Author archive
By MICHAEL L. MILLENSON “We are now contemplating, Heaven save the mark, a bill that would tax the well for the benefit of the ill.” Although the quote reads like it could be part of the Republican repeal-and-replace assault against the Affordable Care Act (ACA), it’s actually from a 1949 editorial in The New York
By MICHAEL MILLENSON Your employer sends out an email saying they want to make sure you’re getting enough sleep and physical activity, are eating well and feeling creative and, finally, have a sense of “mindfulness.” So they’re providing a free app designed to facilitate finding your “anchoring purpose in life.” Sound like a nice perk?
BY MICHAEL MILLENSON Obamacare, at least in its original incarnation, is on its way out. The pressing question now is whether “art of the deal” health care will remain. “The Art of the Deal” is the title of the 1987 best-seller that catapulted real estate developer Donald Trump to national prominence. Although Trump has denounced
Your health plan is on a Ben Franklin blitz. They want to make you healthy and wise — and, as payment incentives change, themselves wealthy. So get ready for help in living a purpose-driven life…and getting enough sleep.
By MICHAEL MILLENSON Q: Donald Trump’s campaign for the presidency included a promise to repeal “Obamacare” in its entirety. If he succeeds in fulfilling that promise, what impact can we expect on American cancer prevention and cancer treatment? A: Donald Trump, emboldened by eliminating ISIS, ending illegal immigration and energizing the economy, will eradicate cancer. Or
What I remember most was how quickly she won over a crowd that had good reason to be suspicious; how fluently she spoke…and, most of all, the standing ovation some 2,000 doctors and their spouses gave her….Let’s hope the hard lessons Hillary Clinton learned in the 1990s-era health reform debacle imprint themselves in her actions as well as in her words.
By MICHAEL MILLENSON Sure, I’ve always wanted to write a clickbait headline that sounds like a promo for the bastard child of Buzzfeed and the Federal Register. But, seriously: you will not believe what Medicare just did about patient engagement in a draft new rule dramatically changing how doctors are paid. And, depending upon the reaction of the patient
By MICHAEL MILLENSON The annual Lown Institute Conference advocates for the “right” kind of patient care, as in “the correct course of action.” But the political meanings of “right” and “left” also echo, sounding like a healthcare version of the recover-lost-glory demands of Donald Trump and the moral crusade of Bernie Sanders. The program for this year’s
If Lown wants to change the “culture” that prompts those [unnecessary CT] scan orders….I suggest finding some moms willing to publicly agree that not treating their child’s “intracranial bleeds and skull fractures” (as the research phrased it) was perfectly fine.
By KIP SULLIVAN In my three-part series on why we know so little about ACOs, I presented three arguments: We have no useful information on what ACOs do for patients; that’s because the definition of “ACO” is not a definition but an expression of hope; and the ACO’s useless definition is due to dysfunctional habits