Podcast on How to Discuss Out-of-Pocket Costs with Patients
I had the pleasure of recording a podcast organized by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Avalere Health. Here is a link to the episode. You should also check out other episodes.
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If You Want to Avoid a C-Section Choose Your Hospital Wisely
We have an epidemic of C-sections in the US, now accounting for almost 1 in 3 births. That represents a 50% increase since the mid-90s, despite all the advances we’ve seen in obstetrical care. Sometimes C-sections are critical to saving the life of either baby or mother. But C-sections are major surgical procedures, with commensurate risks….
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In Countries That Invest In Long Term Care, People Are Less Likely To Die In The Hospital
In the U.S., we do a lousy job of paying for long-term care. We don’t help people cover the costs of nursing homes or home-health aids when they have chronic, life-threatening illnesses. As a result, more Americans die in the hospital than they would if we covered long-term care more generously. At least that’s the…
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Your Risk Of Prostate Cancer Just Dropped Precipitously. Here's Why
Most men diagnosed with prostate cancer don’t die of the disease. Between 2011 and 2015, 112.6 per 100,000 men per year were diagnosed with prostate cancer in the U.S., but only 19.5 per 100,000 men per year died of the disease over that same period of time. That is still far too many deaths. But the…
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The Greediest Companies In American Healthcare Are Not Who You Think
There’s plenty of price gouging in American healthcare. The pharmaceutical industry has gotten plenty of (well deserved) bad press for its pricing practices. At the extreme are people like “Pharma Bro” (and convicted felon) Martin Shkreli, who hiked the price of an important medication to treat infections in AIDS patients by over 5000%. But high and…
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The Surprising Truth About The Rising Price Of Generic Medications
In recent years, it feels like we’ve been inundated by stories of greedy pharmaceutical companies jacking up the price of important generic medications. In 2015, “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli, recognized that no other generic companies were manufacturing Daraprim, a drug used to treat infections common among people with AIDS. So he raised the price of…
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Want to Reduce Opiate Overdoses? Legalize Medical Marijuana
I have written about medical marijuana before, relaying research findings showing that the legalization of medical marijuana is associated with a reduction in use of pain medications. Here’s another piece of evidence leading to a similar conclusion, from a study by the research team of Bradford and Bradford out of the University of Georgia. (Athens,…
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Insurers Are Not Paying Enough For HPV Vaccines – And Our Kids Are Paying The Price
The HPV vaccine saves lives. It does so by reducing a person’s chance of being infected by the human papilloma virus, a virus that causes a whole range of cancers including, most importantly, cervical cancer. Vaccinate your teenage daughter against HPV, and you will increase the chance she will live to old age. Simple as…
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A Surprisingly Easy Way To Become Happier
What makes people happy? A load of studies tell us that human interaction is key to our happiness. But what kind of interactions matter? And does interaction increase everyone’s happiness, or is it something primarily beneficial to extraverts? A fantastic study set out to answer these questions. In the study, researchers audio-recorded random times in people’s daily lives, and…
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Thoughtful Discussion of Trump Administration Drug Pricing Plans
The Trump administration is thinking of requiring pharma companies to include price information in their ads. Here is a quick thoughtful article exploring a few reasons that information might not work as intended. It includes a summary of some of the things I’ve written about copay assistance programs, that essentially make patients insensitive to the…