AAP Acute Otitis Media Review
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Archive for the 'Links' Category
Pre-Emptive Summary of Bush’s Insurance Plan
Bush is scheduled to announce a health insurance plan for the nation at his State of the Union address this week, but don’t worry–GoozNews (which I just started reading a couple weeks ago, and it’s great) has already summed things up for us . He does the math for the poor and the rich:
You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that this proposal provides a powerful incentive for healthy, well-off families to abandon their employer plans if their employer gives them that option. And employers will increasingly want to do that since it will save them money: the cash grants will always be less than the cost of insurance. Indeed, as more and more well-off, healthier families opt for the grants, only the sickest and most costly employees will remain in the insurance pool. This will drive the cost of regular insurance higher and further erode employers’ willingness to continue paying for it.
It’s hard not to conclude that this plan was carefully designed to put another nail in the coffin of the employer-based health insurance system, and build upper-middle-class support for individual families purchasing their own plans and care. It has nothing to do with insuring the uninsured, since the benefits are far less than what is needed to effectively move them into the insurance pool.
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Sid’s Annoyed With Grand Rounds
And I’d have to agree ; I always forget to submit, as it’s a weird Monday deadline, but the sites that are restricting posting to a topic of their choosing is the wrong way to go. (It probably started as people–myself included–started putting the posts together with a “style” to make them more fun/interesting–but only listing posts related to a specific field isn’t in the spirit of showing off the Best of the Medblogosphere.
Just The Facts Intern Manual
Found this “Guide to Being an Intern” online –it’s for UMich residents, but has some good little tips that I’ll definitely be referring back to when I hit my SubI and finally graduate.
Cool Health Care Map in NYC
If you’re not aware of it, just like everything else, the poor get disproportionately screwed in the health insurance world–as well as the health care one. (“The rich get richer, the poor get sick.” )
One organization, Opportunity Agenda , has put together a Google Maps mashup showing hospital closures in New York over time –and no surprise, they’re mostly in poorer neighborhoods. (Even if you somehow don’t care, it’s pretty impressive to see how many hospitals there are just in Manhattan and the surrounding burrows.)
Huge Horse Abscess:
If you get squeamish from popping zits, you probably won’t like this. (On my surgery rotation, we incised and drained a gigantic abscess in this guy’s calf, and it flowed out just as well. Disgusting, but fun.)
January 17th, 2007
Advertising for a Procedure
Dr. Sid takes on direct to consumer advertising , which apparently is now advertising implantable defibrillators. I don’t blame him. All of it should be banned–only the US and New Zealand allow it–to our detriment.
World Leaders Hit the Internet
The President of India asks a question about stopping terrorism on Yahoo! Answers.
The Chancellor of Germany launched a podcast .
Our President uses The Google to use the maps “program.” He also talks about rumors on the Internets .
Sigh.
Two Linked Thoughts
More props to KevinMD , as he always scours the web for interesting links.
First, we head to Romania, where a surgeon, “under stress,” cut off a man’s penis during surgery . Geez, and you think American surgeons are mean. (What’s worse: doctors unions are complaining about the surgeon being fined!)
Next, to Samoa, where a tree may lead to the discovery of a new antibiotic . Soooo, how many species have we already wiped out that may have had similar natural compounds that could function as antivirals, antifungals, antibiotics, or other treatments? Causing our own extinction we are. (Karma’s a bitch.)
Medicare Pricing Won’t Cost Bajillions
Joe Paduda takes the Manhattan Institute to task for spreading lies about Medicare negotiating drug prices. Factoid I didn’t know: Pharma companies in Europe, which have price-setting, invest more in R&D than Pharma in the US.
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