Archive | May, 2012

Advisory Hits

I just got the renewal notice for my car insurance. Thanks to Gov. Jim Doyle and his friends the trial lawyers, the cost for my liability coverage went up 42%. Am I worried about the state of our city…

Europe And America Couldn’t Be More Different, Right? Not So Fast, Says A UCLA Historian

The United States is a sharp-elbowed, competitive place defined by glaring income disparities, violent crime, destructive individualism and prudish morals. Europe, meanwhile, enjoys the benefits of a more egalitarian society, a live-and-let-live ethic, a dolce vita quality of life, and a generous social safety net and universal health care…

Patients Unlikely To Benefit From Free E-Samples Of Prescription Drugs

Search the Internet to learn about your asthma, high cholesterol or other common disorder, and odds are you’ll be directed to a pharmaceutical company-sponsored Web homepage. There you’ll often find an offer for a free sample or a one-time discount on a top-selling prescription medication. Is it a good deal? Not according to a study of such direct-to-consumer offers on the Internet by a research team led by Dr. William G.

Patients Unlikely To Benefit From Free E-Samples Of Prescription Drugs

Search the Internet to learn about your asthma, high cholesterol or other common disorder, and odds are you’ll be directed to a pharmaceutical company-sponsored Web homepage. There you’ll often find an offer for a free sample or a one-time discount on a top-selling prescription medication. Is it a good deal? Not according to a study of such direct-to-consumer offers on the Internet by a research team led by Dr. William G.

Car insurance scofflaws raise health mandate doubt

DENVER – Thousands of drivers on the nation’s roads don’t carry auto insurance, despite laws in all but two states requiring it. Critics of President Barack Obama’s health overhaul plan ask: What are …

Today’s Opinions And Editorials

Don’t Rationalize Busting The Budget – Start Over Kaiser Health News You would be hard pressed to find any health policy expert who isn’t disappointed that cost containment has fallen off the health care “reform” express (Robert Laszewski, 11/25).

Massachusetts Lawsuit On Part-Timers And Health Care, Utahns Satisfied With Insurance

News outlets report on a health care lawsuit in Massachusetts, a tobacco tax in Colorado and health plan ratings in Utah. The

Data Miners Can Inform Drug Companies Of Doctors’ Prescribing Habits

The Baltimore Sun reports: “[P]harmaceutical companies that make … prescription drugs are also looking over the doctor’s shoulder, keeping track of how many prescriptions for whose drugs the individual physician is writing.” The data is used to hone marketing pitches to individual physicians with carefully selected research findings.

A Two-Door Clinic Segregates Patients Based On How They Pay

A radiology clinic in Manhattan’s Upper East Side has two doors, an example of a new, two-tiered medical practice model favored by some doctors, MSNBC reports. One door opens to a crowded waiting room while the other opens into a small private room with four chairs and little or no waiting line. The crowded room is for patients whose insurance will pay for their visit.

Medical Fees Surprise Patients, Bankruptcy Plagues Others

High medical fees often catch patients off-guard while many plagued by medical debt file for bankruptcy. The Wall Street Journal reports: “When patients visit some doctors’ offices and urgent-care clinics, they’re increasingly running into something unexpected: billing as though they had gone to a hospital.