The Scottish National Health Service has some of the worst treatment times in the United Kingdom. Thirty-seven percent of people entering the emergency department in late October had to wait more than four hours to be admitted, transferred or treated. The NHS struggles to hire workers and struggles to treat all those who need care. Supposedly the founding principles of the NHS is that care is free and paid for by tax dollars rather than charging patients for care.
Category: Policy & Legislation
Monday Links
- Ross Douthat on Effective Altruism. (recommended)
- Sen. Cassidy becomes the ranking member of the Senate HELP committee. The Democratic Chairman is Bernie Sanders.
- How easy should it be to get an abortion pill?
- Food stamps account for 20% of Coke’s revenues. This is a program that was started, you may remember, as an effort to improve nutrition among low-income families.
- Do antidepressants really work? That’s debatable. (NYT)
- AMA president on Dobbs: “I never imagined colleagues would find themselves tracking down hospital attorneys before performing urgent abortions, when minutes count … asking if a 30% chance of maternal death, or impending renal failure, meet the criteria for the state’s exemptions…”
In fact, life and death decisions are made in hospitals all the time by physicians who know full well that lawyers will be looking over their shoulders. That’s probably not a bad thing.
Biden Not Anxious to Repeal Trump Health Reforms
Donald Trump presided over radical deregulation of our health care system by presidential execution order. Fears that Joe Biden would completely reverse course are proving premature.
Secretary Xavier Becerra wants Congress to take legislative action to permanently expand access to telehealth by enabling HHS to reach rural communities with quality broadband access, working with states to expand interstate telehealth and including behavioral health provisions within telehealth legislation.
InsideHealthPolicy (gated)
Banks and Finance Cos. are Now Collecting Medical Debts (with Interest)
Over the years I have talked to people who faced medical bills for care they needed but could not pay. In a couple cases I told them about CareCredit, the largest medical care lender. For example, the lady who owns the salon where my wife used to go needed eye surgery. She was happy to learn there was an easy way to make payments for surgery. Our dog’s veterinarian and the equine vet that cares for my wife’s horse both take CareCredit. I’ve even met a plastic surgeon who accepts CareCredit. If your budget can’t take an $8,000 hit for a facelift you can finance it over time putting down a couple thousand dollars and maybe pay $200 a months for several years with interest.