The US health system often is plagued by too much of a (sometimes) good thing. Doctors order a test or treatment and then continue them for the rest of the patient’s life, whether they really need them or not. And, often, they are ongoing for no good reason, despite potential risks to patients. The current Journal of the American Medical [...]
Twenty-five years ago, there were about 35 million Americans age 65 or older and about 10,000 board certified specialists in geriatric medicine to care for them. Today, there about 60 million older adults in the US. And the number of geriatricians has fallen to about 7,300. Perhaps more troubling, it appears that physicians are going into other specialties, such as [...]
After a government shutdown and months of drama, it appears that President Trump may be about to drop his aggressive opposition to extending soon-to-expire enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies. And by doing so, he may have made it much more likely that 22 million people currently receiving premium tax credits will continue to receive their full subsidies. Preserving the subsidies, [...]
Progressives are fuming over the decision by eight Senate Democrats to support a bill to reopen the federal government without an agreement on extending enhanced Affordable Care Act health insurance subsidies beyond December. Allies of President Trump are gloating at what appears to be Democratic capitulation to the White House’s hardball tactics. But while Democrats lost this skirmish in the [...]
The latest vaccine recommendations by a federal Centers for Disease Control advisory panel could put older adults at risk for severe illness. Not directly, perhaps, but due to growing uncertainty over the risks and benefits of vaccines. In addition, the changes may end up costing the government, through Medicare and Medicaid, as well as private insurance, billions of dollars—costs that [...]
President Trump’s executive order aimed at lowering the prices of prescription drugs in the US is unlikely to reduce them very much at all. While Trump made his announcement with great fanfare, he has little or no power to make the changes he promises. Trump’s idea, which is similar to a plan he failed to enact in his first term, [...]
For all the false talk about the burdens immigrants put on the US health care system, it is important to remember the other side of the story: Without foreign-born health workers, the US systems for medical and long-term care could, quite literally, collapse. GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump vows “the largest deportation operation in history” to say nothing of closing [...]
Between half and three-quarters of older adults are diagnosed with pre-diabetes. But what does it mean? And what should you do if you get such a diagnosis? Increasingly, many experts say older patients should not overreact. A diagnosis of pre-Type 2 diabetes often produces anxiety and confusion in seniors. It can lead to unnecessary tests and medications. And, if poorly [...]
The US health system focuses an enormous amount of money and attention on post-acute care—the medical treatment patients receive after they have been discharged from a hospital. But it would more cost effective, and far better for patients, to refocus on what you might call pre-acute care: What the US can do to prevent those hospitalizations in the first place. [...]
We’ve Got You Covered: Rebooting American Health Care is a study in contrast. On one hand it is a chatty, easily accessible look at the failings of the US health insurance system by two of the nation’s best young health economists. But behind the one-liners and informal presentation, it proposes a highly provocative, radical alternative to our current mess. Liran [...]