The Federal program we know as Medicare, became a reality on 30 July 1965, when it was signed into law. But, the first patients could not sign up for benefits until 1 July 1966. And, by 1979, the American Medical Association managed to get a ruling that the moneys paid to doctors under the program could not be revealed to the public. The reasoning (sic) was that this was an invasion of the physician’s privacy.
Continue reading FOIA now works for Medicare, too!
We’ve got a problem. We seem to have forgotten how to interact with humans. Oh, don’t tell me that you text your friends, you “Facebook” them all the time. No, that’s not human interaction. That’s avoiding human contact- unless you live on the other side of the world from your friend.
Continue reading Can you hear me now?
I’ve written about family law before. You know- the fancy term for divorce law. I not only have experienced divorce (ok, I was one of the adults- I caused the divorce; my children experienced it), but I have served as the financial manager for a family law practice for more than a few years. This is a big business- there are about 800,000 divorces filed annually in the US (compared to the 2 million marriages begun).
Continue reading Divorce- Technology Style
Since I’ve been 15. Yup, while working at Arlee Cleaners, I was intimidated to switch from milk to drinking coffee. Of course, that was in New York, where “regular coffee” came equipped with a pound of sugar and a quart of milk. (OK, just two teaspoons of sugar and 25 ml of milk, in an 8 oz cup, but you get the idea.)
Continue reading Jumping Java?
While reading the New York Times (NYT) this past Sunday (What? You don’t?), I was struck once again how the law of unintended circumstances comes into play. [Ed: This was written 3 June 2012.] The Times’ front page article headline read: “The $2.7 Trillion Medical Bill”, which really focused on just one medical procedure- colonoscopic exams.
Continue reading Another Example of Unintended Circumstances
We are having our babies older than we used to. Which is why our population is not increasing. (As a matter of fact, it was just announced that there were more deaths than births for soon-to-be minority majority Whites in America.) Because the longer we wait, the less likely we will have our (old) average of 2.2 children per family. Even that wasn’t “self-replicating”, with 2.33 children per family- which keeps the population stable. Right now, US families are averaging just over 1.9 children per family. Continue reading Decisions have Consequences
We discussed uncompensated care a few days ago, where I mentioned the variation in health care costs across the US. But, is that variability related to the cost of living in the various regions of the US? Or, is it attributable to the relative health of folks in various regions?
Continue reading Healthcare Costs- Controversy and Data
We all have heard (or read) how middle class wealth has been devastated over the past quarter century. Even now, as the economy seems to be perking up, it’s only the very wealthy that are seeing those gains. Mostly because the stock market is way up (interest rates are so low, it’s the only place for the wealthy and the retired to park their funds)- and housing has still not recovered (which is where the bulk of middle class wealth is found) to those pre-2009 levels.
Continue reading Is the Tax Code Fair?
Lately, data are indicating that the seemingly inexorable rise in our health care costs may be attenuating. Is this real? Or, just an artifact? Given that there are large variations in health costs across the US, what does this trend mean for our local, state, and federal taxes. And, given that these difference in regional costs will become exacerbated as more (Republican) states refuse to run their own health care exchanges, some of us are in for additional costs.
Continue reading Uncompensated Care
With all the hoopla about Obamacare (PPACA is its real acronym), one would think that it would be a total failure. But, even as a certain party keeps sniping at it, cutting funding, it’s making a difference in our health care.
Continue reading It’s moving along…Obamacare, that is.