To Appear on Talking It Over

On Saturday Jan 16th I will appear on Talking It Over with Janet Parshall a nationally syndicated radio program on the Moody Radio Network.  We will discuss the earthquake in Haiti and also talk about health care reform.  Tune in at 12:30pm Central Time on 90.1FM in Chicago and on stations across the country.  Visit the [...]

Nonpartisan Agency says House Bill will reduce Senior Care

In June, I wrote about why the proposed health care reforms will end up reducing benefits for seniors.  This week, a major nonpartisan agency agreed.  Today’s Washington Post has a story about the report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.  It reads: “The report… found that Medicare cuts contained in the health package approved by the House on Nov. [...]

This Week’s Health Headlines

Are “green” products really green? Not always, according to study
Eating too fast contributes to weight gain
Breakdown of the House Health Care Bill
Experts: H1N1 spread is outrunning vaccine
Study: Surgeons-in-training need a work week of more than 80 hours

This Week’s Health Headlines

Eating meat in middle age may help preserve later abilities Even a little smoking increases breast cancer risk Docs stressed out when patient unable to communicate wishes Sleep specialist says sharing a bed is ‘bad for your health’ New test can determine if you really need antibiotics Health reform will prompt need for many more [...]

My "conversation" with Rush Limbaugh

Today while driving between nursing homes, I heard Rush Limbaugh talking about the health care reform bill’s Advance Care Planning Consultation section. He, like some other conservative talkers, was complaining that the government was mandating these consultations as a way to usher patients towards an early death in order to save money. In my previous [...]

Reimbursing doctors for discussing goals of care with their patients- finally, a good health care reform idea!

Part of the proposed health care reform bill that I like is the idea to reimburse physicians for having an “advance care planning” discussion with their patients once every 5 years. This is something I do with my patients often, and I have wished many times that Medicare would recognize the value of this skill, and the time it takes to perform it, by offering specific reimbursement for the discussion. Unfortunately, some Republicans are saying that supporting a patient-physician conversation about goals of care and end-of-life options will “start us down a treacherous path toward government-encouraged euthanasia”. I disagree.

Does Your Doctor See Dollar Signs in Your Kid’s Throat?

If you watched President Obama’s press conference Wednesday night, you may have come away with the impression that doctors are often thinking about how much money they can earn from your illness as they make decisions about your health care. Here are his comments from the transcript at CBS News:

More thoughts on health care reform

I am not an economist; I do not claim to understand the complexities of the health care market, nor can I accurately predict how the proposed health care legislation will impact our nation’s health care industry. However, many aspects of the proposed reforms make me uneasy.

Where President Obama is wrong about health care reform

I don’t have all the answers to health care reform. American medicine is a complicated web of economic, political, and social factors. I believe that everyone engaged in this debate wants the best health care for the most people; we just disagree about how to accomplish that goal. President Obama’s recent statements about Medicare tipped me off that he is about to damage our health care system in ways that may not be reversible.