A man came into the Denver VA hospital complaining of a painful hernia near his stomach. His doctor knew he needed surgery immediately but another doctor had ordered a chest-ray, which is standard practice. The X-ray revealed a shadow, possibly a mass (cancer) or more likely a harmless cluster of blood vessels. A follow-up CT scan showed his lung was fine but found something suspicious on his adrenal gland. A second CT scan cleared his adrenal gland but by this time two months had gone by. It would be another four months due to scheduling conflicts before the man finally got his surgery. This “cascade of care” is what results when one test is ambiguous resulting in additional tests that ultimately find nothing was wrong in the first place. These unnecessary tests and procedures are what medical research refers to as “low-value care.” There are no clinical benefits from low-value services and potential for harm.
Category: Drug Prices & Regulations
Is the Covid Health Emergency Being Extended to Preserve the Expansion of the Welfare State?
From Paragon Health:
Medicaid enrollment and spending exploded during the pandemic as Congress passed legislation that boosted the federal government’s share of Medicaid costs in exchange for states keeping everyone enrolled, even when they were no longer eligible. Now 15 million or more people who are ineligible are enrolled in Medicaid. The federal spending boost, which is highly inflationary, and the Medicaid enrollment requirements persist with the official public health emergency.
Monday Links – 13 June 2022
- In addition to Obamacare’s “family glitch” there is also a “rural glitch.”
- Why don’t the Chinese use a highly effective mRNA vaccine as a booster? Because that would be tantamount to admitting that their homegrown Sinopharm vaccine was inferior.
- State of Virginia to foster kids: turn over your Social Security benefits or else.
- Improved prevention, screening and treatment has helped to avert 3.5 million cancer deaths in the US over the past 3 decades. However, the cancer death rate among Blacks is almost twice the rate for Whites.
- Cancer cure breakthrough: personalized treatment that relies on the patient’s DNA. HT: Tyler
Health Care Sharing Ministries are an Alternative to Obamacare
Consumers who want to join a sharing ministry should check to make sure the sharing ministry plan is right for them the same as they would for Obamacare plans. Many sharing ministries either have a waiting period or do not cover pre-existing conditions, for example. Many (if not all) have specific criteria for things they will not cover. These include claims such as drug addiction treatment, sometimes even out-of-wedlock pregnancies.