"The lottery is a tax on people who don't understand mathematics." It's one of my favorite truisms because it aptly describes the magical thinking that so many people buy into about their chances of winning that $100 million jackpot, despite the fact that a person is more likely to get hit by lightning on his birthday. This truism also applies to misconceptions about lots of other probabilities -- like the risk of developing a serious reaction to the measles vaccine versus the benefits of averting a life-threatening measles epidemic. Or the risk of getting the wrong medication due to an EHR glitch versus the benefits that come from replacing paper with digital files.
It seems that every time researchers estimate how often a medical mistake contributes to a hospital patient's death, the numbers come out worse. In 1999, the Institute of Medicine published the famous "To Err Is Human" report, which dropped a bombshell on the medical community by reporting that up to 98,000 people a year die because of mistakes in hospitals. The number was initially disputed, but is now widely accepted by doctors and hospital officials — and quoted ubiquitously in the media. In 2010, the Office of Inspector General for Health and Human Services said that bad hospital care contributed to the deaths of 180,000 patients in Medicare alone in a given year.
There are less than two weeks to go until the Obamacare insurance marketplaces are launched on Oct. 1, and—surprise!—the U.S. is still getting ready. Some states still haven't released details about which prescription drugs will be covered under the health plans they're offering, the Obama administration has had to postpone its requirement that companies with 50 or more employees provide health insurance, and Georgia's state insurance commissioner Ralph Hudgens recently said the state would do "everything in our power to be an obstructionist" and make it difficult for Georgians to navigate the new marketplaces. Fear not, for there is one thing officials have fully embraced: funny videos.
(Reuters) - Gentiva Health Services Inc (GTIV.O) will buy the home health, hospice and community care businesses of privately held Harden Healthcare Services for about $409 million to expand its patient base in the face of continued Medicare reimbursement cuts. Gentiva shares rose as much as 11 percent on the Nasdaq. The deal will help expand Gentiva's services to so-called dual-eligibles - people who qualify for both the elderly and disabled-focused Medicare insurance plan and for Medicaid, which covers the poor.
WASHINGTON — After three years of cajoling, finessing and occasionally strong-arming his fitful conservative majority, Speaker John A. Boehner waved the white flag on Wednesday, surrendering to demands from his right flank that he tie money to keep the government open after Sept. 30 to stripping President Obama's health care law of any financing. Mr. Boehner knows that the plan he unveiled cannot pass the Senate, and that it may prove unwise politically and economically. His leadership team pressed just last week for an alternative. But with conservative forces uniting against him, he ultimately saw no alternative but to capitulate — and few good options to stop a government shutdown in two weeks.
CLEVELAND (Reuters) - The world-renowned Cleveland Clinic said on Wednesday it would cut jobs and slash five to six percent of its $6 billion annual budget to prepare for President Barack Obama's health reforms. The clinic, which has treated celebrities and world leaders such as musician Lou Reed, former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and former Olympic gold medal skater Scott Hamilton, did not say how many of its 44,000 employees would be laid off. But a spokeswoman said that $330 million would be cut from its annual budget. The clinic is Cleveland's largest employer and the second largest in Ohio after Wal-Mart.