Brian C. Joondeph is an ophthalmologist and can be reached on Twitter @retinaldoctor.
As the repeal of Obamacare is debated in the halls of Congress and on cable TV, one common theme is: “What will happen to patients?” Questions loom about what might change with coverage, about cost, about whether you’ll still be able to keep your doctor, and if medications will still be covered
But what about doctors? What about how they’re doing?
There are things doctors want to tell their patients, not only about …
Anyone with a computer or smartphone is well aware of the incessant alerts that flash across the screen, often accompanied by a beep or exclamation point. The alert may be for an upcoming appointment, a reminder of an acquaintance’s birthday — or a just-announced sale at your favorite online retailer.
How many of these alerts are really important? It’s easy to ignore a media news flash — but what if you …
Supporters of the health care status quo are outraged, predictably, over what they see as Donald Trump’s search-and-destroy mission on Obamacare. They cite all of the newly insured people under the Affordable Care Act — then turn to gloom-and-doom scenarios, insisting everyone will lose insurance, especially those who are low-income and on Medicaid.
Change is never easy, and it can sometimes be scary when facts aren’t known. So will millions of …
With Donald Trump’s promise to repeal and replace Obamacare on many Americans’ minds, there are numerous questions about how the health care system will work in the very near future. There are equally as many, if not more, outlandish speculations.
Donald Trump was elected a week ago and doesn’t assume office for two more months. Much of what will get changed and how is yet unknown. Yet the mainstream media has been quick …
United Healthcare announced that it plans on exiting most of the Obamacare insurance plans by 2017. Not their traditional commercial insurance plans or Medicare supplements, but specifically the insurance plans offered through the state exchanges of Obamacare.
Didn’t President Obama tell Americans that if they liked their insurance plan, they would be able to keep it under Obamacare? Actually he did, at least 36 times. So what happened?
In …
Last year, several scandals unfolded involving the Veterans Health Administration. Close to home, the Fort Collins VA hospital falsified its wait times for clinic appointments. To meet the VA goal of clinic appointments within 14 days, the hospital instructed its clerks to “cook the books,” falsifying appointment records to give the illusion that the vets were being seen in a timely manner.
Farther away in Phoenix, the local VA hospital had …
UnitedHealthcare (UHC), the nation’s largest health insurer, will likely pull out of Obamacare in 2017. Citing high costs and huge potential losses, they warned that 2016 will probably be their last year offering health insurance through the Obamacare exchanges.
Is this another example of greedy insurance companies with fat cat CEOs gouging the system? Or are economic realities interfering with the “hope and change” of Obamacare?
UHC isn’t really selling insurance. Instead …
Daraprim is a drug that no one ever heard of unless they are taking it. It is used to treat toxoplasmosis, a parasitic infection, has been around for decades, and is prescribed typically in patients with weakened immune systems, such as those with AIDS. Daraprim has been newsworthy because a small company, Turing Pharmaceuticals, recently purchased the drug from Impax Laboratories for $55 million, and promptly raised the price of …
ICD-10 is not a character in an upcoming fall TV show, but instead something far less glamorous. ICD stands for International Classification of Diseases and is a list of codes used by doctors and hospitals when billing insurance companies.
It’s been around since 1946, with the 10th iteration going into effect on October 1st. And it may be an unpleasant October surprise for doctors and hospitals. Don’t blame Obamacare. Don’t blame …
Ask any premed student what they fear most and the answer will always be the MCAT, or Medical College Admission Test. After 25 years, the MCAT is being revised, becoming longer (by three hours) and covering a broader range of topics than simply chemistry, physics, and biology. One-quarter of the new test covers “psychology, sociology and the biological foundations of behavior.” …
Medicaid expansion “is one of the biggest milestones in health care reform,” according to the Obamacare Facts website. The goal was to provide insurance coverage to low-income Americans, specifically the uninsured. The major problem with Medicaid is low reimbursement. “Due to low payouts, many doctors don’t take Medicaid, and the quality of care tends to be poor,” admits the website. The solution was to raise the amount doctors get paid under …
Just north of Denver, Jefferson County has become a battleground in the fight over performance-based pay for teachers. The recently elected school board plans on implementing “[a] compensation system that recognizes and rewards our great teachers,” according to school board president Ken Witt. The response of the local teachers’ union was for teachers to call in sick and enlist students in protesting what they describe as a proposed “patriotic curriculum.”
The protests are a convenient …
Should we be worried about Ebola? That’s the question on the minds of many Americans given the first documented case on U.S. soil. And now there is a second possible case, someone having contact with Thomas Duncan, the first U.S. case of Ebola.
Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reassures us, “I have no doubt that we’ll stop this in its tracks in the U.S.” President Obama also told …
ADVERTISEMENT
We rely on the FDA to protect public health “by assuring the safety, efficacy, and security” of medical drugs and devices. The FDA takes its marching orders from Congress via the legislative process. One such law is the Compounding Quality Act of 2013, passed in response to a series of fatal infections due to improper compounding pharmacy processes. While such oversight is important and well meaning, the unintended consequences may be …
Michelle Obama recently wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times discussing her pet project of childhood obesity. Discussing the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, known as WIC, she criticized the House of Representatives for considering a bill that would allow white potatoes to be included in the list of foods that could be purchased with WIC funds.
One …
As the VA scandal unfolds, with continued revelations of secret waitlists and delayed or denied medical care, calls have been building Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki to resign. He did just that, resigning because, “He had become a distraction as the department struggles.”
President Obama, eager to show America that he was being proactive about the scandal, regretfully accepted the General’s resignation. But other than allowing the president to show that he is doing something about …
ADVERTISEMENT
Labor unions have been reliable supporters of President Obama and his policies. Their support for Obamacare was critical to its passage in 2010. Yet they are continuing to learn that their members will be paying more for their health care, not less.
One of the selling points of Obamacare was the lowering of health insurance costs. Nancy Pelosi promised, “Everybody will have lower rates.” President Obama was more specific, telling us that his signature …
As we behold the continued wonders of Obamacare, we receive another reminder of the president’s empty promise: “If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor.” The New York Times observed, “No matter what kind of health plan consumers choose, they will find fewer doctors and hospitals in their network — or pay much more for the privilege of going to any provider …
Colorado and Washington are the first states to legalize recreational marijuana. In my state of Colorado, Amendment 64 was passed by 55 percent of voters by ballot referendum last year and took effect on January 1 of this year. State government officials are giddy with the prospects of increased revenue from marijuana sales. Marijuana tourism is booming in Colorado, giving new meaning to “Rocky Mountain High.” Now, four months into this new experiment, it may be worth looking …
ADVERTISEMENT
A Veterans Affairs hospital in Fort Collins Colorado, it was recently revealed, falsified its wait times for outpatient clinic appointments. In order to appear to meet the goal of clinic appointments within 14 days, the hospital taught its clerks how to falsify the appointment records to create the illusion that the appointment goals were being met. Many of the 6,300 veterans treated at this clinic actually …
Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.
