Is Health Insurance Too Cheap?

Byadmin April 30, 2012

Researchers at USC recently published a study designed to find out how much people are willing to pay for better drug coverage from their health insurance plan…(Read the rest and view comments at Scientocracy)

Behavioral Economics and Public Policy | Health Care Cost

Are Patients Harmed When Physicians Explain Things Too Simply?

Byadmin March 5, 2015

A quick quiz before we start today’s lesson. What do we call a tree that grows from acorns? What do we call a funny story? What sound does a frog make? What is another word for a cape? What do we call the white part of an egg? On that last question, were you tempted…

Health Policy

The US is Number One: in Out-of-Pocket Costs!

Byadmin December 6, 2013

I have been writing a fair amount lately about the out-of-pocket costs that many Americans face when they receive healthcare services. A new report by The Commonwealth Fund provides a picture of the scope of this issue. It compares the US to 10 other developed countries, and shows not only that people in the US spend…

Behavioral Economics and Public Policy

When An American Teenager Dies There’s a 1 in 5 Chance It Was From A Gunshot Wound

Bypeter November 13, 2019January 21, 2020

As a father of two adolescent boys, I think often about the risks they face. I just came across a terrifying statistic that will haunt me: a huge proportion of deaths among adolescents occur as a result of firearms. (To read the rest of the article, please visit Forbes.)

Behavioral Economics and Public Policy | Health & Well-being

Heroin and Happiness

Byadmin March 5, 2009

Quick: What do you get when you mix a Nobel Prize winner with a MacArthur genius? You get this: “The claims of some heavy drinkers and smokers that they want to but cannot end their addictions seem to us no different from the claims of single persons that they want to but are unable to…

Behavioral Economics and Public Policy | Health Policy

A Moderate Republican Plan To Fix American Healthcare: 'Medicare For All'?

Byadmin December 17, 2018

Everyone thinks of “Medicare for All” as a liberal idea, an extremely liberal one embraced by the socialist wing of the Democratic Party. It’s an idea Democrats were hesitant to embrace in the Obama era, for being too far out of mainstream political thought. It was thought of as an idea that was too easy…

Health Policy

Debate Rages Over Obamacare, Medical Costs

Byadmin October 3, 2013

When Dr. Jeffrey Rice needed to schedule outpatient foot surgery for his son three years ago, he called the recommended facility to find out what it would cost. The estimate was so high — $15,000 to $25,000 — that Rice asked the surgeon for a second option. The cost for the same one-hour procedure at…