The New York Times recently ran an op-ed by Paul Krugman with the intriguing title, "Patients Are Not Consumers."Here’s an open letter to him:Dear Dr. Krugman,As a comparative effectiveness researcher, I agree with many of the arguments that you are making in your most recent article. However, I disagree with your main point that patients are not consumers.I understand your sentiment and agree that patients are more ...
Benjamin Geisler, MD, MPH
Can Medicaid be saved with better care coordination?
Recently, we marked the 66th birthday of Medicaid, the jointly funded but State-run program that supports health care for the poor. Medicaid plays a huge role in selected populations: 70% of nursing home inhabitants, 56% of low-income children and 42% of adults, and 44% of people living with HIV/AIDS all have their health care paid for by Medicaid. Medicaid is much talked about these days, and the reason is ...
A monetary value on each life saved
by Benjamin P. Geisler, MD, MPHA recent New York Times article on how to value a life drew almost two-hundred heavy-handed comments. It discussed how different governmental agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or the Department of Transportation (DoT) place a monetary value on each life saved.In many public policy areas, cost-benefit Analysis (CBA) is being used to assess whether an investment ...
How an ACO will affect physicians and Medicare patients
by Benjamin P. Geisler, MD, MPHEverybody is talking about Accountable Care Organizations or ACOs these days.The reason being that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services or CMS has released the rules for shared savings between ACOs and CMS.The complete proposed rule is 429 pages long and they're seeking comments on it now until early June.What is an ACO?ACOs will take care of ...
