Dr. Deane Waldman MD MBA is a retired pediatric cardiologist and system theorist analyst for American health care. He brings 37 years of clinical experience plus the business and administrative experience as Chief of Pediatric Cardiology at University of Chicago to Texas Public Policy Foundation as Distinguished Senior Fellow in Health Care Policy. He is also the Consumer Advocate member on the Board of Directors of the New Mexico Health Insurance Exchange.
Recent events in response to COVID-19 expose the illegal and immoral practice of medicine. By law, only licensed clinical physicians can practice medicine. Particularly, only physicians or specially trained nurses can perform triage, often a life-or-death decision. With a large increase in symptomatic COVID-19 cases in certain locales, there are insufficient numbers of hospital beds...
Let’s be clear, the Affordable Care Act was never about reform of health care it only reformed health insurance. Care is something different, and if we’re going to evaluate the ACA fairly—and honestly debate alternatives—our focus must be on how much care people are getting. Healthcare systems exist to optimize the health of individuals through timely access to...
In the world of commerce, the market rewards success with profit and punishes mismanagement with bankruptcy. In health care, mismanagement is rewarded. Witness Medicare, which provides medical care for 51.2 million Americans aged 65 years and older, as well as 8.8 million disabled. The latest report about the Medicare Trust indicates that the “depletion date”...
Here’s some grandmotherly advice for lawmakers: Be sure you’re not jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. In other words, when crafting legislation that will affect hundreds of millions of Americans, keep an eye out for unintended consequences that might make their problems worse. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act—popularly known...
America has an alarming shortage of primary care physicians, and the problem is worse in rural areas. As the Houston Chronicle noted, new medical schools won’t solve the problem. Here in Texas, 54 counties have 27 doctors to care for more than 255,000 people, who are scattered over more than 60,000 square miles. Advanced practice...
Texas has been criticized recently in both the Houston Chronicle and the Texas Tribune for having the highest uninsured rate in the nation, 17 percent. While this is true, it is unfair. Texas is getting a bad rap. No one creates a health care system in order to insure people. Health care systems exist to...
With the midterm elections on the horizon, some gubernatorial and state congressional candidates are advocating Medicare-for-All, Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sander’s universal health care legislation. Even some candidates in traditionally red states are touting “free healthcare.” But the candidates dance around Medicare-for-All’s two fatal flaws: its astronomical price tag and inevitable worsening of the doctor shortage. Medicare-for-All claims...
A recent memo from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) clarifies why many Americans aren’t getting the medications they need. The wrong person is choosing your prescription drug, and it isn’t your doctor. According to CMS, starting in 2020, Medicare Part D health plans can implement “indication-based drug therapy.” Medically, an indication is pain in a...
Last week, The Hill reported that the Congressional Budget Office is refusing to score a Medicare-for-All bill now before the House. That’s probably because the CBO doesn’t think it’s going to get a vote anytime soon — despite growing support from Democrats, 123 of whom have now signed on as cosponsors. The lack of reliable numbers from the...
In the run-up to President Bill Clinton’s transformation — not simply reform — of welfare, opponents predicted dire consequences such as people dying in the streets of starvation, low-income families driven deeper into poverty, low-wage individuals, especially single mothers, never finding jobs, healthy children turned sickly and driven into foster care. These warnings made great headlines, sold...
So far, Texas has resisted Medicaid expansion with its siren call of “free” federal money and “free” insurance. The San Antonio-Express News Editorial Board is now urging Texas to rethink Medicaid expansion (“Why it’s time for expansion of Medicaid,” July 29). But does Texas really want to rethink the Lone Star State out of the frying pan...
After Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s victory over a top House Democrat in a New York City primary, the left was elated. “Ocasio-Cortez’s Socialism Can Work in the Midwest — with a Rebrand,” declared New York Magazine (a somewhat dubious authority on what can work in the Midwest). Its reasoning? Ocasio-Cortez’s “Medicare for All” plan polls well. “Both Medicare for All and single-payer...