Medical Monday: A weekly post of healthcare- and technology-related policy news, views and commentaries. Almost one month past the Biden administration’s July 4 target date for having 70% of Americans inoculated with at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, the percentage was finally achieved today. The administration reported 468,000 vaccine doses had been administered in the past day, including 320,000 first-dose vaccinations, up from 257,000 in the previous week. Source: Bloomberg  Delta’s dawn: The “delta” COVID-19 strain is spreading rapidly, and is thought to contain genetic changes that allow it to spread twice … Continue Reading →

Medical Monday: A weekly post of healthcare- and technology-related policy news, views and commentaries. Just when you thought it was almost over, COVID-19 rears its ugly head again. For the children? The American Academy of Pediatrics recommended today that all students older than 2 years old wear masks, regardless of their vaccination status, when schools reopen in the fall. The leading pediatrics organization called for universal masking, noting that most school-aged children are not yet eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccine, and many schools are not tracking the vaccination status of … Continue Reading →

Medical Monday: A (mostly) weekly post of healthcare- and technology-related policy news, views and commentaries. At a conference last week in Idaho, we had some down time and took a shuttle boat from the lakeside hotel to lunch at a nearby restaurant. The return trip included a group from a fly-fishing class, and I eavesdropped as the conversation turned to the upcoming Independence Day holiday and fireworks. One described how a relative, former military, loaded up on fireworks for his display, spending up to $5,000 for a couple of pallets of … Continue Reading →

Nonprofit vs. for-profit hospitals. Which would you prefer? Do you even know the difference? Let’s test your knowledge. A hospital system’s reports gross earnings of more than $3.3 billion. Its president earned more than $4.8 million. For-profit or non-profit? In fact, it’s Northside Hospital, a nonprofit hospital whose IRS 990 form from 2017 notes: “In furtherance of its charitable mission, Northside invested in the continued growth, expansion, and increased access to these vital program services.” Let’s look at another. This hospital reported gross earnings of $1.3 billion and paid its … Continue Reading →

Medical Monday: A weekly post of healthcare- and technology-related policy news, views and commentaries. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: A man goes to the doctor and says, “Doctor, wherever I touch, it hurts.” The doctor asks, “What do you mean?” The man says, “When I touch my shoulder, it really hurts. If I touch my knee – OUCH! When I touch my forehead, it really, really hurts.” The doctor says, “I know what’s wrong with you. You’ve broken your finger!” I share that to share this: Vitiligo is … Continue Reading →

Medical Monday: A weekly post of healthcare- and technology-related policy news, views and commentaries. In February 2021, Scott W. Atlas of the Hoover Institution spoke at a Hillsdale College event. Here’s an excerpt of his speech, from Hillsdale’s Imprimis publication: The COVID pandemic has been a tragedy, no doubt. But it has exposed profound issues in America that threaten the principles of freedom and order that we Americans often take for granted. First, I have been shocked at the unprecedented exertion of power by the government since last March – issuing … Continue Reading →

Medical Monday: A weekly post of healthcare- and technology-related policy news, views and commentaries. Calling the shots: The COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech are made with messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, which teaches cells how to make protein that triggers an immune response and produce antibodies without using or injecting the live virus. A drawback of these vaccines is that booster shots may be necessary. In contrast, Johnson &Johnson, China’s CanSino Biologics and AstraZeneca are “viral vector” vaccines: made with a harmless cold virus that acts like a Trojan horse to … Continue Reading →

Medical Monday: A weekly post of healthcare- and technology-related policy news, views and commentaries. One concern amid COVID-19 lockdowns, shutdowns, mandates, sheltering at home, isolation and telemedicine is the dangerous decline in routine vaccinations among children. As communities open up again, increasing socialization and interactions, many children – and the vulnerable adults around them – may be susceptible to childhood illnesses such as measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox, and there is an opportunity for dangerous outbreaks and rapid spread of such ailments. In a January article in the journal Pediatrics, … Continue Reading →

Medical Monday: A weekly post of healthcare- and technology-related policy news, views and commentaries. When I was young, a primary goal of mothers in my community back in South Africa was to ensure that we girls contracted German measles before we were of child-bearing age. If it got around that a young friend with German measles, we were encouraged to hang out with them so we could “get it out of the way.” And we had to stay away from pregnant women if there was any sign of infection. Why? … Continue Reading →

Medical Monday: A weekly post of healthcare- and technology-related policy news, views and commentaries. States have waiting for Georgia’s innovative Medicaid 1115 waiver to take effect and lead the exodus from ObamaCare. But there’s a new pharaoh in town, and he’s changed his mind about letting Georgia’s people go: Suddenly the thoughtful flexibility Gov. Brian Kemp believed was a done deal to give more low-income Georgians Medicaid coverage is no longer good enough. Yep. The waiver approved by the Trump administration’s Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in October … Continue Reading →