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Medical Debt Demystified (What You Owe Isn't Necessarily What You Owe)
ByadminWhen Lorie Duff was pregnant with her third child, she did what all good moms are supposed to do. She went to the ObGyn clinic for prenatal care. But she fell behind on the clinic payments. She only made about $25,000 a year managing an auto parts store while her husband stayed home with their…
When Helpful Nudges Aren’t Helpful
ByadminGerald Ashley (twitter handle @Gerald_Ashley) recently tweeted a photo of what was SUPPOSED to be a helpful nudge, reducing the odds that people would bump into each other going up and down the stairs. Can you see what might not be helpful here?
Sleepless in the Hospital
ByadminA while back, I wrote a piece on the problems caused when hospitals don’t coordinate care in a way that promotes patient sleep. Now Shefali Luthra, a reporter at Kaiser Health News, has written a great piece, delving deeper into this issue. Here is the beginning of that story: Hospitals are reviewing their patient-sleep policies and…
The Upside of High Healthcare Costs: Lots of Jobs!
ByadminHere is a quick review from the Commonwealth Fund showing what happened to jobs in the United States since 2000. A dramatic growth in healthcare jobs, and almost no growth in the rest of the economy: Something to keep in mind, because if we ever get healthcare costs under control, we had better hope to…
Stingy Insurance + Low Income = Bad Combination
ByadminThe Commonwealth Fund recently circulated information on the widespread difficulty many Americans have paying for their medical care, even when they have insurance. Burdened by high co-pays and high coinsurance rates, these out-of-pocket expenses are putting people on the financial edge. Here is a picture of the results, which show that a third of people…
What's a Fair Price for a Medication?
ByadminGreedy pharma execs have been in the news of late. Here is a story on the topic, from Wired. The reporter misquotes me. I never said Apple could make profits selling iPhones for $10. I said that even if they could profit at that price, they’d be crazy to do so if people would…