Duke Alumni Magazine Feature: Sick to Debt
The Duke Alumni Magazine just published a Q & A about my new book, Sick to Debt. Here was the picture accompanying that article. Y’all agree that this should have been the “author photo” on the back cover?
She drew the life-saving medication into the syringe, just 10cc of colorless fluid for the everyday low price of, gulp, several hundred dollars. Was that a new chemotherapy, specially designed for her tumor? Was it a “specialty drug,” to treat her multiple sclerosis? Nope. It was insulin, a drug that has been around for decades….
I am currently on sabbatical (and enjoying some hiking in the Appalachian Mountains). Blog posts will resume in September!
Many people have warned us that Obamacare will drive up the cost of healthcare insurance, but recent evidence suggests that the problem is bigger than that. According to the Commonwealth Fund, healthcare insurance costs are rising even more quickly outside of the Obamacare exchanges than inside them:
In a minute, I’m going to ask you what the most expensive medical condition is in the American healthcare system. Before you guess, however, I’m going to explain what I mean by “most expensive.” I’m not talking about cost per patient. Some people with cancer receive hundreds of thousands of dollars of chemotherapy per year,…
“Doctor, First Tell Me What It Costs” – The New York Times
Shutterstock Healthcare prices in the U.S. are often hidden. Some people think this price opacity contributes to our nation’s high healthcare spending. If people don’t know how expensive healthcare is, they won’t have much reason to restrain healthcare utilization. A recent study tested what would happen if physicians were immediately informed of the price of lab tests…