The root cause of why our health system is unsustainable

Health Policy
September 16, 2011

An excerpt from Balancing The Budget is a Progressive Priority.

It is our cultural fear of death and inability to discuss the limits of medicine to forestall death that enables the politics of health reform to be so potent.

When I did a post-doctoral fellowship in England in the mid-1990s, a professor I met who had lived in the U.S. explained to me why he thought health policy discussions in that nation …

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The root cause of why our health system is unsustainable

How a dispute with an insurance company can affect patients

Health Policy
June 2, 2011

8,000 patients will no longer be able to receive care from UNC Hospitals and their affiliated physician practices because of a dispute between UNC and the insurance company Aetna.

The bottom line is that Aetna does not want to pay as much for care provided by UNC as UNC wants to be paid for providing this care. No surprise there, as the interests of the two parties (health care provider and …

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How a dispute with an insurance company can affect patients

Slowing health costs requires answering 3 simple questions

Health Policy
March 19, 2011

If we ever slow health care cost inflation to a sustainable pace, it will be because we learn how to ask 3 simple questions when thinking about a medical treatment.

  • Does it improve quality of life for the patient?
  • Does it extend the patient’s life?
  • How much does it cost?

Asking the questions are of course much simpler than figuring out the …

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Slowing health costs requires answering 3 simple questions

What health reform compromise could look like

Health Policy
January 15, 2011

While the rhetoric around health reform has been incendiary from day one, in policy terms, a compromise between Democrats and Republicans using the outline of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has always been available. The two primary problems with the health care system are costs and lack of coverage. The ACA does pretty well on the second, and is a start on the first, but much more is needed. It …

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What health reform compromise could look like

Our malpractice system needs to focus on patient safety

Physician
November 18, 2010

A malpractice lawsuit claims that a doctor treated a patient negligently and that this treatment caused harm, and it seeks monetary compensation. Negligence means that a physician failed to provide the standard of care expected by the prevailing medical custom. Juries decide cases that are tried, but most cases are settled or dropped. Lawyers get paid (typically 35 percent) only when they win or settle a case.

A successful malpractice system …

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Our malpractice system needs to focus on patient safety