Health Headlines- Week of Feb 1

Over 70?  A few extra pounds may help you live longer Mortality in diabetes may increase when sugar control is “too good” For some, overeating is as addicting as smoking, cocaine use Bill Gates pledges $10 billion to a vital global health need UK panel discredits doctor who linked measles vaccine to autism

Day 4 of 206- reading the Senate Health Care Bill

Pages 52-64 Section 1102 Reinsurance for Early Retirees Gives federal money to insurance plans to cover part of the cost of insuring people who retire early from their job. In other words, people who stop working at age 55 can receive Medicare-type coverage, but not exactly.  You must have a job that provides health insurance, [...]

Day 3 of 206- reading the Senate Health Care Bill

Pages 41-52 Section 2794 Ensuring that Consumers Get Value for Their Dollars Lets HHS establish a process to review insurance plans “unreasonable increases in premiums for health insurance coverage”. Requires States who participate in the “Federal Exchange” (first time mentioned in the bill?) to report on premium increases in the State, and allows HHS to [...]

Day 2 of 206- reading the Senate Health Care Bill

Pages 30-40 Section 2717 “Ensuring the Quality of Care” This phrase alone makes me shudder.  What makes government think it can “ensure” quality of care?  So far it has been unable to do so with the plan it does run, Medicare. Says that the government will establish “reporting requirements” whereby health plans will have to [...]

Day 1 of 206- reading the Senate Health Care Bill

As a physician in full-time practice, reading the 2400+ page Senate health reform bill seems a daunting task.  Indeed, most physicians I know have not read the bill, and we rely on the press or “expert” analysts to give us a summary version.  Yet, in my experience, these summaries are inadequate at best for getting [...]

The Best Article on Health Care Reform I Have Read So Far

This week’s New York Review of Books features an article by Jerome Groopman, MD, author of one of my favorite books on the practice of medicine, How Doctors Think.  In the article, Dr. Groopman explores the idea of “comparative effectiveness research” and the role it might play in our health care system if a reform [...]

Radio House Calls Podcast – January 17, 2010

Click to listen to the January 17, 2010 episode of Radio House Calls, hosted by Doctor David Fisher. David can be heard live every Sunday evening on AM560 from 10-11pm CST.

Radio House Calls Podcast – January 10, 2010

Click to listen to the January 10, 2010 episode of Radio House Calls, hosted by Doctor David Fisher. David can be heard live every Sunday evening on AM560 from 10-11pm CST.

Radio House Calls Podcast – January 3, 2010

Click to listen to the January 3, 2010 episode of Radio House Calls, hosted by Doctor David Fisher. David can be heard live every Sunday evening on AM560 from 10-11pm CST.

Radio House Calls Podcast – December 27, 2009

Click to listen to the December 27, 2009 episode of Radio House Calls, hosted by Doctor David Fisher. David can be heard live every Sunday evening on Chicago’s AM560 from 10-11pm CST.

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