April 19th, 2010 by RyanDuBosar in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News
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Threats of lowered Medicare payments have been postponed again until June 1.
ACP’s Neil Kirschner, Ph.D., had reported that some physicians were postponing non-emergency appointments until the issue resolved.
Medicare had announced Thursday that it would start paying doctors’ claims at the lower rate. Now, restored payment levels are retroactive to April 1, so internists will be paid at the 2009 rate for all services provided in April.
Included in the legislation are extensions of unemployment benefits to restore aid to thousands of Americans who had exhausted their benefits or whose eligibility was expiring.
(MedScape, Washington Post, New York Times)
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
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 KevinMD in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Health Tips, News, Research
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Poor compliance with breastfeeding recommendations costs the nation at least $13 billion each year, with nearly all of the cost related to infant morbidity and mortality, according to a comprehensive economic analysis.
If 90% of new mothers followed guidelines for six months of exclusive breastfeeding for their children, an estimated 911 deaths would be prevented annually, said authors Melissa Bartick, MD, MSc, of Harvard Medical School, and Arnold Reinhold, MBA, of the Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics, both in Boston. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at KevinMD.com*
April 18th, 2010 by Gwenn Schurgin O'Keeffe, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Opinion, True Stories
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Shopping for groceries the other day, my kids noticed this product that made us all stop in our tracks: Chubby Drink from Aisle 7!
Yes, this is a real product from a real major brand supermarket.
Yes, the label does read “Chubby” and shows a picture of a, well, chubby kid.
No, it’s not a new health drink. Packed into that portable, kid-sized 8-ounce container is the equivalent of 2 candy bars worth of calories and sugar.
No, you’re not being “punked” or on candid blogger or seeing a prop from SNL. This truly is a real drink sold in stores coast to coast. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Gwenn Is In*
April 17th, 2010 by Michael Sevilla, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips
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If you haven’t read about the “record” high levels of pollen in the air, you (like me) have experienced a lot of the allergies we know as allergic rhinitis.
Yesterday, I was on the local TV news station talking about pollen, allergies, and what to do about it. Check out Video 1 and Video 2.
If you find them useful, I encourage you to check out more of my interviews by clicking here.
*This blog post was originally published at Doctor Anonymous*
