Hits & Misses – 2008/10/13
- Henry Aaron Throws in the Towel. Democrats should drop their ambitions for universal coverage, says the
Brookings Institution health economist in a New Republic essay. His latest advice: take baby steps instead. - Alternative Medicine Debunked. Barker Bausell does in the hit job in Snake Oil Science.
- But does it sometimes work? Serious research is actually being conducted by the National Institute of Health. Among the findings: acupuncture is an effective complement to conventional arthritis treatment. [link]
- Need a Second Opinion? Try Google. 75% of Internet users look for health information online. 75% of online patients with a chronic problem found information that affected a decision they made. [link]
Henry Aaron has produced several great studies documenting the failures of the British National Health Service. Maybe he has been convinced by his own research.
On alternative medicine, I notice that most of the state legislatures have no interest in waiting to see what the NIH finds out about what works and what doesn’t. They go ahead and mandate coverage anyway.
It will be interesting to see what the Obamedical plan will have to say about CAM. If it becomes a covered benefit, we may be bankrupted sooner than I thought.