Health Care Archives

August 8, 2007

No Free Lunches

Yesterday, I interviewed Dr. Ken Thorpe from the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease on CQ Radio about the PFCD's efforts to fund preventive health care initiatives as a long-term cost saving initiative for Medicare and private insurance providers. The New York Times throws a dash of cold water on the underlying assumptions of the PFCD's claims today, claiming that preventive intervention will cost more in both the short and long run (via Memeorandum): The current health care system doesn’t pay hospitals, doctors and nurses to keep people healthy; it pays for tests, surgeries and drugs. So Americans often get expensive invasive care of dubious medical benefit while missing out on sensible basic care. Millions of other people go without any care for chronic illnesses like heart disease and diabetes. If Medicare and private insurers paid for more preventive care, Americans would be healthier than they are today and live longer....

August 30, 2007

Another National Health Care System Horror Story

The lack of facilities in a national health-care system has resulted in the death of a newborn. Japan, whose system has been cited as a model for the United States to consider, has few medical facilities in their rural areas, and the lack of obstetricians led one couple to be turned away from eight hospitals when the mother-to-be went into labor: Japan's health minister has pledged to address the shortage of doctors in the country after a woman in labour was turned away by eight hospitals. A ninth hospital refused to admit her even after she miscarried in an ambulance and her baby died. The woman, who was in the sixth month of her pregnancy, lived just three minutes away from a hospital. But she was forced to travel 70km (45 miles) by ambulance looking for a facility that would admit her. Actually, the ninth hospital initially agreed to accept...

September 27, 2007

Take From The Poor, Give To The Middle Class

Investors Business Daily looks at the S-CHIP expansion and recognizes the political dangers for Republicans opposing it. Any vote against expanding health insurance coverage to children will prompt critics to paint the GOP as the party of Fagins, taking medical attention away from poor sick kids. However, in this case, the kids aren't poor, although that's where the funding will originate: As passed by the House, the State Children's Health Insurance Program, known as SCHIP, will create a major new middle-class entitlement even as we face looming national bankruptcy from our $50.5 trillion (yes, you read that number right) in planned spending under Social Security and Medicare. Today, some 6.6 million kids are covered under SCHIP, at a cost of about $25 billion over five years. The new bill raises that to 9 million kids covered, at a cost of $60 billion. It pays for it with a 61-cent hike...

September 28, 2007

S-CHIP Battle Moves To Vetoland, Population: 3

The Senate passed the expansion of the S-CHIP program yesterday with a veto-proof majority, 67-29, which sets up a standoff between Congress and the White House over the renewal of the politically sensitive program. The Bush administration favored renewing S-CHIP and even expanding it to a small degree, but the large expansion and the cigarette tax it uses has the White House talking veto. If Bush vetoes it, it may set up a standoff between Bush and Republicans looking towards tough re-election fights: The Senate, with an overwhelming bipartisan vote yesterday, sent President Bush a $35 billion expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, setting up the biggest domestic policy clash of his presidency and launching a fight that will reverberate into the 2008 elections. Bush has vowed to veto the measure, but he has faced strong criticism from many fellow Republicans reluctant to turn away from a popular...

October 9, 2007

Malpractice Awards Increasing?

In an earlier thread, a debate broke out about whether malpractice awards have increased so rapidly as to contribute to the rise in health care costs. I decided to take the evening to research the topic while I watched an excellent History Channel documentary on Christopher Columbus' last voyage. It turns out that the data isn't that easy to find. I spent quite a while doing Internet searches and coming up with plenty of commentary but little hard data. Finally, I came across the National Practitioner Data Bank, which takes in all reports of malpractice payouts. Since 1991, the government has directed all such payouts to be reported into a database that allows healthcare providers and patients to research physicians, nurses, and other caregiver types to see what actions have been taken against them. They have historical data prior to that year, but it's not comprehensive. It also doesn't list...

Walberg Rejects The Smear

Tim Walberg, the staunch fiscal conservative and freshman Republican Representative from Michigan, writes about the deceitful campaign waged by Democrats on behalf of the S-CHIP expansion. From country music parodies to hiding behind 12-year-old boys, the Democrats want to paint opponents as heartless Scrooges who want to see kids go without health care. Walberg writes about the way S-CHIP gets applied in Michigan, and we find out that it's not just about kids, or even primarily about them: I support renewing S-CHIP to provide health care to children in low-income families, but I also believe we need to ensure that the children’s health program is available for children who need it, and not for adults, people who enter the country illegally, or families who already have private insurance. The Democratic legislation takes a program originally meant for children of low-income families and expands it to cover some families earning up...

October 15, 2007

Poll: S-CHIP Should Remain Focused On The Poor

USA Today has polled Americans on the Democratic proposal to extend S-CHIP subsidies to middle-class families -- and the results bode ill for the bill's proponents. A majority of Americans support George Bush's veto, and an even larger majority believes it will undermine private health insurance altogether: A majority of Americans trust Democrats to handle the issue of children's health insurance more than President Bush, but they agree with the president that government aid should not go to middle-income families or those with private insurance, a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll shows. Three days before the Democratic-controlled House attempts to override Bush's veto of a five-year, $35 billion expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), the poll shows that Americans' opinions on the issue are mixed. Of those polled, 52% said they have more confidence in Democrats to deal with the issue, compared with 32% for Bush. But majorities...

