As the election comes up, healthcare remains one of the primary issues in the debates. While each party has their own opinions about how to revive the nation’s healthcare system, both agree that the current system’s spending cannot be sustained. Yet this same uncapped Medicare and Medicaid spending may have helped keep the middle class
In the modern era of recession-encouraged cost cutting and reality TV shows, some people have made a name for themselves by “extreme couponing.” They get hundreds of dollars’ worth of groceries for ten, fifteen, twenty dollars. Most people don’t have the time (or the space) for “extreme couponing,” but that doesn’t mean people aren’t looking
Patients pay their insurance company to cover medical procedures. The insurance companies make money when the patients are healthy, and the patients don’t pay full value for the medical procedures they do need. Everyone wins. Inadequate Health Insurance Payments Not the doctors. Patients pay and insurance companies reimburse only for procedures provided. Doctors foot the
Not to date myself, but in the world of 21st century healthcare, Marcus Welby has left the building. Our healthcare experience has changed over the years, primarily for the better, but it is still changing in ways that many find hard to accept. Doctors are now providers, and patients have become consumers; medicine is no
Becoming a doctor used to be tops on the career totem pole. If you were a physician you were part of a distinguished profession, inherent with the respect and dignity the lengthy education and responsibility deserved. That was then, this is now. Now a doctor is the ‘bad guy’ bringing in six figures, while the
Teach a man to fish and he will feed himself forever, teach an employee to be a responsible healthcare consumer and watch your benefit costs decrease. The uncertainty of the healthcare reform act and its effect on employee sponsored healthcare plans has made it even more imperative for employers to take an active interest in
Healthcare is a business, a BIG business. You need to know all the players are in this healthcare business – your doctor, your insurance company, your employer and the drug manufacturer. What is the goal of a business? To make a profit. That, my friends, is the cold reality of healthcare. An important thought to
Self-scrutiny is a good thing. Without it one can’t learn from their past. Without it there can be no growth. Along these lines, kudos to the American College of Cardiology (ACC). Last week the American Medical Association released a study done by the ACC itself suggesting a portion of angioplasties performed were inappropriate for the
REBECCA S BUSCH