Costs of Cancer Care?
March 31, 2008
Part of the heartache of cancer is that surviving it is ultimately a game of statistics. There are no assurances - except in the worst case scenarios where they are grim.
Even determining the best treatment is a matter of weighing likelihoods rather than having clear-cut solutions. On top of all that, patients must deal with the cost of various treatments.
Fortunately, cancer death rates have been falling in recent years - for several reasons:
- There is more and more information available on how to prevent cancer.
- Regular screening can catch the disease in early stages when it’s more treatable.
New WhatIf Content on Health Care Costs, Resources
March 27, 2008
The newest pieces on our website expand from the interactive quiz we put up a couple weeks ago:
Do you think you know what’s behind rising health care costs?
Take our quiz and find out. The Top Ten claims about what’s causing health care costs to steadily climb are exposed as true, false, or a little of both.
For a brief explanation of the answers to the quiz - how common claims about rising health care costs fit into the whole story - check out our new Health Care Costs Summary.
Hurricane Katrina Also Destroyed Health Care
March 21, 2008
As of yesterday, heavy rains and melting snows brought rising floodwaters to the U.S., submerging areas stretching from the South through the Midwest towards the Northeast. Thousands of people were forced to flee 250 towns and cities. Images of people escaping their neighborhoods on rowboats and of the tornado that ripped through Atlanta last Friday may have evoked in some recent memories of another terrible weather event in a major Southern city.
This August will mark the 3rd anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the costliest and one of the most deadly hurricanes in U.S. history. In 2005, the storm swept through coastal Louisiana and Mississippi, and Alabama.
Blame the Boomers?
March 18, 2008
It’s long been the assumption that what’s driving the rise in health care costs is our aging population and in particular, the baby boomers. As folks get older, they get sicker and more fragile – need more health care treatment and medicines. As the baby-boomers hit their sixties, people are assuming that our nation’s health care spending is going up accordingly.
But experts now say shifting demographics isn’t the main cause of our costs problem. The Congressional Budget Office has issued a new report finding that unnecessary tests and treatments are to blame. CBO Director Peter Orzsag has stated that if nothing is done these costs will consume half the U.S. economy before the end of this century.
Expert, Shmexpert
March 14, 2008
If you’ve ever owned a car and never built one, you know the sense of powerless frustration when something goes wrong with it. Unless you have the good fortune of having a best friend who is a mechanic, you never know whom you can trust to fix your car.
That sputtering and clanking, the clutch’s failure to engage, the air conditioner that keeps conking out – who knows what’s really causing it? You might as well hand your wallet over to your mechanic and hope he treats it gently. What’s more distressing is that all those tricks we resort to to keep us from feeling like total rubes – getting a second opinion, finding a mechanic who talks you through the problem – may not amount to anything.
Dallas Does VIPs Better
March 13, 2008
One of the ironies of life is that those most able to pay for something are often the ones who get it for free. Movie stars and celebrities regularly get “gifted” with designer ware and products. Manufacturers know that the rich and famous are trendsetters. How better to advertise a new handbag than have Paris Hilton carry it? As for the free upgrades and complimentary goodies millionaires and billionaires get when they check into a hotel or make a purchase or heck, just show up somewhere? Just another one of the perks of having tons of money, I guess.
The Last Frontier in Outsourcing?
March 12, 2008
With the costs of US health care rising along with growing awareness of its oftentimes comparatively poor quality, more and more Americans are going abroad for health treatment - half a million in 2005 - mostly to Mexico and other Latin American countries.
The loss of American manufacturing jobs was the first casualty of the global economy. Many thought service jobs would be safe: you can’t have your latte poured or your office cleaned by someone in another country. But as American telecommunications and technology jobs have drifted to India and elsewhere, health care jobs seem to be following suit.
The Benefits of Telehealth
March 11, 2008
If necessity is the mother of invention, then it should be no surprise the innovative world of computer science and technology is being harnessed to help bring down health care costs.
Telehealth - or remote patient monitoring - refers to when medical experts use a digital network (like the internet or telephone lines) to provide automated monitoring and treatment delivery to a patient who is in a different physical location. This can range from email messages of basic care instructions to remote robotic surgery.
Health Care Outlook Gloomy in the Golden State
March 10, 2008
The debate on health care in this country and how it needs to be reformed often centers around the issue of uninsurance. But getting insured in order to afford care is only half the battle; getting good quality care is also important.
There is an effort under way right now in California to expand and improve the state’s health system. While the first image that comes to mind when people think of the Golden State is sunshine, surfboards and muscle beach, the average Californian may not be that healthy.
Health Care: The Joke Is On You
March 7, 2008
It seemed to be health care night over at Comedy Central’s nighttime “news” shows last night. First, John Stewart interviewed former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle about his new book Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis.
According to the Publishers Weekly summary of the book:
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