Because of private health insurance, buying heath care services is unlike buying products on Amazon or through Airbnb. University of Massachusetts Amherst economist Gerald Friedman in an article for...
Diane Archer
What to do about high drug prices?
A new Commonwealth Fund paper, Getting to the Root of High Drug Prices, offers a plan for what to do about high drug prices. Unless we can address the root causes, we are on a path to an...
NY to pay for drugs based on value
A recent New York State law, designed to rein in drug costs, pays for drugs based on their value. It allows the State to determine the price of certain drugs after assessing their therapeutic value...
Drug costs eating into greater share of income
A new paper by Dean Baker at the Center for Economic and Policy Research explains that an increasing and substantial share of our national income goes to paying for prescription drugs. And, most of...
94-year old woman runs half marathon
Last month, 94-year old Harriette Thompson ran the Rock ‘n Roll San Diego marathon, making her the oldest woman to finish a half marathon. And, she ran a 17-minute mile! Two years ago, at 92...
With health insurers and Pharma setting prices, no controlling...
Why would a health insurer pay one hospital in New York City $81,000 more for outpatient infusion treatment than another hospital one mile away–$100,000 and $19,000 respectively? And, how is...
Medicare should cover dental, vision and hearing services
A new paper in JAMA, by Amber Willink, Cathy Schoen and Karen Davis, explains why Medicare should cover dental, vision and hearing services. Right now, these three services, along with long-term...
Government’s Section 1498 authority to regulate the price...
While the federal government should be regulating the price of all drugs, as does every other developed country, Congress has been too much in the thrall of pharmaceutical companies to rein in drug...
Skin care products carry big risks
A recent research letter in JAMA Internal Medicine speaks to the big risks of cosmetics and other skin care products, which do not require Food and Drug Administration (FDA) pre-market approval;...
How to protect yourself against unexpected medical bills
If you’ve been to the hospital at any time in the last several years–be it for a scheduled procedure or an emergency room visit–it’s more than likely that you’ve been hit with bills...