Monthly Archives: July 2008

Climate-change alarm supported by some medical journals—but not by the evidence

Posted on July 31, 2008 by admin

Patients are expressing alarm about anthropogenic climate change (“global warming”); the most prominent medical journals apparently accept it as fact; and the American Thoracic Society introduced a resolution to the 2008 AMA House of Delegates meeting to endorse the findings … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 13 Comments

Medicare veto override a triumph for single-payer advocates, Krugman writes

Posted on July 21, 2008 by admin

Ostensibly, the vote was against pay cuts for doctors. But it was really about “creeping privatization of Medicare,” writes left-wing columnist Paul Krugman. Krugman blames Medicare deficits on the Medicare Modernization Act. Not Part D, but Medicare Advantage private fee-for-service … Continue reading →

Posted in medicare, single payer health care | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Some good news on health financing

Posted on July 15, 2008 by admin

Florida Governor Charlie Crist got the legislature to approve—unanimously—innovative reform that could dramatically affect Florida’s number of uninsured, now running at 21% of the population, the fourth highest rate in the nation. The “Cover Florida” plan will allow insurers to … Continue reading →

Posted in consumer driven medical care, health savings accounts | Tagged , | 5 Comments

TMB Schedules Additional Meetings

Posted on July 7, 2008 by admin

Perhaps hearing the complaints about the remote locations for its initial town hall meetings, the Texas Medical Board has finally agreed to hold one in Texas’s largest city, Houston, and hold others in additional central locations. Despite the out-of-the way … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized, medical boards | 13 Comments

States seize citizens’ property to balance their budgets

Posted on July 3, 2008 by admin

Not content with holding $32 billion in unclaimed property in trust while tapping the interest, some states are aggressively seizing property that isn’t really unclaimed and using it to balance their budgets. Carla Ruff of San Francisco found her safety … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Nonsmoking, persons of normal weight have highest lifetime medical costs; Japan passes anti-flab law

Posted on July 1, 2008 by admin

Politicians and others usually list the funding of prevention and chronic disease management programs as a key method of achieving cost containment. Smoking and obesity are most frequently mentioned as risk factors to target. In the long run, however, removing … Continue reading →

Posted in economics | 5 Comments