March 17th, 2010 by DrRob in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
Tags: Dr. Rob, Health Policy, Healthcare Blog, Matthew Holt, THCB
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It’s interesting to see how different things are over at The Health Care Blog. First, it’s different to have to write “health care” instead of healthcare. I personally am all for not using up or resources by adding the space between the two words. Ihaveconsideredeliminatingspacesaltogether, but it gets confusing. Iwon’tdothat.
One of the big differences I see is the perspective of the readers and commenters. I write here for a group of people I largely consider friends, cohorts, or at least sympathetic to my cause. After all, people are coming here by their own volition (I assume nobody is getting this blog forced upon them as some sort of punishment, although that may be a bad assumption). But the readers at THCB (as we insiders call it) are much more argumentative and much more likely to be “experts” in the area of healthcare delivery. Certainly the other folks writing there are far more sophisticated than me (not that that’s a hard thing), and are much more well-read in the area of HC reform. The debates in the comments section are quite stimulating, although sometimes you have to wipe a little blood off of your screen. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Musings of a Distractible Mind*
March 17th, 2010 by KevinMD in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
Tags: Cognitive Services, Finance, Health Insurance, Payment Reform, PCP, Physician, Primary Care, Rates, Reimbursement
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I’ve often given doctors too little credit when it comes to business decisions.
But, in an op-ed published at Reuters, physician Ford Vox argues otherwise.
He notes that doctors, indeed, have tremendous business sense:
How can anybody say that doctors don’t have business sense, when not only do most American physicians forge their way in small private practices, but new doctors lay their cards on the table every year? The competitiveness of residencies, where doctors train to become a pediatrician or a cardiologist, correlates strongly with the field’s earnings potential. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at KevinMD.com*
March 17th, 2010 by Debra Gordon in Better Health Network, Opinion
Tags: Costs, Finance, Health Insurance, Healthcare reform, premiums, Risk Pool
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Gather round boys and girls. Today’s lesson is on “risk pools.”
Before you pull out your iPhone to ward off the boredom you assume will come, know this: the concept of risk pools is at the heart of today’s healthcare reform debate.
To understand risk pools, you first have to understand the basic concept of insurance. Insurance is something you buy in case something happens. The more people buying the same type of insurance, the less risk the insurer faces that it will have to pay out for that aforementioned “something.” Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at A Medical Writer's Musings on Medicine and Health Care*
March 16th, 2010 by GruntDoc in Better Health Network, News, Opinion
Tags: Accelerator, Accidents, Cars, Emergency Medicine, Prius, Safety, Speeding
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I have a confession: I’ve been risking my life.
Yes, still driving a Prius.
I do buy that accelerator pedals can be mechanically jammed by a floor mat (though there’s clips on my car to hold it in place), but this unintended acceleration ‘panic’ is just that. (If for no other reason that there’s now a flurry of cases of this, and none before it was the freak-out du jour). Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at GruntDoc*
March 16th, 2010 by Shadowfax in Better Health Network, Humor
Tags: Alternative Bills, Healthcare reform, The Onion
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Alternate Health Care BillsIn response to President Obama’s call for compromise, several lawmakers have concocted their own health care reform bills. Here are some provisions of the top contenders:
- Hoyer-Larson Bill: All 45 million uninsured Americans would be guaranteed medical care, all of it provided by Dr. Tom Janicak of Houston, TX
- Melancon-Cooper Bill: Would create a low-cost government-administered health insurance plan, but would prohibit anyone from buying into it
- Griffith-Cantor Bill: Low-income families would be allowed to huddle outside hospital windows in the cold and look at wealthier families receiving care
- Hutchinson-Snowe Bill: Children insured on a cuteness scale
- Murray-Menendez Bill: Doctors only allowed to mention giving birth as a viable alternative after providing counseling on the many different ways one can have an abortion.
- Luetkemeyer-Fortenberry Bill: They just liked the way their names looked together, and this seemed like the most high-profile opportunity to put it out there
- Grayson Bill: Rep. Alan Grayson will personally punch in the face any insurance executive who turns down a valid claim
- Blookross-Feiser Bill: Although no one is exactly sure who these two shadowy congressmen are, their bill would mandate a twofold increase in insurance premiums and force patients to buy name-brand drugs
I particularly like the Melancon-Cooper bill, which actually does bear resemblance to the Public Option in its death throes.
*This blog post was originally published at Movin' Meat*
