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6403. wonkers2 - 2/12/2005 6:27:00 PM Some companies are finding that providing direct workplace health clinics is less expensive and more effective than through insurance plans. This approach is common in some other countries, Spain, for example, where large employers have fairly elaborate on-site health clinics which provide comprehensive non-acute health care rather than just emergency care for on-the-job injuries. As a child I grew up getting care through Exxon's Stanacola Clinic near it's huge refinery in Baton Rouge. And I was born in a similar Exxon clinic at its refinery in Aruba. Often the waiting time to see a doctor for a sore throat or other common ailment seemed endless, and some of the doctors may not have been at the cutting edge. However, my guess is that this approach delivered a lot of competent care at much lower cost than our present system that funnels patients into the high tech world of physicians and hospitals whose bills are paid by insurance companies. 6404. robertjayb - 2/12/2005 8:30:47 PM Health costs flushing out corporate socialists...(WaPo)
Corporate America's customary poorly concealed desire for private profits and socialized losses emerges. It's disgusting, monumental hypocrisy of course...but if it gets us closer to a sensible health-care system...so be it. This time greed may indeed be good.
Friday, February 11, 2005...
American manufacturers are losing their ability to compete in the global marketplace in large measure because of the crushing burden of health care costs, General Motors Corp. chairman and chief executive G. Richard Wagoner Jr. said yesterday as he called on corporate and government leaders to find "some serious medicine" for the nation's ailing health system.
In a speech at the Economic Club of Chicago, the auto executive, who is responsible for providing health insurance for more people than any other private employer in the nation, graphically detailed how rising medical bills are eating into his company's bottom line and ultimately threatening the viability of most U.S. firms.
"Failing to address the health care crisis would be the worst kind of procrastination," Wagoner said, "the kind that places our children and our grandchildren at risk and threatens the health and global competitiveness of our nation's economy."
6405. thoughtful - 2/13/2005 12:06:45 AM This is good news...maybe the bushies will finally do something about health care....they certainly don't listen to the people, but big business definitely has their ear. 6406. robertjayb - 2/23/2005 9:24:45 PM A Swedish remedy for the supposed malpractice problem...(Slate)
Can we fix this mess? It might be that we must create an alternative to our present lawsuit-oriented malpractice system. Perhaps the most intriguing possibility is what malpractice wonks call a "no-fault" system. A no-fault system would compensate those who have been harmed without assigning blame—a process easier for patients and less traumatic for doctors.
................................................
Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and New Zealand have used no-fault malpractice systems for 20 to 30 years, with admittedly mixed results. Yet several academics, most notably Harvard's David Studdert and Troyen Brennan, have studied these countries' systems and concluded that a U.S. system modeled on that of Sweden could more consistently compensate victims of avoidable mishaps and more effectively reduce error and incompetence—all for the same cost. No-fault would also make doctors and patients allies rather than adversaries when something goes awry.
Sounds promising to me. My opinion is that the bushies efforts are part of a larger scheme to keep ordinary citizens of modest means out of the courthouse for any reason. They have co-opted the AMA (probably not too difficult) in their efforts.
Will Pelle please weigh in with observations?
6407. wonkers2 - 2/23/2005 9:42:48 PM I read somewhere recently that malpractice awards have contributed relatively little to increased premiums. The largest cause of recent premium increases has been due to lower return on the insurance companies' invested reserves. 6408. thoughtful - 2/24/2005 12:24:10 AM Oh I could make so many comments about abstinence only education or right to life and other things, but I won't. I'll just let this data stand for itself. From today's wapo:
CDC Explores Pregnancy-Homicide Link
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that homicide is a leading cause of traumatic death among new and expectant mothers, with higher risks for women who are younger than 20 or black. It was the CDC's first national look at pregnancy and homicide....
"Homicide is an important cause of death for women during pregnancy or within one year of pregnancy," said Jeani Chang, lead author of the CDC study....
The CDC study found that homicide accounted for 31 percent of maternal injury deaths. Auto accidents accounted for 44 percent, other unintentional injuries for 13 percent and suicide for 10 percent.
The authors reported that age stood out more than race, with the highest homicide risk for women younger than 20 when all races were combined.
6409. robertjayb - 2/25/2005 9:27:06 PM How things work in bushworld...(NYTimes)
Ten of the 32 government drug advisers who last week endorsed continued marketing of the huge-selling pain pills Celebrex, Bextra and Vioxx have consulted in recent years for the drugs' makers, according to disclosures in medical journals and other public records.
If the 10 advisers had not cast their votes, the committee would have voted 12 to 8 that Bextra should be withdrawn and 14 to 8 that Vioxx should not return to the market. The 10 advisers with company ties voted 9 to 1 to keep Bextra on the market and 9 to 1 for Vioxx's return.
