December 2009 - The Health Care Blog

Welcoming immigrants and robots to fill the nursing shortage

By DAVID E. WILLIAMS In a report this week, Nursing crisis looms as baby boomers age, CNN Money repeats a well-known story: there are unlikely to be enough nurses to take care of people as they age. Nursing schools can’t... Read More...

Published Wed, Dec 30 2009 7:21 AM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: Nursing

Making A List and Checking It Twice

By MERRILL GOOZNER Allow me to call readers attention to an article in the latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine that calls on medical specialty societies to make lists of the five most wasteful practices in their... Read More...

Published Tue, Dec 29 2009 10:11 AM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: Physicians, Economics

A Randomized Trial of Niceness in the ER and Other Stories

By BOB WACHTER One of the great joys of a life in academic medicine is the opportunity to work with lots of very smart people. But one regret is that there is something about academia that tends to homogenize –... Read More...

Published Mon, Dec 28 2009 12:30 PM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: Economics

The Coming Clash over "Cadillac" Plans

By MERRILL GOOZNER Now that the Senate has passed its version of health care reform along partisan lines, let's look ahead to the single biggest issue that will draw the most heat in conference: The tax on so-called "Cadillac plans,"......

Published Sun, Dec 27 2009 5:55 AM by The Health Care Blog

As I've always suspected, Health Care = Communism + Frappuccinos

By Matthew Holt Nothing new today from me, but if you're stopping by THCB looking for some post-Xmas inspiration, I thought you might like this essay I'm rather proud from back in THCB's past (back in the dark days of... Read More...

Published Sat, Dec 26 2009 9:18 AM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: Matthew Holt

Senate passes bill, more to come

By Matthew Holt Its Christmas Eve and the Senate just passed a major health reform bill. Personally I think the reforms in it are relatively minor, but the passage of the bill itself is a screaming big deal. When I... Read More...

Published Thu, Dec 24 2009 9:14 AM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: Policy/Politics, Matthew Holt, Policy

Why buy insurers stocks, When the Obama health bill would bankrupt them?

By DONALD JOHNSON On Monday, liberals sneered when insurers' stocks rose, indicating that speculators thought ObamaCare (HR 3590) would be good for the big regional companies. But today several of the stocks are sinking, probably in response to University...

Published Wed, Dec 23 2009 12:54 PM by The Health Care Blog

How Will the Senate Bill Impact the Insurance Companies and Their Customers?

By ROBERT LASZEWSKI How will the Senate bill impact health insurance companies and their customers? Even better, how will it impact a not-for-profit health plan--one with a reputation for being a "good guy" that continually wins the country's...

Published Wed, Dec 23 2009 9:33 AM by The Health Care Blog

2009 Homeless Gift Guide

By DOC GURLEY This time of year, no matter what your worldview, religion or culture, it's hard, as you hurry past the homeless huddled on the street, to not feel like Scrooge. Whether you're taking your family to the Nutcracker,... Read More....

Published Wed, Dec 23 2009 9:26 AM by The Health Care Blog

Why Health Care Reform Is So Difficult in the United States

By HUMPHREY TAYLOR, Chairman, the Harris Poll, Harris interactive Why is it so hard to change the American health care system? And so much easier to change other countries’ systems? I pondered this question recently while attending the Commonwealth Fund...

Published Tue, Dec 22 2009 9:52 AM by The Health Care Blog

Voters Want Abortion-Neutral Health Care Reform

By MARK MELLMAN A few months ago, I warned that some folks were attempting to misuse healthcare reform to restrict access to abortion. They have come a long way since then, endangering the vital struggle for healthcare — indeed, torpedoing... Read More...

Published Tue, Dec 22 2009 9:45 AM by The Health Care Blog

Coal in Your Christmas Stocking?

By ROBERT LASZEWSKI Is there anyone left, on either side of the political spectrum, who wants the Senate health care bill to pass? Republican Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour had this to say about the Senate bill last week, “This health... Read More...

Published Tue, Dec 22 2009 9:44 AM by The Health Care Blog

Enthoven beats up Gawande

By Matthew Holt I finally got around to reading Atul Gawande's New Yorker piece on why the current reform bill mirrors early 20th century agriculture. I learned lots about the role of the Department of Agriculture in teaching farmers what... Read...

Published Tue, Dec 22 2009 6:49 AM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: Policy/Politics, Matthew Holt, Policy

Virtual Medicine: The Lever That Just Might Save Independent Practice

By RICHARD REECE Give me a lever long enough, and a prop strong enough, I can single-handedly move the world. -- Archimedes Independent medical practice in America is in trouble. It is fragmented, with some 900,000 doctors – 300,000 primary... Read More...

Published Mon, Dec 21 2009 5:51 PM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: Physicians

Interview with Alan Greene MD, author <i>Raising Baby Green</i>

One of the most remarkable talks I heard this year wasn't about health care. It was about food. Of course, food is very, very closely related to health and health is at least tangentially related to health care. So I... Read More...

Published Mon, Dec 21 2009 1:01 AM by The Health Care Blog

Filed under: Matthew Holt, Policy, Consumers, Children's Health, Podcasts, Books