Medicaid and Poverty
Medicaid is an “entitlement” program. That means anyone who meets eligibility criteria related to poverty has a right to enroll and receive Medicaid coverage. It also means states have guaranteed financial support from Washington for part of the cost of their Medicaid programs if the states cover certain “mandatory” populations: Children through age 18 in […]
Medicaid
Medicaid is in the news every day. People, politicians, policymakers, providers, and payers are expressing points of view ranging from kill it to expand it. Unfortunately, most people are not well informed about what Medicaid is. I would like to help on the informing part of the issue by describing what it is, how it […]
Telehealth Moves Toward Mainstream
Telemedicine is on its way to becoming mainstream. One company, Teladoc, is believed to have garnered a 75% market share, but I expect a lot more competition coming in. That will be a good thing, more competition will mean better choices for consumers. So far, consumers like telehealth. For as little as $40 they can see […]
Congress Puts Drug Lobbyists Ahead of Those They are Supposed to Represent
As I have written in Health Attitude: Unraveling and Solving the Complexities of Healthcare, there are many problems with the American healthcare system. The number one problem is the high cost. It is not the cost of the insurance, it is the cost of delivering the healthcare. Billions of dollars are spent on legal fees to […]
Healthcare Cost: High Spenders and Low Spenders Get Same Results
The Journal of the American Medical Association (Internal Medicine) published a new study on the cost of healthcare. Researchers analyzed 485,000 Medicare patient hospital visits between 2011 and 2014. The visits involved almost 22,000 hospitalists, medical specialists who work in the hospital. The number of tests and consultations prescribed for the patients varied widely, even within […]
