Relatively early in America’s adventures in coronavirus, on March 18, the US government approved legislation that made coronavirus testing, as well as the visit to administer it, free for all Americans, whether or not they have health care insurance (although if the visit doesn’t result in a coronavirus test, it is not covered).
It was an essential policy: The fear of medical bills acts as a deterrent for many Americans, pushing them to delay, or avoid, tests or medical tr...
healthcare
As an American, I felt safer from coronavirus in the UK until herd immunity came along
On Jan. 24, I got a text from the UK’s National Health Service telling me if I had returned from Wuhan and felt ill, to call a number to arrange a phone consultation. The request to stay away from my local NHS facility was polite but firm: “Please do not attend.” One month later I got another text, with a longer list of countries (China, Hong Kong, Italy’s Lombardy region, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, Republic of Korea, Singapore and Taiwan). If ill, self-isolate and call 111.
I...
Patients can’t afford for doctors to misunderstand the healthcare business
When I was in medical school, my teachers started a lot of their stories with the same phrase:
“Back in my day, I still helped patients who couldn’t pay.”
“Back in my day, we didn’t have 100 checklists.”
“Back in my day,...
No Obamacare replacement 3 years after Trump’s promise to ‘immediately’ change it
Nearly three years after taking office, Americans still are waiting for Trump's big health insurance reveal. Prescription drug prices have edged lower, but with major legislation stuck in Congress it's unclear if that relief is the start of a trend or merely a blip.
Google is secretively collecting health data, and American workers should be worried
Earlier this month, Google confirmed it is collecting the comprehensive health histories of millions of Americans, through a partnership with the largest nonprofit health system in the US. This news should concern us all, but especially anyone who isn’t self-employed.
The...
