Review: "Medicaid May Soon Pay for Some Inpatient Addiction Treatment" – NPR
This story was written by Ben Allen for NPR yesterday. Substance abuse treatment is sometimes a difficult subject to discuss because it is strongly influenced by both biology and psychology. People often wonder why they don't "just stop." That question has implications across the board and treatment is often a mix of biological and psychological approaches that oftentimes are misunderstood by those holding the opposite philosophy. With that said, the best way to make the sit
Review: "States Deny Pricey Hepatitis C Drugs to Most Medicaid Patients" – NPR
Here's yet another opportunity to see just how ridiculous our health system is. This was an article written by Jake Harper, published a couple days ago. Quick summary: a private company uses its money to make a new medication. They get it through a government process to sell to the public. They charge whatever amount they want, which is within their right. The main buyers (insurance companies, Medicaid managed care companies, and the government) then have to figure out how mu
Review: "The Tipping Point: Most Americans No Longer Are Middle Class" – NPR
In this story from NPR today, Marily Geewax writes, "a just-released analysis of government data shows that as of 2015, middle-income households have become the minority." "And middle-income Americans not only have shrunk as a share of the population but have fallen further behind financially, with their median income down 4 percent compared with the year 2000." I'm not an economist but when I look at a typical middle class budget, a chunk of it goes towards medical expenses
Q: So how are you different from all the other universal health care movements?
"So how are you different from all the other universal health care movements?" This was the question posed by my colleague and friend as we researched the dozens of companies and groups who have proposed health care reform plans. Here's a list of how P.S.Y.C.H. is different: 1. Nationwide reach I fully believe that even if a state managed to pull off a universal access system, it would ultimately fail because it's surrounded by states without it. America has this interesting
Review: "The Tangle of Coordinated Health Care" – The New York Times
Health care coordination deserves a big ole Southern "bless your heart." Read The New York Times article by Paula Span. It's a grand intention to create health care coordinators and service representatives to help walk people through the hurdles of our health care delivery system. But these people only serve to make a convoluted process more confusing. The rules regarding HIPAA and privacy and the increasing burden of litigious documentation means that there is a lot of hesit
Review: "More Whistleblowers Say Health Plans Are Gouging Medicare" – NPR
I'm more concerned that people are surprised by this than I am that it is actually happening. Read the NPR Blog post. Medicare is a bloated, inefficient system that has so many rules and regulations that I don't even try to think about it because it would ruin my day and keep me from the joys of patient care. Medicaid and the VA system are equally as bad. Good intentions, terrible execution. It's strange to me that we'd create government programs, then turn around and pay a p
Q: So what will happen to hospitals? It sounds like you hate them.
"So what will happen to hospitals? It sounds like you hate them." This was a question posed by a business friend of mine. First off, I love capitalism. I think it's great. And I don't hate hospitals. They were instrumental in making advancements in medicine through research and clinical policies. I think a good hospital is worth its weight in gold. But I began to notice the funniest thing. Hospitals began to look more and more like hotels. Yes, I do believe that pretty things
Q: Is brand medically necessary?
"If people knew how much time we spent on stuff like this, it would blow their minds." This conversation was had between me and a fellow child psychiatrist. Here's the back story: Intuniv is a medication commonly used in the treatment for ADHD. It's a long-acting form of a medicine called guanfacine that costs four bucks at most pharmacies. The good folks at Shire pharmaceutical company worked out some great deals for Texas Medicaid and earned a place on the Medicaid formular