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Showing posts from March, 2020

“And this, too, shall pass away...” Lessons from CoViD-19

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In a Wisconsin speech before the 1860 presidential campaign, Abraham Lincoln quoted a Persian parable ending with, "And this, too, shall pass away." His words apply to the CoViD-19 (Corona Virus Disease, 2019) outbreak. At the moment, fear of contagion and death (blown out of proportion) dominate public consciousness. The news cycle is filled with constantly changing statistics, wild predictions, and the inevitable blame game. Six months from now, with CoViD-19 in the rear-view mirror and more than 99.99 percent of Americans alive and well, there are lessons we can and should learn. Various nations have addressed the CoViD-19 crisis in different ways medically, financially, even politically. There will be different outcomes from these diverse approaches. The world can learn useful lessons based on analyzed experience. For instance, South Korea implemented very early, extensive testing and contact charting. Italy chose limited, targeted testing. More than 4800 peo

Healthcare and the Insurance Principle

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Amidst all the talk about signing up for  mandatory insurance  (or failing to do so) through healthcare.gov, we have probably lost sight of what is really going on.  I suspect that you, like a majority of Americans, think you buy health insurance so it will pay for your health care services and products. If so, I regret to tell you that is not what insurance is for… at all. You purchase homeowner’s insurance to protect you (your investment actually) if your house burns down or is destroyed by flood. You do not expect insurance to pay for lawn maintenance or replacing old, clogged plumbing pipes. You buy auto insurance to protect you — another investment — if your vehicle is stolen, taken for a joy ride, and trashed (this happened to me). You do not expect your insurance carrier to pay for oil changes or buy new tires to replace ones you put 40,000 miles on. Medical malpractice insurance doesn’t prevent the doctor from making a mistake. Nor does it protect the patient from h

Healthcare CANNOT be a patient's "right"

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If health care becomes patients’ “right,” then providers lose their right to be free. The logic is inescapable.  Sign up for news and information at  Fixing US Healthcare Also,  Buy the Book “ Curing the Cancer in U.S. Healthcare "  to understand why healthcare is failing and what can you do to save yourself and your loved ones.

Restore American Health Care by Reconnecting Patient with Physician

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The U.S. healthcare system is failing both the American public as well as Americans doctors. Fundamental change is needed but Washington keeps adjusting the financing and never deals with the root cause-breakdown of the doctor-patient relationship. Failing both patients and physicians In 2018, the average American family spent $28,166 on healthcare costs. More than 80 percent went to insurance companies, not to providers. For the vast majority of Americans, who are healthy, this wasted one third of total family compensation. American patients often have great difficulty accessing timely care. Death-by-queueing-preventable demise while waiting in line for care-has been documented in both medicaid and militarypopulations. U.S. healthcare harasses physicians trying to provide care with onerous, time-consuming administrative tasks, increasing regulatory burdens, and immediate guilty verdict when there is an adverse outcome, even when the doctor has done nothing wrong. The