April 26th, 2010 by BobDoherty in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion, Research
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This blog was written from Toronto, Ontario, where ACP’s elected Board of Governors met to provide direction on the policies to be advocated by the organization.
One issue raised by many of the governors is the enormous economic pressure on smaller internal medicine practices, and what the ACP might be able to do about it. Today, most physicians work in private practices of ten or fewer. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The ACP Advocate Blog by Bob Doherty*
April 26th, 2010 by Shadowfax in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
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In the annals of “Things You Probably Wish You Hadn’t Said,” Sue Lowden, the Republican candidate to replace Nevada Senator Harry Reid, suggested last week that bartering for medical care was a workable substitute for the Affordable Care Act, which she is campaigning to repeal.
Surprisingly, after being called out and roundly mocked for the suggestion, she doubled down on the idea:
“You know, before we all started having healthcare, in the olden days, our grandparents, they would bring a chicken to the doctor. They would say, ‘I’ll paint your house.'” Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Movin' Meat*
April 26th, 2010 by EvanFalchukJD in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
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Giving people “incentives” to spend their money wisely is a growing part of the solution to rising healthcare costs. Give people financial responsibility for their healthcare decisions, the thinking goes, and they’ll make cost-effective choices.
It’s usually done by having people pay part of the cost of their employer-provided health coverage, and through things like higher deductibles and co-pays. Today, on average, people in the private sector pay 20 percent or more of the cost of their coverage. The trend is for this number to go up. But it’s not true everywhere. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at See First Blog*
April 19th, 2010 by Davis Liu, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
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In a recent Time magazine article, the author suggests, as many others have done in the past, that forcing patients to be more like customers and comparison shop will drive healthcare costs down. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The theory of consumer-driven healthcare goes like this: If there was more information about the costs of doctors, hospitals, imaging tests, and procedures, people would hunt around to find the best deal, stimulate competition, and drive pricing downward. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Saving Money and Surviving the Healthcare Crisis*
April 19th, 2010 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
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The large healthcare bill has some very good elements in it that should help the average American.
One is a provision that will kick in in 2011 that says all health insurers will need to spend 85 percent of the premium dollar on actually providing care. This means people may actually receive benefits they pay for. What a concept! Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*
