How many uninsured?

Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008

It's become a mantra that there are "47 million uninsured" Americans, a figure people use to back compulsory "universal" health insurance of some kind.   Google found about fifty pages with the phrase on the Denver Post website alone.  Democrat Jared Polis has mentioned 45 million, while Democrat Will Shafroth 50 million. Sure, 47 million ...

Overtreated with Medicare

Thursday, July 3rd, 2008

According to the OECD, patients in the United States pay only 13% of their medical expenses out of pocket (as of 2005).  This is equal to the United Kingdom, and less than Canada, both of which have (nominally) single-payer health care.  The consequence of patients spending so little for their own ...

Overtreated with unnecessary CT scans

Monday, June 30th, 2008

The New York Times reports on how expensive CT scans for heart disease are often unneccessary, and relates one case where the patient probably did not need the scan:  The doctor "said the scan would be valuable anyway because it might reassure him. And his insurance would cover the cost."   I understand the ...