Health Economics & Costs – Page 243 – The Goodman Institute Health Blog

Many Doctors Dislike Working for The Man

Posted on June 25, 2023 by Devon Herrick

The practice of medicine has changed tremendously within my lifetime. A retired physician came to my office years ago lamenting that his esteemed profession had turned into a business over the course of his career. That raises something of an ethical dilemma: doctors want to practice medicine but some feel like they’re being forced to practice in ways they find objectionable.

The New York Times explained, “The corporatization of health care has changed the practice of medicine, causing many physicians to feel alienated from their work.”

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Saturday Links

Posted on June 24, 2023June 24, 2023 by John C. Goodman

Milliman: the average family of four with employer-sponsored health insurance will pay—directly and indirectly—$31,065 in health costs in 2023.
Alzheimer’s drugs: “the ability to slow cognitive decline by a small but significant margin may not translate into a noticeable day-to-day difference for patients … at a price of $26,500 annually.”
American Compass founder Oren Cass on living standards decline: “Whereas 40 weeks of the typical male worker’s income in 1985 could provide the middle-class essentials for a family of four, by 2022 he needed 62 weeks of income—a problem, there being only 52 weeks in a year.”
AEI response: “While Cass’ estimates imply that cost-adjusted earnings have fallen by 36 percent, when we apply conventional inflation adjustment to median weekly earnings and look at all full-time workers, we find an increase of 33 percent before taxes and 53 percent after taxes.”
Is the exercise equipment industry one big scam?
Scott Sumners: the Covid lab leak theory has not been confirmed.

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Friday Links

Posted on June 23, 2023June 22, 2023 by John C. Goodman

Woke ideology is subverting biology.
About 40 percent of those surveyed said they had delayed or gone without care in the last year because of the expense.
Cassidy: Sanders is prioritizing partisan labor legislation (that will never pass the Senate) over bipartisan health legislation (that could pass. (InsideHealthPolicy – gated)
Medicare reform failures: “While MACRA’s goal of moving Medicare beyond fee-for-service and towards paying for value was reasonable and broadly popular, its … alternative payment models have not fostered quality improvement … and … have also failed to deliver savings.”
Effect of Lockdowns plus teacher unions: 13-year-olds record lowest test scores in decades.

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TeleNurse: Virtual Nursing is Growing

Posted on June 22, 2023June 22, 2023 by Devon Herrick

I have long been a fan of telemedicine. The first time I wrote about telemedicine was in 2007. The following quote is how I explained it to D Magazine in 2013:

“This is a daily occurrence in consumer markets, but is absent in healthcare markets because health plans [including Medicare and Medicaid] pay 89 percent of medical bills,” Herrick says. “You can talk to your attorney over the phone; he or she will bill you for his or her time. You can talk to your accountant over the phone. But most people don’t routinely consult with their physician over the phone because insurers are reluctant to pay for telephone consultations. Many health plans will only reimburse for physician visits if they are in-person—even though more than half of all contacts with primary care physicians could be done by email or over the phone.”

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