If you’re sick in America, you should be paying at least some attention to the health care reform debate on Capitol Hill. This process has the potential to change our lives forever – possibly for better, but also possibly for worse. At present, the only real health care reform bill being considered is the Affordable [...]
Fri, June 19 2009 » Uncategorized » 3 Comments
This is Senator Dodd (D-CT), from a Politico story on pending health care legislation: “There are some gaps. But there are no gaps in our determination, my determination and that of my colleagues to have a public option, pay-or-play, or biologics,” Dodd said. The public option I get; that’s the proposal to a have a [...]
Tue, June 9 2009 » Uncategorized » No Comments
Keri at Diabetes Mine asks: Does the position of Supreme Court Justice fall under the American Disabilities Act? Good question. Kerri is responding to some speculation elsewhere on the interwebs, about Sotomayor’s health – she has diabetes – being a liability in her nomination and confirmation, but let’s be honest: this is a dumb and [...]
Thu, May 28 2009 » Uncategorized » No Comments
You probably already know that the peanut producer responsible for the massive salmonella outbreak deliberately lied to FDA officials about their products’ contamination. There is plenty of righteous wrath directed at the plant owner, but the FDA dropped the ball, too. While this isn’t being treated as a health care issue, it is – indirectly. [...]
Fri, February 13 2009 » Uncategorized » No Comments
As a dissenting view of the sort of thing I was talking about here, consider this: Consider the following statement: “It must be made clear to anyone suffering from an incurable disease that the useless dissipation of costly medications drawn from the public store cannot be justified.” This notion is fully in the spirit of [...]
Thu, February 12 2009 » Uncategorized » No Comments
One of the most frustrating problems with health care in this country is the paranoia and ignorance surrounding pain and pain treatment. There are doctors who refuse to prescribe anything for pain associated with Crohn’s disease; I know because they’ve told me so. I could crap blood 8 times a day, bent over double from [...]
Mon, February 9 2009 » Uncategorized » 4 Comments
Jane at Health Populi links to a study of COBRA premiums and unemlpoyment benefits. The study suggests that COBRA premiums on average cost about 84% of what unemployment benefits typically pay. The implication is that most people would not be able to afford COBRA if their only source of income was unemployment benefits, and would [...]
Mon, January 12 2009 » Uncategorized » No Comments
One of things that surprised me when I entered the blogosphere was the number of doctors billing themselves as “free-market” advocates. Do they teach economics in med school? If so, they don’t do a good job of it. For example, Kevin links to an op-ed by a “free-market advocate” physician named Paul Hsieh. The op-ed [...]
Sat, January 10 2009 » Uncategorized » 2 Comments
According to the Boston Globe, the stimulus package being developed in Congress might include COBRA subsidies for the unemployed. The economic stimulus package now being assembled on Capitol Hill will include significant subsidies to help the newly unemployed keep their health insurance after they lose their jobs, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee said [...]
Thu, January 8 2009 » Uncategorized » No Comments
The company that makes Airborne has to pay out yet another shitload of money for the bogus claims it makes, in what I hope is a blow against all sorts of quackery. Why we don’t do a better job of regulating ‘supplements’, I know not – but in the meantime, at least we have the [...]
Wed, December 17 2008 » Uncategorized » No Comments
A novel crime against decency by Duncan Cross
