In an interview with Ezra Klein, Atul Gawande discusses reaction to his article on disparate health care costs, and suggests a few simple things to help bring costs in line.
You’ve gotten some pushback on your article about McAllen, Texas. Today, in fact, some doctors from the area held a press conference rebutting your claims, and [...]
Paul Krugman, with a concise response to the idea that we shouldn’t be comparing health outcomes in other countries with our own.
Live long and prosper
Via Andrew Gelman, Greg Mankiw describes the use of international comparisons of life expectancy as part of the argument for reform as “schlocky.”
Grrr. Not many serious advocates of reform use the [...]
I dunno; there’s an awful lot of competition for the title. Maybe.
Paul Krugman: Taking the Hypocritical Oath
I know it’s a tough competition, but this just might be the most hypocritical thing I’ve seen in the past year:
On Monday, Sens. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and Pat Roberts (R-KS) introduced the “Preserving Access to Targeted, [...]
Ezra Klein continues his Health Care Reform for Beginners series this week with Health Care Reform for Beginners: The Many Flavors of the Public Plan and Health Reform for Beginners: The Difference Between Socialized Medicine, Single-Payer Health Care, and What We’ll Be Getting.
You’ll want to read them both, but here I want to focus on [...]
Well, he reads some of what Pragmatos reads, anyway.
The NY Times reports that Obama has taken notice of the Atul Gawande’s article on regional health-care-cost disparities across the US.
President Obama recently summoned aides to the Oval Office to discuss a magazine article investigating why the border town of McAllen, Tex., was the country’s [...]
This nice quote from Milton Friedman (in the context of overhauling the Federal Reserve, as it happens) was recently quoted in the context of health care reform, specifically in support of considering single-payer systems. I’d add democratic reforms such as proportional representation to the list.
… it is worth discussing radical changes, not in the expectation [...]
Read this fascinating (and rather encouraging, if anyone pays attention [somebody did; see update below]) article by Atul Gawande on, among other things, the enormous difference in health care costs from community to community. Oddly, many communities with the best care also have the lowest costs, and not just by a few percent. Why?
THE COST [...]
NYRB (longish).
The Crisis and How to Deal with It
Following are excerpts from a symposium on the economic crisis presented by The New York Review of Books and PEN World Voices at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on April 30. The participants were former senator Bill Bradley, Niall Ferguson, Paul Krugman, Nouriel Roubini, George Soros, and [...]
Tax employee health benefits, says Robert Reich.
The Only Sure Way to Fund Universal Health Care
… But, face it, it’s become a crazy system. You’re not eligible for these benefits when you and your family are likely to need them most – when you lose your job and your income plummets. And these days, as we’re [...]
Matthew Yglesias, commenting on Ramesh Ponnuru’s assertion that individuals should be shopping for health coverage. Go to the source for links and such.
Consumers and Health Care
… And when it comes to health insurance, the subjective is really really really unimportant. Whether or not I “want” prostate cancer screening has just about nothing to do with [...]
Krugman.
Ignorance is bliss
… This is really unbelievable:
The drug and medical-device industries are mobilizing to gut a provision in the stimulus bill that would spend $1.1 billion on research comparing medical treatments, portraying it as the first step to government rationing.
Because freedom is all about laying out vast sums on medical treatments without knowing whether [...]
That’s Vitamin Coffee, bub.
Coffee reduces Alzheimer’s risk: study
Middle-aged people who drink moderate amounts of coffee significantly reduce their risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, a study by Finnish and Swedish researchers showed Thursday.
“Middle-aged people who drank between three and five cups of coffee a day lowered their risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer’s disease by between [...]
James Ridgeway.
AARiP-Off: Group Rakes in Funds from Medicare Prescription Drug Plans
…
As the main lobby representing the 37 million Americans over 65 (12 percent of the population), AARP ought to be leading the charge against a program that puts corporate profits before its members’ health. Instead, its efforts have focused on reaping a large share of [...]
Noah Pollak begins well: “I am far from knowledgeable about health care…”, but really should have stopped there. The rest of the post is roughly the usual “We’re #1 and don’t give me all those stats about the godless commies in Europe”. The loony conclusion:
But this controversy really isn’t about health care. It’s about the [...]
So listen. (I’ve added a few links.)
We Ain’t Got the Money for the Mortgage on the Cow
One reason I’m a conservative is the British National Health Service. Until you have lived under socialism, it sounds like a great idea. It isn’t misery – although watching my parents go through the system lately has been nerve-wracking [...]
Update from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
In 2004 (the latest year that data are available for all countries), the United States ranked 29th in the world in infant mortality, tied with Poland and Slovakia.
That’s down from 12th in 1960, and 23rd in 1990.
A common response to these numbers has been that US rates are [...]
NY Times: The Wrong Place to Be Chronically Ill
Chronically ill Americans suffer far worse care than their counterparts in seven other industrial nations, according to a new study by the Commonwealth Fund, a New York-based foundation that has pioneered in international comparisons. It is the latest telling evidence that the dysfunctional American health care system [...]
google.org flu trends
We’ve found that certain search terms are good indicators of flu activity. Google Flu Trends uses aggregated Google search data to estimate flu activity in your state up to two weeks faster than traditional flu surveillance systems.
Each week, millions of users around the world search for online health information. As you might expect, [...]
Thus Paul Krugman.
Hopeful signs on health care
This is very big news. One of the key questions about the new Democratic majority was whether Congress would try to play it safe, backing down on big ideas about reform, especially on health care. You can view the whole chorus about how we’re still a “center-right nation” [...]
Which I haven’t seen. Follow the review link for a readable lesson in political economics.
Response to IOUSA
In case you’ve missed the hype, IOUSA is a documentary making the case that the U.S. budget is hopelessly out of control and that our current spending patterns will bankrupt our children. The film features such noteworthy characters as [...]