Free Republic

REMEMBER ALL that uproar over the rising cost of medical malpractice insurance? The special session of the Maryland General Assembly four months ago? The emergency bill? The tax on HMO premiums to underwrite malpractice insurance costs? The veto and the veto override? Seems like ancient history now. But here's the peculiar thing: The doctors who were desperate for financial relief from those hefty malpractice insurance bills have gotten no help whatsoever from their insurers or the state. And they've been told not to expect any assistance until July 1 at the earliest. Maryland doctors should be furious about this. Consumers,...

Rising medical costs and the expansion of health benefits for retirees, Guardsmen and Reservists, and their families, are putting a strain on the military health care system, Defense Department health and personnel officials told members of Congress April 21. "Rising health care costs are not unique to the military health system; it's a national concern, and we are struggling with it," Dr. William Winkenwerder Jr., assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, said in testimony before the personnel subcommittee of the Senate Armed Services Committee. David S. C. Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, also testified at the...

A momentous article, "Medical Science Under Dictatorship," by Dr. Leo Alexander, the Chief U.S. Medical Consultant at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials, first printed in the July 14, 1949 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, has been reprinted as a monograph, and it could not have been reprinted at a more opportune moment. Today, the concept of managed care, cost containment, and rationing threatens to eradicate the ethics of Hippocrates in medical practice, with the physician less beholden to his individual patient than to the managed care entity which employs him or pays his salary. In fact, many...

Only 27 years ago, congressional Republicans and Democrats agreed that American patients should gently but firmly be forced into managed care. That patients do not know this fact is evidenced by public outrage directed at health maintenance organizations (HMOs) instead of Congress. Although members of Congress have managed to keep the public in the dark by joining in the clamor against HMOs, legislative history puts the responsibility and blame squarely in their collective lap. The proliferation of managed-care organizations (MCOs) in general, and HMOs in particular, resulted from the 1965 enactment of Medicare for the elderly and Medicaid for the...

"They were there waiting for me when I came back this morning: the sick, the hurt, the scared, the unwise..." "... waiting all night -- for health care..." "...I am the director of the "Fast Track" area of Johns Hopkins Bayview's Emergency Department in Baltimore..." "...Now, like many such facilities across the country, we're often overstuffed with people who simply cannot get care elsewhere..." "...We don't have anyone to whom we can spread the costs of staying open, and we can't afford to expand facilities or personnel..." "...In too many hospitals, people who need inpatient care spend their whole stay...

In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth and populated the Earth with broccoli, cauliflower and spinach, green and yellow and red vegetables of all kinds, so Man and Woman would live long and healthy lives. Then using God's great gifts, Satan created Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream and Krispy Kreme Donuts. And Satan said, "You want chocolate with that?" And Man said, Yes!" and Woman said, "and as long as you're at it, add some sprinkles." And they gained 10 pounds. And Satan smiled. And God created the healthful yogurt that Woman might keep the figure that...

Maryland's Democratic legislative leaders vowed yesterday to pay for medical malpractice insurance relief with a tax that Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) has previously vetoed, setting the stage for a special legislative session next week that could be neither as quick nor as harmonious as Ehrlich had hoped. Given disagreement over the proposed tax on HMOs and other contentious issues, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) said there is a "strong possibility" that the General Assembly could leave town without reaching a deal with Ehrlich. "We're going to try to work with this governor," Miller said. "It's...

It may seem unlikely, given Kaiser's past image as a ham-handed H.M.O., but plenty of others are reaching the same conclusion. High-level visitors from across the political spectrum - the Bush administration and National Health Service of Britain, for example - are coming to California these days to look at Kaiser as an institution that is actually doing some of the things needed to improve health care. Obviously, there is no single model for revamping the nation's costly, disjointed health care system, and Kaiser certainly has its share of problems. But according to economists and medical experts, Kaiser is a...

Rhetoric ANNOUNCER: “Step right up, step right up. Watch the amazing George Bush take three sides of an issue. Gasp as he takes credit for bills he opposed. Gawk in amazement as you listen to George Bush flip-flop on the Patients Bill of Rights.”PRESIDENT BUSH:  “That’s not true, I do support a national Patients’ Bill of Rights. As a matter of fact, I brought Republicans and Democrats together to do just that in the state of Texas, to get a Patients’ Bill of Rights through.”ANNOUNCER:  “The amazing George Bush actually vetoed the Patients’ Bill of Rights. Then it became...

MONDAY, June 21 (HealthDayNews) -- The U.S. Supreme Court handed health insurers a victory Monday by ruling that patients cannot sue them in a state court for malpractice or negligence damages. The justices, in a unanimous decision dealing with both health care and federalism, said that a U.S. law passed 30 years ago trumps various state laws governing patients' rights to sue health plans. While supporters say that limiting lawsuits will save everyone in the long run, critics see the decision as a major blow to patients' rights. "Millions of families... who receive health care from private employers are now...

