Category: Interesting Links

Means Tested Public Offenses in Berlin, and Other Links

Would ObamaCare be more popular if the messaging were better? No.

In Berlin, the fines for public sex are means tested ― a normal fine of $198 per incident can be as low as $45 for the unemployed.

Are coffee drinkers less likely to kill themselves?

Jul 29, 2013 | 10 comments | by John Goodman

Headlines I Wish I Hadn’t Seen

Feds tell Web firms to turn over user account passwords.

Obama promise to “protect whistleblowers” just disappeared from change.gov.

Is your cable box spying on you?

ObamaCare call center hiring part-time workers, with no health benefits.

Hospitals with more than 400 beds spent an average of $2.18 million on advertising in 2010 (and almost none of it conveys useful information.)

Jul 29, 2013 | 11 comments | by John Goodman

Physicians Are Less Likely to Receive a C-Section, and Other Links

NBER Study: Physician mothers have lower C-section rates.

Are state high risk pools going to dump their patients onto the exchanges?

ObamaCare won’t be like Travelocity after all; there will be a lot of emails, phone calls and faxes.

About four in ten adults in the U.S. are using some form of alternative medicine.

Jul 26, 2013 | 12 comments | by John Goodman

Headlines I Wish I Hadn’t Seen

Detroit wants to unload 19,389 retirees into ObamaCare’s marketplaces.

Stunning: Blue Cross will not participate in California’s small group exchange.

Although President Obama said rebates averaging $100 are coming from insurance companies to 8.5 million Americans, most of the money is going straight to employers who provide health insurance, not to their workers.

Jul 23, 2013 | 15 comments | by John Goodman

Headlines I Wish I Hadn’t Seen

Denver has new rules for parks: “You can smoke pot, but you can’t exercise.”

Kathleen Sebelius compares ObamaCare to the struggle for civil rights at NAACP meeting.

USDA tells magician who pulls a rabbit out of a hat he must have a “rabbit disaster plan.”

Boy Scouts ban fat kids.

Jul 17, 2013 | 10 comments | by John Goodman

Digital Records vs. Paper Records, and Other Links

Nearly half of all physicians in America still rely on paper records for most patient care.

House Republicans have voted to repeal ObamaCare 3 times, not 40.

Can you develop post-Lyme disease symptoms without ever getting Lyme disease or is this an urban myth?

Gallows humor: There are two kinds of private practices left in America. Those sold to hospitals and those that are about to be sold.

Jul 17, 2013 | 10 comments | by John Goodman

Easy Access to Contraceptives for Teenagers, and Other Links

Girls as young as 13 or 14 can get contraceptives in New York City public schools.

Why nobody ever calls the weather normal — excellent Matt Ridley essay.

For women, the recession is over.

Employers are offering pet health insurance.

Jul 16, 2013 | 11 comments | by John Goodman

ER vs. Doctor’s Office, and Other Links

Do low-income patients go to the emergency room rather than a doctor’s office because they prefer the emergency room?

Patients in Medicare Advantage plans got expensive balloons and stenting to clear coronary arteries at a rate 31 percent lower than patients in traditional Medicare, and angiography procedures were 36 percent lower. But geographical variation is still large and we don’t know if this was good for patients.

45% of the nation’s nearly 28 million uninsured workers are employed by large firms, subject to the ObamaCare mandate.

Jul 11, 2013 | 18 comments | by John Goodman

Headlines I Wish I Hadn’t Seen

Patient wakes up as doctors get ready to remove organs.

Obama orders federal workers to spy on each other.

U.S. hospitals spent up to $4 billion adding angioplasty services over a four year period, but the new services did little to improve access to timely medical care.

Literature review: value-based insurance design produces quality improvement but no cost savings.

Jul 10, 2013 | 11 comments | by John Goodman

Oregon Helps Reduce Health Care Costs, and Other Links

Oregon is reinventing the Jeffrey Brenner techniques; maybe they should meet Dr. Brenner.

Can a blood test reveal your life expectancy?

Should Medicare pay for a $3,000 test that allows early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease?

Jul 10, 2013 | 11 comments | by John Goodman