Were you surprised by the studies last year, concluding that candidate Obama's health plan would insure only one-half of the uninsured? How about the Congressional Budget Office's finding that the $1 trillion Kennedy health plan will insure only one-third of the uninsured? Remember the recurrent theme about why change is needed: problems of cost, quality and access. Here's the latest from the Washington Post:

Obama has distilled his position to three principles: reduce cost, ensure quality and provide choice, including a public insurance option.

Benefits of sleep: "a nap that included REM sleep resulted in nearly a 40 percent improvement over the pre-nap performance."

Hyperphagia: It keeps you wanting more.

Looking good: "160,283 children 18 and under had cosmetic interventions in 2008."

Social Security sends 6,733 checks to dead people.  But some people classified as deceased may be alive.

Only 26% of Massachusetts voters say their health reform has been a success.  37% say it has been a failure.

Private clinics are booming in Canada.  Woman pays out-of-pocket rather than wait a year for an MRI scan.

Health Savings Accounts appeal to the uninsured.  As a percent of new accounts the uninsured are 40% (Assurant), 33% (EHealth Insurance) and 37% (AHIP).

52% say people with unhealthy habits should pay more for health insurance.  76% say a person's health is within his/her own control.

On the Goal of Health Care Reform

Dr. David Blumenthal, a Harvard professor and key health advisor to President Obama: "The more people have, the more of it they tend to spend on healthcare." But as a nation's wealth increases and standards of medical care become higher and more costly, the lowest income groups get priced out. Government controls are needed to push down healthcare costs (and by inference, standard of care) to a level that everyone, including the poor, can afford, or to what government can afford to provide to everyone equally. The goal is not only universal coverage but also a similar healthcare experience for everyone, regardless of ability to pay (New England Journal of Medicine, March 8, 2001).

On the Rhetoric vs. the Reality of Reform

Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, a health policy advisor in the Office of Management and Budget and brother of Rahm Emanuel, the president's chief of staff: "Vague promises of savings from cutting waste, enhancing prevention and wellness, installing electronic medical records, and improving quality are merely 'lipstick' cost control, more for show and public relations than for true change." (Health Affairs, February 27, 2008.) True change must include reassessing the promise doctors make when they enter the profession. The Hippocratic Oath is partly to blame for the "overuse" of medical care: Physicians take the "Hippocratic Oath's admonition to 'use my power to help the sick to the best of my ability and judgment' as an imperative to do everything for the patient regardless of the cost or effects on others." (Journal of the American Medical Association, June 18, 2008.)

Continue reading »

Diabetes alert dogs are trained to sniff out dangerous blood sugar levels. It's better than a finger prick.

Surprise finding: Frequent, vigorous exercise boosts heart risk.

Can quilting prevent dementia?  Maybe.

Atkins was right. Cutting back on carbohydrates can lead to weight loss.

How do you know that costly seafood entrée is really Chilean Sea Bass? Many restaurants are deceptive.

Why do dieters find it so hard to lose weight? Because they often compensate for low-calorie foods with larger portions.

200,000 people have signed the Free Our Health Care NOW petition.

A short paper, "Hidden Costs of Health Care," released by Kathleen Sebelius and the Department of HHS last week, cherry picks the data to make a case that "Americans are spending more than ever on their monthly premiums while simultaneously being forced to pay higher out-of-pocket costs as a result of rising deductibles, copayments, and other cost sharing mechanisms." It goes on to complain that out-of-pocket costs, including premiums, rose by 30% from 2001 to 2006. Yet, elsewhere Mr. Obama frequently claims that the cost of employer-sponsored coverage rose 100% in the same time frame, so employees would seem to be getting a good deal.

Sebelius' report also says, "Seventeen percent of people with employer-based coverage have high out-of-pocket burdens (defined as out-of-pocket costs that consume 10 percent or more of a family's total income)." Of course, she forgets to mention that people on Medicare pay on average of 14% of their incomes on out-of-pocket costs, so a "public option" might not solve this particular problem.

Continue reading »

This is from Ezra Klein:

Paul Starr has an important column today on the dangers of a badly designed public plan. The issue essentially comes down to adverse selection. If the public plan becomes a dumping ground for the sick and the old, it will be too costly for the young and the healthy. Rates will go up, and conservatives will point to the plans as costing X percent more than private insurance, thus proving the inefficiency of the government.

Hat tip to Marginal Revolution.