Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
What percentage of your prescription drug costs should your insurance company cover? You may say “100%, of course!” However, if health insurance cover all pharmaceutical costs this will drive up premiums. One solution to this problem is reference pricing. If generics are available for $10 and name brand drugs are available for $100, the…
Recently, the San Diego Union Tribune reported that the Sharp Grossmont Hospital in eastern San Diego county was cited for a number of preventable deaths. Reporter Cherl Clark found numerous problems, which included: “staff members restraining a highly medicated, 25-year-old man with schizophrenia in such a way that he was allowed to suffocate. In addition,…
Merrill Goozer reports (“CMS okays heart scan…“) on how Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has reversed a policy to stop paying for heart scans. There has been no clinical evidence to show that these expensive heart scans identify heart disease any better than less expensive procedures (i.e.: stress tests). Physician revenue, however, would…