MNA Daily NewsScan, August 7, 2012: How is that corporate health care working for you?

HEALTH CARE

Big Med  Blog note:  This long piece published in the New Yorker, is written by the same author who uncovered the discrepancies in health cre spending, most notably in McAllen, TX.  It is a provocative article about corporatization of health care that will be a source of heated discussion.  Weigh in yourself,  using the comments section below.

Hospital Chain Inquiry Cited Unnecessary Cardiac Work  Blog note: another point about health care corporitization.  And it was a nurse who blew the whistle.

In British Emergency Room, “There’s No Card to Show; There are No Bills”   Take the American tourist. A visit to a U.K. hospital after an emergency or accident would be free of charge. A trip to the doctor? The same.  So while the Affordable Care Act will expand Medicaid for some in the U.S. and make it possible for more people to buy private insurance, it’s got nothing on Britain’s single-payer system.

Bill Moyers:  “Everyone Should be Entitled to Medicare”    A new study in the journal Health Affairs finds that Medicare beneficiaries age 65 and older are more satisfied with their health insurance, have better access to care, and are less likely to have problems paying medical bills than working-age adults who get insurance through employers or purchase coverage on their own.