According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, lots of companies are encouraging workers to get biometric screening. Here’s a picture of that:
But is there evidence that this promotes healthier behavior? Would love someone to direct me to any relevant research.
We Americans are notoriously bad at saving money. While people in Germany, Sweden and even France save about 10% of the money they make, folks in the U.S. save closer to 3 or 4% of their earnings. With so little money saved, Americans face difficulty absorbing economic shocks like recessions and layoffs, and also find…
Here is a nice picture, from the Wonkblog, summarizing the best evidence to date on whether cigarette taxes reduce smoking. The bottom line here is that cigarette taxes slightly reduce smoking among smokers. That slight reduction reflects, in part, those people who quit smoking because it has simply become too expensive. It also includes people…
Here is a nice article by Dennis Thompson at HealthDay about the challenges people are going to face paying for medical care, especially if they’ve lost or been laid off from their jobs. I chime in at the end URGING people not to worry about money right now if they are sick. Get the care…
Heuristics is jargon used by decision psychologists and behavioral economists to refer to cognitive shortcuts we humans take to make judgments and decisions. One of the first heuristics identified as such by Danny Kahneman and Amos Tversky was the anchoring heuristic. I would define it for you, but it is wonderfully captured in this cartoon:
Last time I checked, the mouth was still part of the human body. If I remember correctly, when people experience mouth problems, they ache just as much (often more) than if they experienced problems elsewhere in their bodies. So why do we still treat care of the mouth differently than other types of medical care?…
The holidays are upon us. It’s a time to celebrate with loved ones, maybe even enjoy a well-earned vacation. But it is also a time that many of us gain weight, with children developing eating habits that could set them on a trajectory towards being overweight or obese. It is really crucial to help our…