I recognize that correlation does not prove causation. But here is a picture illustrating the correlation between income inequality and the percent of a country’s population that is obese. The findings are provocative, to say the least. Making the relationship somewhat plausible is all the evidence we have now of the toll that income inequality…
My article with Peter Bach of Memorial Sloan Kettering continues to generate debate. The two of us argues that copay assistance programs from pharmaceutical companies help specific patients in the short run, but make it easier for drug companies to demand high prices for their products. Here is one take on the topic, spurred on…
Donna Rosato, an excellent journalist at CR, as the cool kids call it, just published an excellent article highlighting some of our research on money talk in the doctor’s office. Here is a teaser. A growing body of research has found that as people pay more out of pocket for their healthcare, they’re likely to put off treatment instead of seeking a…
In areas of the country hardest hit by COVID-19, clinicians are already being forced to make tragic rationing decisions: about who to admit to the hospital, who to transfer to the ICU and who to place on scarce ventilators. These decisions feel out of character with our national identity. We normally think of ourselves as…
“Economics Behaving Badly” – The New York Times
I blog frequently about obesity. I think the most important thing we can do, as a nation, to combat obesity is to try to prevent our next generation of children from becoming obese. Once people become obese, almost no diet in the world will consistently help them lose weight and maintain that weight loss. But…