Hsieh Forbes Column: Traffic Safety Signs May Be Hazardous To Your Health

My latest Forbes column is now out: "Traffic Safety Signs May Be Hazardous To Your Health".

I cover some fascinating behavioral science research showing how traffic safety signs can create unintended -- and sometimes deadly -- consequences.

Quick Links: UK, HSA, TX Medicaid

UK rationing update: "Hospitals 'letting patients die to save money'" (Telegraph, 7/8/2012).

Flopping Aces: "ObamaCare – Killing Health Savings Accounts", 7/8/2012. (Via Dr. Art Fougner.)

Medicaid update: Fewer Texas doctors willing to accept Medicaid (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 7/8/2012)

Texas Doctors Opting Out of Medicare

The 3/9/2012 Houston Chronicle reports, "More Texas doctors opting out of Medicare". Only a few states track this particular statistic, but I suspect this reflects a nationwide trend.

As for why conscientious physicians might wish to opt out, Dr. Kathleen Brown explains in her recent essay, "Exiting the Game".

Note: The federal government makes it difficult for patients and doctors to opt out of Medicare. If a patient wants to opt out of Medicare and seek their own private arrangements with willing physicians, they may lose their Social Security benefits -- something many seniors can't easily afford.

Conversely, if a doctor wishes to completely opt out of Medicare, then they basically have to give up all Medicare reimbursements for 2 years. So effectively, they have to be willing to sever relations with all their Medicare patients, even if they just want to work out a non-Medicare arrangement with one patient for one particular operation or treatment.

(There is a way in which doctors can sometimes take Medicare and other times not, but to do so they have to agree to accept less than the Medicare rates, which is already pretty low. Interested readers can find details at, "Medicare Participation Options for Physicians".)

More broadly, the government has a deliberate policy of making it difficult for patients and doctors to engage in private contracts outside of Medicare. Attorney Kent Brown covers this in, "The Freedom to Spend Your Own Money on Medical Care: A Common Casualty of Universal Coverage".

Admin Note: Sporadic Blogging

FYI, blogging here may be a bit sporadic due to some personal medical issues. (I do have a few pre-scheduled posts that should be appearing over the next few days.

In the meantime, take a look at David Catron's latest in today's AmSpec, "Why Perry Can Beat Obama and Romney Can't".

The point-by-point comparison is interesting. (Disclaimer: I don't agree with Perry on a variety of issues but he's clearly better than Romney on health care.)

Bokor on the Houston Meeting

In response to accounts of the recent Houston meeting on nationalized health care, Sylvia Bokor has sent the following strong letter to the Houston Chronicle:

Re the congressional hearing on H.R. 676, "The United States National Health Insurance Act," held in Houston on July 18, 2008.

A "congressional hearing" is meant to find out what citizens think about a given subject. But the July 18 meeting was no hearing. It was a carefully orchestrated power-play presided over by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee and Congressman John Conyers, Jr., to force socialized medicine down citizens' throats.

From all reports the meeting was held in a manner faithful to dictators and their ilk the world over: The politicians showed up an hour and half late (a tactic designed to reduce attendance by tiring people's patience and driving them away), dominated the podium with interminable talk outlining their point of view (designed to present an appearance of unstoppable force), and refused to take questions from the floor (designed to squash all opposition).

The comic relief was provided by Mr. Conyers who claimed that "This issue isn't about ideas or theories or philosophy or idealism. It's about providing healthcare." Given what's revealed by this statement, one can only conclude that for Congressman Conyers the term "learned" is an oxymoron.

When healthcare does not deal with ideas, theories, philosophy or idealism, it can only deal with "practice" -- the practice of non-thinking, uneducated, brain-dead zombies who will stick a knife into you without an idea, theory, philosophy or ideal to guide their action. That's what socialize medicine boils down to. No wonder those speakers described themselves as "bleeding heart liberals." That organ, too, is no longer viable, having been bled out.

There is no legal penalty against egregious lack of knowledge, but one might hope that there would be punishment for elected officials, such as Conyers and Lee who treated their constituents with such unpardonably arrogant disdain. One might hope they will be booted out of office ASAP.

Sincerely,
Sylvia Bokor
Albuquerque, NM

Socialists in Houston

Leading leftist Congressmen tried to stage a "town hall" meeting in Houston to claim support for socialized medicine. Fortunately, blogger Gus Van Horn was able to report on what really happened.

Thank you, Gus, for shining a bright light onto this effort to destroy health care in America.

Tort Reform and Texas

The May 17, 2008 Wall Street Journal reported that tort reform in Texas has brought in a huge influx of physicians, especially in "rural or underserved parts of the state". Here are a few quotes:

Over the past three years, some 7,000 M.D.s have flooded into Texas, many from Tennessee.

Why? Two words: Tort reform.

In 2003 and in 2005, Texas enacted a series of reforms to the state's civil justice system. They are stunning in their success. Texas Medical Liability Trust, one of the largest malpractice insurance companies in the state, has slashed its premiums by 35%, saving doctors some $217 million over four years. There is also a competitive malpractice insurance industry in Texas, with over 30 companies competing for business. This is driving rates down.

The result is an influx of doctors so great that recently the State Board of Medical Examiners couldn't process all the new medical-license applications quickly enough. The board faced a backlog of 3,000 applications. To handle the extra workload, the legislature rushed through an emergency appropriation last year.

Now many of the newly arriving doctors are heading to rural or underserved parts of the state. Four new anesthesiologists have headed to Beaumont, for example. Meanwhile, San Antonio has experienced a 52% growth in the number of new doctors.

If you don't penalize doctors for doing their job, then they'll actually do it!

(Via Amit Ghate.)