Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Sorted by date Results 1 - 7 of 7
A report released last week by the Washington State Hospital Association indicates that virtually every hospital in the state is in financial trouble. (here) A recent survey revealed that hospital revenues were up five percent from 2021 to 2022, yet expenses rose 11 percent over the same time period. This is unsustainable. Several, if not many, hospitals are at risk of closing if these losses continue for another year. This includes both rural and urban facilities. Executives...
The Biden Administration’s massive welfare give away, “Build Back Better,” is currently being negotiated in Congress. One of the original funding mechanisms was raising taxes on the rich to the point where they pay their “fair share.” In spite of the political left obsessing over the issue, no one has clearly defined exactly what the term means. Let’s look at actual numbers and see who pays what in income taxes in the United States. Those organizations that follow taxation in the U.S. use an array of reporting methods to...
It is often argued that managed health care can provide better clinical outcomes while holding down health care costs. Over the years, managed care has taken on many different names including health maintenance organizations, accountable care organizations, and medical homes for instance. The structure of managed care is based on a primary care provider who serves as a “gatekeeper” and coordinates the care of an individual patient with multiple specialists. The idea is that the system would be more efficient and would eli...
Liberals in Congress are actively campaigning to force price controls on drug manufacturers. The House has already passed bills that would limit the amount of money pharmaceutical companies can charge for drugs. The fate of this proposed legislation is uncertain in the U.S. Senate. At the same time, the Biden Administration and others on the political left are attacking the companies that have made the COVID-19 vaccines. They seek a waiver to the 1994 TRIPS Act, which was...
A friend of mine, let’s call her Mary, began college at the University of Washington in 1967 and graduated with an undergraduate degree in 1971. According to the university’s records, she paid $3,160 (in 2020 dollars) for her final year of in-state tuition. Mary’s granddaughter, Emma, graduated after four years from the University of Washington in 2020 and paid $10,630 for her final year of in-state tuition. Essentially, school administrators more than tripled tuition at the s...
Regardless of a person's political views, we can all agree that rising cost is a major problem with our health-care system. Last year, Americans spent 18 percent of our economy, or $3.6 trillion, on health care. The ever-increasing cost curve would suggest that by the 2030s the country will spend 30 percent of our gross domestic product on medical treatments. Extensive research has been done to identify unnecessary care and wastefulness in the system. Estimates vary, but from...
The federal government recently announced it wants to spy on your doctor. The government planned to pay “mystery patients” to call doctors and find out whether they are willing to accept the prices set by Medicaid and Medicare. The public was outraged, naturally, and within 72 hours government officials temporarily suspended the calls. Federal officials sending fake patients to spy on doctors is not only unethical, it is one more disturbing indicator of why government price controls on health-care services don’t work. Medic...
