Single-Payer Health Care: $570 Billion Cheaper
Economist Gerald Friedman has what looks to be the silver bullet against the claim that single-payer health care is infeasible on economic grounds, showing how “Medicare for all” could save billions of dollars while improving millions of lives.
via Single-Payer Health Care: $570 Billion Cheaper – Truthdig.
Hospitals Buy Back-Door Drugs Due to Shortages
Fifty-two percent of hospital purchasing agents and pharmacists reported they’d bought drugs from so-called “gray market” vendors during the previous two years, according to a just-released survey of 549 hospitals by the Institute for Safe Medication practices, an advocacy group.
Gray-market suppliers are those that operate outside official channels, often buying drugs from uncertain sources and reselling them at a steep profit. A report issued last week by a one hospital association found their average mark-up was 650 percent.
via Half of hospitals buy back-door drugs – Health – Health care – msnbc.com.
Price-Gougers Hike Drug Costs During Shortage
Amid growing shortages of life-saving drugs, some back-door suppliers are capitalizing on the problem, jacking up prices for medications for cancer, high blood pressure and other serious problems by as much as 4,500 percent, a new hospital survey shows.
via Price-gougers hike drug costs during shortage – Health – Health care – msnbc.com.
Drug prices to plummet in wave of expiring patents
The next 14 months will bring generic versions of seven of the worlds 20 best-selling drugs, including the top two: cholesterol fighter Lipitor and blood thinner Plavix.
via Drug prices to plummet in wave of expiring patents – Health – Health care – msnbc.com.
Big Mike Breaks Down the Budget Debate
Big Mike explains the recent budget deficit debate in common language.
Healthcare Reform: Rhetoric vs. Reality
Virtually everyone agrees that our healthcare system is unsustainable in its current form. The impact of escalating healthcare costs combined with mediocre value created for each dollar spent has finally entered the national consciousness.
via Healthcare Reform: Rhetoric vs. Reality – Nicole Perlroth – Everything Ventured – Forbes.
Eight Reasons US Healthcare Costs 96% More Than Cuba’s—With the Same Results
Life expectancy of about 78 years of age in Cuba is equivalent to the US. Yet, in 2005, Cuba was spending $193 per person on health care, only 4% of the $4540 being spent in the US. Where could the other 96% of US health care dollars be going?
via Eight Reasons US Healthcare Costs 96% More Than Cuba’s–With the Same Results | | AlterNet.
Health Care Rationing
Opposition to health-care rationing is a little like opposition to growing up. It sounds great. It’s just not very practical.
A society’s resources are always limited. So we have to make choices about what we can afford and what we can’t. Not everyone can afford to own a vacation home — which means vacation homes are rationed. Not everyone can afford to live in towns with excellent public schools — which means that good public education is rationed.
Oligopoly 101
The US falling behind other countries in health care is not a problem, even though it blows a Grand Canyon-sized hole in our long-term budget, because the oligopolies control our health care, and make more money than God off of it as a result.
Soda Tax: Good or Bad?
An MSNBC article on the effects of a soda tax demonstrates how little journalists and the general public understand about public policy and addressing externalities, a form of market failure. It is interesting that this health writer sees the benefits of how the additional revenue is spent as a “secondary effect.” Presumably, the effects on obesity are the primary goal. The larger issue here is not that soda contains empty calories, but it is responsible for myriad otther heath and dental problems. That low income people consume a larger part of their budget on soda is a red herring. In fact, drinking tap water is a far more economical way to hydrate. Soda contains mostly water. If drinking water instead of soda people could use the savings to support a more healthly diet, the benefits would be magnified that much more. Of course, how the saved money is spent is another issue all together.
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