Now is the Time for Health Care Reform

I'm not sure I could put it better than Senator Kennedy did in this piece from Politico.

Also, here's a copy of NY Assemblyman Gottfried's plan.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions, concerns or to discuss any of these issues.

Regards,
Erick Allen Eiting, MD, MPH

Lost in Translation

NY Time's article on Health Care Disparities

One of the issues I see every day practicing in the north Bronx is language barriers. Most of our patients speak Spanish, many of whom speak it solely or primarily. When I read Dr. Chen's article about language barriers, I thought about how many times I see the same thing happen every day. As physicians, we serve as the protectors of health for all of our patients, regardless of what language they may speak.

These are some arguments for and against the Obama plan for health care reform currently being discussed. Though both articles carry with them their own biases, they do a pretty good job of outlining the pros and cons of the plan. It will be very interesting to see how the debate takes shape.

Drug Deals Tie Prices to How Well Patients Do
Pay-for-Performance comes to Pharma. The article talks about a deal between Merck and Cigna that ties drug prices to outcomes. It's an interesting idea to tie reimbursements to effectiveness and compliance, but it cuts physicians out of the decision-making process. It also threatens to make the most effective drugs more expensive, making care for the uninsured more unattainable.

Democrats Consider Bypassing G.O.P. on Health Care Plan: Democrats are tempted to use their political muscle to speed passage of health care legislation with minimal concessions to the Republican minority.

As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns, or to discuss any of these issues.

Regards,
Erick Eiting, MD, MPH

NPR: Subsidizing College Loans Under Fire in Congress

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103291509

I heard about this on NPR on my way to work the other day, and found it interesting. The idea is to shift subsidies for private student loans to funding for Federal Pell Grants. The argument is that the government spends much more money on subsidies for private student loans than they do on directly loaning aid through federal programs. Federal Pell Grants, unlike loans, provide aid to students without a need for repayment. At the same time, these grants are reserved almost exclusively for undergraduate education. Medical students frequently rely on private student loans to cover the cost of education and living. A shift of funds to undergraduate education at the expense of medical education could make the soaring costs of medical school unsustainable. Discussion on this issue is in the preliminary stages, but expect to hear more about this in the future.

Erick

Hi All,

Here are some recent articles highlighting the crisis of lack of access to care and need for reform.

This Washington Times article describes Congress's encouraging move in following the AMA's good example by making health care a top priority. Planning for an overhaul of the nation's health care system is expected to take center stage when Congress returns to Washington after its two-week spring break.

This NY Times article tells an all too common tale of a mother who like so many these days, lost her job, and with it her health insurance. She must now struggle to pay for her son's cancer care. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, it is estimated that 9 million people have lost employer-sponsored health insurance since December 2007. This is just further evidence that our health care system is broken and needs to be fixed to address the needs of our patients.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns, or to discuss any of these issues.

Regards,
Erick Eiting, MD, MPH