Hazards of High Deductibles?
See this nice article on high deductible health insurance, by a reporter I spoke to, if I remember correctly, while walking my dog in one of Chapel Hill’s nicest parks.
-
-
Is Information Good for Medical Decision Making?
Making important decisions in the dark can be stressful. But a recent study suggests that shining a light on decisions can make decision makers even more anxious. The question remains: Is this anxiety a good thing or a bad …. (Read the rest and view comments at Critical Decisions)
-
Penalizing Smokers So They Will Quit
Recently my employer, Duke University, announced it would be charging $10 more per month to offer health insurance to smokers (see story here). Duke’s policy has a couple motivations. Smokers get sick you see, and those smoking related illnesses cost Duke money. So it’s only fair to pass some of those expenses… (Read the rest and view…
-
Does Your Oncologist Care About Your Quality of Life?
Facing advanced cancer, who among us wouldn’t look to our oncologist for expert advice on whether another round of chemotherapy makes sense? But do you know what your oncologist cares about, and can you be sure her recommendations map onto your own treatment preferences? … (Read the rest and view comments at Critical Decisions)
-
How Irrationality Can Reduce Traffic Jams
In Singapore, rush hour at the Mass Rapid Transit trains can involve more body contact than a full on TSA pat down, the train so packed you will know whether the guy next to you had garlic toast for breakfast. Because of this crowding, someone in the Transit office decided to give people a 10%…
-
A 12 Year Old Figures Out the Importance of the Health Insurance Mandate
See a video where I talk to my twelve year old son about health insurance, unrehearsed, and try to see whether he will be able to figure out the importance of the health insurance mandate. I think you will agree that this is an idea even a sixth grader can understand. Which is sad, because most people hold a strong opinion about this topic without grasping even it’s most basic strengths and weaknesses.
Now if the Obama team will work on helping American adults understand the benefits of getting everyone to get insurance! -
Are Physicians Smarter than Fifth Graders?
All too often the most powerful illusions seduce us through truthful whisperings. Let’s start with an obvious truth: Living a long and happy life after a cancer diagnosis is better than living a short miserable one.
read more -
Debating Sugar Taxes and the Benefits of Gambling
Here is a video of a webinar in which Avni Shah and I discuss some controversies about what governments should do when consumers harm themselves through irrational behavior. Avni is a doctoral student in Marketing at Fuqua. Check out the bag of sugar she pulls out to illustrate the dangers of big gulp beverages. Feel free to add questions or comments, and I’ll chime in with my additional thoughts.
-
What Supreme Court ruling means for state Medicaid programs
Here is a nice news report about what the Medicaid portion of the Supreme Court decision means for state governments. Short version: North Carolina needs to decide whether to expand Medicaid by up to 500,000 people, with the federal government picking up 95% of the cost. Left unsaid in this news report: hospitals are going to push hard to expand Medicaid, so they will have more paying customers. Wonder if they will have success in states like NC, with Republican legislatures. -
Does Brain Gym Make You Smarter?
Who doesn’t want to get smarter? The Brain Gym Company claims to have found a number of ways people can attain all these goals. But their wacky mixture of pseudo-science and balderdash is more a function of bamboozlement through jargon than of any real proof that the program works.
read more