HMOs Win Supreme Court Malpractice Case 9 minutes ago By ANNE GEARAN, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court said Monday that patients who claim their HMOs wouldn't pay for needed medical care cannot sue for big malpractice damages, an issue at the heart of the long debate over efficiency versus service in managed health care. The court was unanimous in saying that two HMO patients in Texas cannot pursue big malpractice or negligence cases against their insurers, as they claimed a Texas patient protection law allowed them to do. The case involves an issue that has stymied Congress,...

In the beginning God covered the earth with broccoli, cauliflower, and spinach, green, yellow, and red vegetables of all kinds; so Man and Woman would live long and healthy lives. Then using God's bountiful gifts, Satan created Ben and Jerry's and Krispy Kreme. And Satan said, "You want hot fudge with that?" And Man said, "Yes!" and Woman said, "I'll have another with sprinkles." And lo they gained 10 pounds. And God created the healthful yogurt that Woman might keep the figure that Man found so fair. And Satan brought forth white flour from the wheat, and sugar from the...

A West Miami-Dade man who police say administered a fatal dose of antibiotics to a man seeking treatment for an injured hand was charged Friday with practicing medicine without a license. Anastacio Mongalo, 66, was also charged with selling a legal drug that caused death and possession of a legal drug without a license. Miami-Dade police say the charge could be increased to manslaughter after the medical examiner's office determines the cause of death and finishes a toxicology report. Investigators say that Cipriano Herrera, 41, of Northwest Miami-Dade visited Mongalo's apartment near Sweetwater on Wednesday looking for treatment for a...

For years, health plans have sought to control medical costs by negotiating fees with a group of preferred doctors and requiring patients to pay extra for going outside the network. But some doctors and clinics - eager to help hard-pressed patients or calculating that it can benefit their business - have begun to foil the cost-control efforts by waiving those extra charges. The move by these providers to dispense with collecting what are known as coinsurance payments comes as employers and insurers try to discourage overuse of health care by making patients pay more costs from their own pockets. But...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court said Monday it will settle a fight over patients' legal rights when their HMOs refuse to pay for recommended medical treatment. The case involves an issue that has stymied Congress, which has tried and failed to pass national patients' rights legislation. Some states have their own laws, but the question of where patients can sue and what they can ask for in court still is unresolved. The court's answer could determine whether patients can win large amounts of money if insurers refuse to pay for beneficial or even lifesaving treatment. If the court...

<p>BENTONVILLE, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is famous for cutting costs everywhere it can. Today a giant target for the world's biggest retailer is the health-care costs of its employees.</p> <p>Wal-Mart makes new hourly workers wait six months to sign up for its benefits plan and doesn't cover retirees at all. Its deductibles range as high as $1,000, triple the norm. It refuses to pay for flu shots, eye exams, child vaccinations, chiropractic services and numerous other treatments allowed by many other companies. In many cases, it won't pay for treatment of pre-existing conditions in the first year of coverage.</p>

There's a joke circulating on the Internet that goes something like this: And God populated the earth with green and yellow vegetables of all kinds, so Man and Woman would live long, healthy lives. And Satan created McDonald's. And McDonald's brought forth the 99-cent double cheeseburger. And Satan said to Man, "You want fries with that?" And Man said, "Super-size them." And Man gained pounds. And God created yogurt, healthful and pure. And Satan froze the yogurt and created chocolate fudge and sprinkle toppings. And woman gained pounds. And God brought forth running shoes, and Man resolved to lose those...

"The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew." -- Abraham Lincoln My dad, the sole breadwinner in the family, was a union baker. During the 1950s, I was raised in a tenement in New York's Spanish Harlem, and my dad made union scale, which was $4.35 an hour at the time. Even so, we could afford a doctor who made house calls every time my sister or I would...

Having a candid discussion with a liberal at work about what's wrong with health care. After being told that evil HMO's were the big problem, I stated that HMO's (I hate 'em too, btw)) were invented by Ted Kennedy and his crew back in the late 70's. He said, "well, Monster Zero, you've given me something to go look up."

Wars do not win elections. Harry Truman discovered that in 1952 when he was forced to concede a possible re-nomination from his party because of the Korean conflict. Lyndon Johnson suffered humiliation in the run-up to his re-election in 1968 because of the unpopularity of the Vietnam War. Even popular wars like the Gulf War in 1991 did not coat George Bush Sr. in the flag enough to win him re-election the following year. Very often, presidents have been beaten due to unforeseen issues in elections. In 2004 it appears that Democrats will use health care as their dark-horse issue...