; but lowering the quality of care reduces the demand for their insurance product. …