A report by the Government Accounting Office (GAO) found that the Medicare Advantage option wastes $8 billion per year. This option was started under the 2nd Bush administration under the belief that an HMO-like product operating as a for-profit insurance option could lower costs through care management, wellness, and prevention. Medicare...
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I admit I’m drawn to articles in the medical literature that question conventional practices, especially expensive ones. But the implications of a recent editorial in JAMA were even more profound than most. I won’t repeat the entire article here, but these were some of the most important points: There has been...
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I’m back from the big annual TAFP meeting, and once again my colleagues tell me stories of crazy practices in the private sector. Here is one from a doctor in Plano. A 27-year-old male patient of his went to the ER with chest pain. The EKG showed early repolarization and the...
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I’m off to the Texas Academy of Family Physicians annual session in Austin this week. It will be very exciting for me. On Thursday, I’ll present my new primary care payment proposal to the Commission on Health Care Services and Managed Care. I believe the meeting is open to all TAFP...
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A lot of friends have asked me what I think of the Supreme Court’s ruling upholding the constitutionality of the Obama Healthcare Law. I tell them it makes no difference. Some of them retort and mention the newly insured people. I agree the PPACA will help them by providing health insurance,...
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