Category: Policy

The health effects of structural racism

In the United States, the health of African-Americans lags behind most other racial minority groups.  Compared to whites, black men and women face higher risks of chronic illness, infection, and injuries.  Taken altogether, the average life span for Af…

The cure to our malignant health system

An excerpt from Curing the Cancer in U. S. Healthcare: StatesCare and Market-Based Medicine. Clinical doctors can readily understand the continuing failure of the U.S. health care system. The attending physicians for Patient Healthcare–Washington, both…

Why physicians should start thinking about climate change

Climate change. Global warming. The greenhouse effect. Devastating wildfires, dangerous air quality. Catastrophic weather events and mass human migration. It all sounds like post-apocalyptic fiction except that it’s real. Inside our air-condition…

The biggest addiction problem in the U.S.? Health insurance.

Whenever I give a talk about health care, I ask the audience, “What is the worst addiction problem we have in the United States?” The answers are typically the same, and all are good guesses — alcohol, tobacco, opiates, and sugar are most frequently ci…

How we can help our veterans die in peace

The World War II veteran, now in his 90s and receiving hospice for end-of-life care, was playing military anthems on his harmonica for fellow veterans. But the next minute, reliving the horrors of combat, he grew agitated and started to cry.  “Oh, all …

The barriers to patients choosing higher-value providers and insurers

Next in a series. I have developed a framework, which I call the Healthcare Incentives Framework, that helps me understand health care systems. It outlines the jobs we expect a health care system to do for us and identifies which parties in the health …

Health coverage really isn’t covering much

I’m a healthy 48-year old, ASA physical class I anesthesiologist. At least I was healthy until an unintentional 20-pound weight loss over the summer, accompanied by an unquenchable thirst, insatiable appetite, blurry vision, and the bathroom freq…

How to structure financial incentives in our health care system

Next in a series. In my previous post, I explained the basics of my Healthcare Incentives Framework, which enumerates the jobs we want a health care system to do for us and links them to the parties in the health care system that have the greatest ince…

Parallel thinking won’t solve problems in health care

A lot of media attention, including television, print, and online sources, is focused on various plans to revolutionize the delivery of health care in America.  Critics point to medical errors, waste of resources, and lack of access among the numerous …

An analysis of Joe Biden’s health plan

If the Democrats capture the White House, keep the House and take over the Senate, no matter who they elect as president, this Biden health care outline, not Medicare for all, will likely be the plan Democrats embrace in 2021. The Biden health care pro…