I recently shared the link to an op-ed on social media explaining why, in the author’s opinion, establishment of a single payer system in the U.S. is almost inevitable. In response, a fellow Tennessee family physician who is only a few years out of residency commented that he hopes...
In the ongoing debate about how to reform the U.S. health care system, critics of proposals which would make our system more like those in other developed countries claim that physicians would become so dissatisfied they would leave the practice of medicine in droves.
Even if investors are still unsure how the Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) and Celgene merger might pan out, one thing is certain: executives will get bigger salaries and the resulting Big Pharma company will likely get a surge of power. With investors’ initial hesitance pushed aside, Bristol-Myers Squibb investors approved...
As coronavirus infections in the US soar past the 150,000 mark, making the US epicenter a growing world-wide COVID-19 pandemic that has shut down the US economy and threatens a global recession, the Pentagon, seemingly on autopilot, continues to focus its spending on such purported national security...
America’s biggest corporations—prescription drug distributors in particular—are playing in our growing opioid epidemic.
Frances Leath no longer works in management for pharmaceutical industry giant Eli Lilly and Company, but she keeps tabs on the company where she spent the first 15 years of her career. She still lives in Indianapolis, home of the company headquarters. She has watched as Lilly’s dramatic increases...
Eleven years ago today, while I was still serving as head of corporate communications for Cigna, I flew from Philadelphia to Sacramento to attend the first U.S. screening of a new documentary, Michael Moore’s SiCKO. It never occurred to me as I walked into the historic Crest Theatre that...
Open enrollment is over and the flood of advertisements for Medicare Advantage plans has ended for another year. I’m happy to report that, once again, I’ve managed to avoid signing up for one of those plans. For those who aren’t familiar with Medicare Advantage...
Wendell Potter A word to the wise: During this coronavirus crisis, keep an eye on every move of my old industry: health insurers. Behind the PR spin, they’ll be doing everything they can to deny care and maintain profits while making it look...
Tarbell is highlighting the government fines and penalties businesses pay when they engage in fraudulent or criminal behavior. Often, these fines are just a small part of the firms’ annual revenue and don’t actually serve as a deterrent. To these companies, it’s just the cost of doing business. International company...
How health insurance cash forms opinions on Medicare for All.
If prescription drugs are cheaper in other countries, why not allow Americans to import them? In many cases we’re talking about bringing back drugs that U.S. companies made in the first place. To be sure, re-importation has long been a popular idea with individuals and some policy makers. But no...
Health care industry propagandists proceed cautiously at first-ever hearing on Medicare For All bill.
In the 1960s, with no funding for long-term, chronic dialysis, hospital committees decided who would live and die. It was the federal government that put an end to this practice.
Department of Health and Human Services Secretary nominee Alex Azar would be the first former drug industry executive to lead the agency if he is confirmed by the Senate. A Tarbell review of past HHS secretaries – and before that leaders of its predecessor bureau, the Department of Health Education and Welfare...
You would think that making the prices charged by hospitals and doctors available to their patients would be a no-brainer. After all, we’ve become accustomed to knowing the price we pay for cars, carrots, comic books, and almost everything else we buy. Why not knee surgery or appendectomies? The medical...
Let us see if the Devos family has the heart to chip in on a woman's transplant.
"Even I was dismayed when I learned I'd have to go into an NHS hospital."
At the recent Democratic debate, Lester Holt asked for a show of hands: Who would end the role of private insurance companies as part of health care reform? Four hands went up – Bernie Sanders, Bill de Blasio, Elizabeth Warren, and Kamala Harris. Other candidates argued for incremental expansions...
Without the protections in the Affordable Care Act, many would find themselves back in the "bad old days."