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If Costs Are Unknown, Can Doctors Still Talk About Them?
ByadminI have been writing a bit lately on the need for healthcare providers to talk with their patients about healthcare costs, if for no other reason than to enable patients to determine whether they can afford to pay for the healthcare that their doctors are recommending them to receive. I have been criticized for this position, on…
Obesity Really DOES Kill
ByadminThere has been controversy recently about whether obesity is truly bad for people’s health, or in fact whether it might even protect people from early mortality. A study from the New England Journal in January provides strong evidence that obesity kills. It shows that people with very low body mass index have high mortality rates,…
At Risk of Financial Ruin
ByadminAccording to figures from the Kaiser Family Foundation, one of the best sources of reliable health policy information, the majority of Americans will have to exhaust all their “liquid assets” to cover medical expenses, if they reach the maximum out-of-pocket costs allowed by their health insurance. The moral of this story is simple: stay healthy!
How to Stop Breast Cancer Surgeons from Overtreating Their Patients
ByadminA study shows that a medication causes more harms than benefits, and physicians like me keep prescribing the pill anyway, either because we don’t learn about the study, don’t believe the study or are simply stuck in our ways. Even professionals have a hard time breaking bad habits. So what do you think happened when…
Coolest Nudge Ever!
ByadminI love behavioral science. I love public policy. And I am obsessed with music. So you can see why I think the nudge pictured below may be the coolest thing on the planet! It encourages drivers to drive at an appropriate speed, so they can hear music created by their passage over the road: I…
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…