October 16, 2007

Nationalized Health Care Is Like Pulling Teeth -- Your Own

The British have had a nationalized health care system for decades, and almost as long a list of examples why it doesn't work. Three years ago, we discovered that hospitals in the UK threw out viable kidneys for lack of physicians qualified to transplant them. Now we find out that a shortage of dentists has led Britons to perform free-lance extractions to avoid an excruciating wait: A shortage of National Health Service dentists in England has led some people to pull out their own teeth — or use super glue to stick crowns back on, a study says. Many dentists abandoned Britain's publicly funded health care system after reforms backfired, leaving a growing number of Britons without access to affordable care. "I was not surprised to hear those horror stories," said Celestine Bridgeman, 41, of London. "Trying to find good NHS dentists is like trying to hit the lottery because...

October 18, 2007

S-CHIP Override Debate: Live Blog

The debate has just begun for the S-CHIP expansion veto override in the House. At the moment, the House is not expected to override the veto; vote counters have the Democrats coming up short. 10:00 am - John Dingell has gone on about how this is "health care for America's children". It's about health insurance subsidies for middle-class children. No one proposed shutting down S-CHIP, or even curtailing it. The White House wanted a modest expansion, but not the vast expansion the Democrats want. 10:02 - Nathan Deal (R-GA) says that federal money should be limited to actual children, not childless adults. The states should fund those adults through Medicaid. He also wants the limit to go up to 250% of the federal poverty level, and that an asset cap of $1 million should be implemented. 10:04 - Charles Rangel, "in the spirit of bipartisanship, especially to my Republican colleagues",...

October 25, 2007

Questionable Assumptions From A Questionable Poll

The Los Angeles Times reports today that their polling demonstrates that more Americans agree with the Democrats than the Republicans on how to reform health care. A slender majority want government mandates for people to carry health insurance, and a larger majority supported a mandate for employers to offer it. However, the polling sample has much more to do with the results than the Times acknowledges: Two of the main proposals advanced by Democrats received majority support in the poll. Sixty-two percent said they supported requiring large employers to help pay for coverage whereas 31% opposed it. And 51% said they favored a mandate that individuals purchase health insurance, much as drivers are required to carry auto coverage; 39% disagreed. Tax breaks to make insurance more affordable -- a leading Republican idea -- more closely divided the public, with 44% backing that approach and 45% opposing it. In one of...

The New S-CHIP, The Same Ram Job

The Democrats have introduced a new version of S-CHIP that they hope can garner enough Republican support to override a presidential veto. The changes in the details limits childless adults from accessing S-CHIP and it sets a lower ceiling of 300% of the poverty line for eligibility. However, it still contains the regressive smoking tax and still does not account for full funding of the program: Just one week after failing to override President Bush's veto, House Democrats will put a new version of their $35 billion expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program to a vote today, hoping that minor changes will win enough Republicans to beat Bush this round. The new version will underscore that illegal immigrants will not have access to the expanded program. It will ease adults off the program in one year, rather than the two in the vetoed version. And it establishes a...

October 29, 2007

The Rich Get Health Care

The British National Health Service has launched an entire new industry: surgical tourism. The Daily Mail reports that the numbers of Britons seeking an escape from the universal health-care system will exceed 70,000 this year and 200,000 by 2010, flying to all parts of the world to get medical attention, and better surgical conditions: Record numbers of Britons are travelling abroad for medical treatment to escape the NHS - with 70,000 patients expected to fly out this year. And by the end of the decade 200,000 "health tourists" will fly as far as Malaysa and South Africa for major surgery to avoid long waiting lists and the rising threat of superbugs, according to a new report. The first survey of Britons opting for treatment overseas shows that fears of hospital infections and frustration of often waiting months for operations are fuelling the increasing trend. ... India is the most popular...

October 30, 2007

Tobacco For Tots

A public service message on behalf of the children: And remember, flu season's coming. No time like the present to start smoking and do your part for respiratory health....

January 27, 2008

When Government Runs The Health Care System....

... it gets to make choices about what -- and whom -- to cover. A survey of doctors in Britain's National Health Service show that a significant percentage of providers want government to cut off benefits to the elderly, the obese, smokers, and others: Doctors are calling for NHS treatment to be withheld from patients who are too old or who lead unhealthy lives. Smokers, heavy drinkers, the obese and the elderly should be barred from receiving some operations, according to doctors, with most saying the health service cannot afford to provide free care to everyone. Fertility treatment and "social" abortions are also on the list of procedures that many doctors say should not be funded by the state. The findings of a survey conducted by Doctor magazine sparked a fierce row last night, with the British Medical Association and campaign groups describing the recommendations from family and hospital doctors...

February 1, 2008

Dr. McCoy To The Sidelines, Please

Star Trek fans remember the tricorder, the handy medical and scientific device that allowed both Dr. McCoy and Mr. Spock to make instant evaluations of injured crew members, hostile environments, and hurt Hortas. They were one of the ways in which plot lines could get speeded along without too much exposition, along with the "universal translator" that allowed everyone to speak in California English -- well, everyone! except! William! Shatner! In a development that ST fans might appreciate, sports physicians may be able to use something similar now to check for concussions. A new hand-held brain-scan device promises to make a clear diagnosis that will eliminate guesswork and prevent permanent damage: A startup called BrainScope is developing a tool that may help inform doctors about which injured players should stay on the sidelines—or be taken to a hospital. The Chesterfield (Mo.) company's handheld device determines the severity of concussions by...