Tag Archives: health policy

Will a Nursing Surplus Make Up for a Primary Care Physician Shortage?

Posted on Tuesday, June 4, 2013

I wrote not too long ago about a way to overcome the potential shortage of primary care physicians, the shortage some experts worry about because of the increased demand for primary care that will be created by Obamacare. I promoted … Continue reading →

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How Satisfied Are People with the US Healthcare System?

Posted on Friday, May 31, 2013

A recent survey described in the April issue of Health Affairs reveals widespread disenchantment with the US healthcare system, as compared to a number of other developed countries. Keep these results in mind the next time you hear someone raving … Continue reading →

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Variation in Medicare Costs Is Mainly Due to Post-Acute Care

Posted on Thursday, May 30, 2013

Health policy wonks have been pointing for a while now to large variations in Medicare spending across different parts of the country. Live in Miami, and the government is probably going to spend a heck of a lot more for you … Continue reading →

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The Problem With Obamacare’s 50 Employee Cutoff

Posted on Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Imagine you are a small business owner deciding whether to hire two new employees, your 50th and 51st workers respectively. Would you hire them knowing that, by surpassing the magic number 50, you will now be obligated under Obamacare to pay a … Continue reading →

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Hospital Payments That Follow Patients Out of the Hospital

Posted on Tuesday, May 28, 2013

For most Medicare patients in United States right now, Medicare pays for hospital stays on the basis of what are called Diagnostic Related Groups or DRGs. You get diagnosed with pneumonia, and your hospital gets payment to treat a typical … Continue reading →

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Dramatic Primary Care Changes in Ontario

Posted on Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Healthcare systems are big and complex beasts, that are very hard to transform overnight. In the United States, for example, we have long had a system of care dominated by fee-for-service payment. In this kind of system, the more tests … Continue reading →

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What Countries Are Successfully Controlling Healthcare Costs, and How Are They Doing That?

Posted on Wednesday, May 15, 2013

In the April issue of Health Affairs, a group of authors explored the cost-containment strategies and four “high income countries“, and try to see what they were doing that we are currently not doing in the United States. The first … Continue reading →

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Healthcare Spending and Life Expectancy

Posted on Tuesday, May 14, 2013

I am not a fan of judging the quality of a nation’s healthcare system by examining life expectancy. Many, many factors influence life expectancy that have nothing to do with healthcare. When examining life expectancy in developed countries, for example, … Continue reading →

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Hospital Pricing Insanity

Posted on Friday, May 10, 2013

Once again, lots of reports in the news about crazy variation in hospital prices in the United States, with thousands or tens of thousands of dollars difference in the price of services from one hospital to its neighbor across the … Continue reading →

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Who Wants to Take a Pill to Prevent Breast Cancer?

Posted on Wednesday, May 8, 2013

On April 14, The United States Preventive Services Taskforce concluded that women with an elevated risk of breast cancer – who have never been diagnosed with breast cancer but whose family history and other medical factors increase their odds of … Continue reading →

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