6410. wonkers2 - 2/25/2005 9:50:11 PM Same old, same old. 6411. judithathome - 2/25/2005 10:29:08 PM I wish those 10 would be forced to take Bextra for two weeks and have the side effect I did...almost going blind in my left eye. The doctor was horrified and extremely apologetic. 6412. thoughtful - 3/4/2005 8:53:40 PM Good article on resiliancy from Brody at the NYT.
Resilience. Call it what you will - the ability to weather stresses large and small, to bounce back from trauma and get on with life, to learn from negative experiences and translate them into positive ones, to muster the strength and confidence to change directions when a chosen path becomes blocked or nonproductive...
...provides lessons in "achieving balance, confidence and personal strength."
They are lessons of considerable importance, as there is no such thing as a life free of losses and setbacks. People who lack resilience are less able to rise above adversity or learn from their mistakes and move on. Instead of focusing on what they can control and accepting responsibility for their lives, they waste time and energy on matters beyond their influence.
As a result, the circumstances of their lives leave them feeling helpless and hopeless and prone to depression. When things go wrong or don't work out as expected, they tend to think "I can't do this" or, even worse, "It can't be done."...
So lesson No. 1, Dr. Brooks and Dr. Goldstein write, is "to recognize that we are the authors of our lives."
"We must not seek our happiness by asking someone else to change," they continue.
Rather, we should ask, "What is it that I can do differently to change the situation?" Identify your negative scripts and assume responsibility for changing them.
Nurture your self-esteem. Be true to yourself rather than trying to be what someone else expects of you. Focus on what you can do, tasks you can achieve, situations you can influence. Take an active role in your community or in an organization or activity that helps others.
6413. Magoseph - 3/5/2005 5:25:35 PM I am certainly for teaching resilience to our children. My parents had five and two of us decided to make our future without help from the family. As it happened, my brother and I did much better in life than the other three who depended on our parents’ help. Everything we obtained, especially character, came about from decisions we made and sometimes regretted--we had no choice but start over again when we faltered. We both had made a stand and never diverged from it. We now are all getting on in years and it is obvious that my brother and I are much happier and healthier than our other siblings seem to be. 6414. wonkers2 - 3/22/2005 5:04:49 PM Alzheimer's already costs Medicare three times as much as any other disease. By 2010, Medicare costs for people with Alzheimer's are expected to rise by 50 percent, to $49.3 billion from $31.9 billion in 2000. Now, half of all nursing home costs are related to dementia.
Here's how to avoid contributing to this problem. 6415. concerned - 3/22/2005 6:30:06 PM I wonder how unusual my cardiac health situation is - my blood pressure is currently varying between 140/85 and 160/100 which is too high (I'm not taking anything for it currently), but my resting pulse last night was as low as 46 and typically is in the 60's during the day. 6416. thoughtful - 3/22/2005 6:56:39 PM i don't know how unusual, but i would certainly get the high bp treated lest you have a stroke. Since your pulse is so slow, you might want to check out the DASH diet which has been shown to reduce bp significantly.
6417. wonkers2 - 3/22/2005 8:07:09 PM Absolutely you should get your high blood pressure treated. You are at risk for stroke and heart attack. It's nothing to fool around with. 6418. arkymalarky - 3/29/2005 3:13:55 AM Well, today was my last day of spring break. I go back to work tomorrow, then have to have follow-up tests on an abnormal mammogram Wednesday, schedule a hysterectomy Thursday (for sometime in April, I hope), and leave on a 14 hour drive to WV Friday morning from which I will return late Sunday night. I will probably be at work little to none from that point until the end of school, for the first time since I had Mose and took 8 weeks with her over 20 years ago.
Then I will worry about getting a root canal finished asap because the tooth broke off and all the medicine under the filling from the first half of the root canal came out a couple of days ago.
Once all this is done, I don't plan to leave Bob's recliner or put down the remote except to sleep and scratch until the end of May. 6419. robertjayb - 3/29/2005 5:20:15 AM Darn. so much for the good old summertime...
Good luck with all that. 6420. arkymalarky - 3/29/2005 5:33:45 AM Thanks Robert. Actually, I hope it helps me salvage the summer, since I have to get it all done now. 6421. thoughtful - 3/29/2005 1:55:26 PM Oh my...what a lot on your plate. Best wishes to you with all your upcoming medical events. Do keep us informed as to how you're doing. 6422. Magoseph - 3/29/2005 2:54:22 PM My heavens, how could I even begin to cope with such demands--all I can say is if anyone can get through this, it is my belief that it's you. Arky, If I can of any help or support, don't hesitate to call on me.
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