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People in state high-risk insurance plans often feel left behind
The federal health law set up new plans that are cheaper and more comprehensive than the older ones run by states but consumers need to go without insurance for six months to qualify.
Health-care Policy
$10 Million Red Cross fine highlights the troubled history of its blood services
The FDA recently hit the American Red Cross with a nearly $10 million fine for safety violations, lax oversight and faulty testing of its blood services. The fine is just the latest of more than a dozen the Red Cross has racked up in the last decade.
People in state high-risk insurance plans often feel left behind
The federal health law set up new plans that are cheaper and more comprehensive than the older ones run by states but consumers need to go without insurance for six months to qualify.
Florida doctors block effort to have them post prices
Imagine if finding out the cost of a particular treatment or procedure at a doctors’ office was as easy as locating the prices of entrees at a restaurant. The menu might read: school physicals – $40; office visit for a cold – $80; diabetes screening – $200.
The coming nursing home shortage
The latest casualty of the Great Recession may soon be the nation’s elderly. Cuts in government payments for patient care and less construction of new nursing homes are already taking a toll. Add to this the aging baby boom generation and you have a worst-case scenario.
Most think politics, not the law to sway justices on health reform
Nearly 60 percent of the public expects the Supreme Court justices to depend more on personal ideology than a legal analysis of the individual mandate in making their ruling on the health-care reform law.
New cancer drugs offer hope — but at an often staggering cost
Julie Grabow, an oncologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, recently prescribed an exciting new therapy for a 60-year-old woman with metastatic breast cancer — Afinitor made by Novartis. There was a catch, though. Novartis is charging $10,000 per month for the drug
Long-term care insurance can come up short
Will it cover your needs? Can you pay for it? Can you afford not to have it?
Tips for buying long-term care insurance
Don’t buy if the out-of-pocket cost for the coverage would be more than you can afford. Policies differ greatly so know what you are buying. Shop around.
Weekend Reading: Cheating doctors, conflicts of interest and the FDA, and more…
Articles on: Conflict of interest on FDA panels. Radiology residents charged with cheating. Why dentists oppose allowing mid-level dental practitioners provide care in rural and other underserved areas.
Vermont moves towards single-payer health care system
Vermont moves to implement new law that is seen as a “road map” to a single-payer health care system.
Peeking in on your doctor’s notes
Although federal law guarantees patients the right to examine and get copies of their medical records, providers haven’t always made it easy to do so. But the movement to give patients direct access to their health information has picked up steam, and policymakers have encouraged it as a way to empower patients to help manage their health and their medical care.
Is overnight sleep testing overprescribed?
The use of overnight sleep testing has soared. One reason, critics say: testing is a lucrative business for doctors.
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