Valleywide Legal Blog

Medical Debt Is Coming To A Household Near You

Medical debt is coming to a household near you, unless you are well-off.  If you are among the poorer Americans, the chances are high that you are carrying medical debt and that at least some of it is past due. … Read More

Posted in Doctors, Fee for Service, General Health, Health Care Costs, Health Insurers, healthy living, Hospitals, Medical Costs, medical ethics, Medicare |

Think Long And Hard Before Going To Mexico For Medical Treatment

I drive to San Diego from Phoenix a number of times a year.  As soon as I cross into Southern California on Interstate 8, I see billboard after billboard advertising low cost medical and dental care just across the border … Read More

Posted in antibiotic resistant bacteria, Arizona Medical Board, blood infections, Doctors, Fee for Service, Health Care Costs, Medical Costs, medical errors, medical ethics, medical mistakes, Pharmacies, Surgical Errors |

Hard To Believe But Insurance Company Policies Hurt Patients

I get it.  Insurance companies are in business to make money.  I don’t begrudge them a reasonable profit.  However, as evidenced by their behavior over the years, they can’t seem to operate without taking advantage of patients and patients are … Read More

Posted in Birth Injuries, Doctors, Fee for Service, General Health, Health Care Costs, Health Insurers, healthy living, Insurance Law, Medical Costs, Medicare, Obesity, Type 2 Diabetes |

Greed In Health Care Harms Patients

Last month I wrote about how greed in health care led to selling drugs and fleecing Medicare.  Today’s post is about practices that are even worse and harm far more people.  It relates to the purchase by private equity of … Read More

Posted in Doctors, Fee for Service, Fraud, Health Care Costs, Hospitals, Medical Costs, Medical Devices, medical ethics, Medicare |

When Thinking About Hospital Bills, Remember Your Old Monopoly Game.

It is no secret that the cost of medical care is rising and rising at a rate faster than inflation.  This wave of rising costs is being led by an even larger rise in the cost of hospital care.  Hospitals … Read More

Posted in Doctors, Fee for Service, Health Care Costs, Hospitals, Medical Costs, Medicare |

Health Care Professionals Are Not Immune to Greed

Willie Sutton, the Depression era bankrobber, when asked why he robbed banks, famously responded, “That’s where the money is.”  Today, the money is in illegal drugs and the Medicare program.  Foreign drug cartels make huge profits smuggling illegal drugs into … Read More

Posted in Doctors, drug companies, Fee for Service, Fraud, Health Care Costs, Health Insurers, medical ethics, Medicare |

Our Health Care Spending Subsidizes the Rest of the World

If you follow this blog or read much about health care spending, you know that we in the United States spend twice as much per person on health care as any other nation on earth.  We pay way more for … Read More

Posted in Doctors, drug companies, Fee for Service, Health Care Costs, Health Insurers, Hospitals, Medical Costs, Medical Devices, medical research, Medicare |

Our Broken Health Care Delivery System.

Next time you are visiting someone at the hospital and have a few minutes to spare, take a drive through the doctor’s parking lot.  If you live in a major metropolitan area, you will see luxury car after luxury car.  … Read More

Posted in Doctors, drug companies, Fee for Service, General Health, health, Health Care Costs, Health Insurers, Hospitals, Medical Costs, medical ethics, Medicare, Obesity, Secrecy |

Some Helpful Medicare Enrollment Information.

It is only early November and I am already sick to death of the advertisements trying to get me to enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan and I still have a month go before the open enrollment period ends.  Every … Read More

Posted in Doctors, Fee for Service, health, Health Care Costs, Health Insurers, Medical Costs, Medicare |

You’re Not Listening To Me.

Medical diagnosis and its evil twin, misdiagnosis, are profoundly influenced by the physician’s ability to effectively listen to the patient.  There are great diagnosticians and some doctors who are not so great diagnosticians.  The great ones almost always say the … Read More

Posted in Doctors, Fee for Service, medical charts, medical errors, medical ethics, medical mistakes, Medical Negligence, Misdiagnosis |