Here is a nice follow-up story on my recent New England Journal article on improving the design of health insurance exchanges. Comparing health insurance plans – whether signing up through Healthcare.gov or weighing employer-sponsored plans with a spouse – can feel like wading through a sea of information on deductibles, co-payments and monthly premiums. Now…
I joined two other, much smarter, colleagues in calling for the use of behavioral economics and decision psychology to improve the design of the websites people use to purchase health insurance in the U.S. That article came out today in the New England Journal of Medicine. Here is a taste: In October 2013, the Affordable…
Cholesterol pills are one of the great medical advances I’ve witnessed during my professional career. I am talking specifically about a category of medications called statins, drugs like Lipitor and Pravachol. These drugs have prevented probably hundreds of thousands of heart attacks and strokes. Only one problem with these drugs, however: statins won’t help people…
David Asch and I recently published an article in Health Affairs on the challenge of getting healthcare practitioners to stop doing things they are accustomed to doing, even when the evidence that those things are harmful becomes overwhelming. Here is a teaser from that article, and a link to the full piece: As hard as…
In an earlier post, I wrote about the dietary supplements industry, which is largely unregulated by the FDA, to the detriment of the American consumer. Well here is a recent news story showing how a company is looking to take advantage of this lack of regulation: An anti-aging pill that is backed by five Nobel…
Bend a resilient object and it will spring back with a vengeance once released from your grip. Is that what is about to happen to healthcare spending? For years now, experts have been debating ways to “bend the cost curve ” – take the sharp rise in healthcare costs, picture a rapidly ascending line on…
A while ago, I wrote a post on how hard it can be for Medicaid recipients to get medical appointments, because so many physicians limit the number of Medicaid patients they see. They limit the number because Medicaid reimbursement is often, well, crappy! Here is a picture from a recent NEJM piece showing just how…
Two problems loom large over the American medical care system. First, we spend outrageous amounts of money on healthcare, with too many patients receiving too many services at too high a price. Second, our malpractice system is an international embarrassment, with too many healthcare providers sued by too many patients for too little reason. Many…
My home state of North Carolina is one of a number of states that refused to expand Medicaid, even though the Affordable Care Act stipulates that the federal government will cover the majority of expenses associated with such expansion. Here is an excellent story in the Fayetteville Observer laying out the issues: Denise Johnson works…
The Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, encourages healthcare providers to join together in what are called Accountable Care Organizations. Prior to the passage of Obamacare, hospitals were already pursuing mergers, in an effort to gain market share and have better negotiating ability with insurance companies. That trend looks like it has accelerated since the passage…