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Will Obamacare Reduce the Crazy Variation in Hospital Prices?
ByadminIf you have been paying attention to US healthcare policy debates lately, you know that hospitals have a price problem. Walk across the street from one hospital to a competitor hospital, and you could easily find yourself facing a $30,000 increase in your medical bills. At one extreme for instance recent information shows that replacing your hip…
Should Patients Be Able to Receive "PFO Occluders" Outside of Research Trials?
ByadminTen years ago, my tennis partner suffered a stroke. He was a sixty-year-old at the time, working to move up into the top ten players in his age group. In the country! You could not have found a healthier sixty-year-old. He played tennis three-plus hours a day, scampering across the court like a hyperactive adolescent. …
Spending More But Not Living Longer?
ByadminIn a recent report from the IOM, the US comes in with surprisingly low life expectancy compared to other developed countries. Take, for instance, this picture from USA Today, showing life expectancy for women:

At the same time, we spend WAY MORE on health care than any of our peers. No one is even a close second. Does that mean our spending is not yielding appropriate results? Those of you who follow my writing (I’m talking to BOTH of you) know that I have serious concerns about health care spending in the US. But keep in mind, that life expectancy is a TERRIBLE measure of health care quality…(Read more here)A Tiny Fraction of People, a Huge Chunk of Medical Spending
ByadminAny effort to rein in health care costs needs to account for this graph, showing what percent of medical expenses attributed which group of patients. (Martin Gaynor posted this picture in a recent blog.) I use another version of this in my teaching: Either way, what we have here is an AMAZING concentration of spending….
Health Insurance Exchange Decisions…So Far!
ByadminThe Obamacare law establishes what are known as “health insurance exchanges” to help people compare health insurance plans. It is, when you think about it (heck: even when you DON’T think about it) a pro-market aspect of the law—it gets insurance out there to consumers so they can pick the plan that best suits them. …
Duke "Office Hours" webcast
ByadminCheck out my recent webcast interview with Duke University “Office Hours”

