Advanced Mediterranean Diet

Like type 1 diabetics, many type 2’s need insulin shots

From Washington Times:

Most folks think of the AARP as a membership organization that gives older Americans discounts on magazine subscriptions and cellphone plans. In fact, those business lines are secondary to AARP’s real source of income, a lucrative partnership with United Healthcare.

AARP partners with United Healthcare to offer health insurance plans to its membership. On its face, there’s nothing inappropriate about this type of affinity branding; the problem is that United Healthcare (and, frankly, other insurance companies) have made some decisions at the expense of seniors and the Medicare program, which should run counter to what a seniors-focused advocacy organization endorses. Recent actions by United Healthcare to limit seniors’ access to less expensive versions of Medicare drugs calls into question whether the AARP is looking out for older Americans or its own bottom line.

This is one of many reasons why healthcare is so expensive in the U.S. Spending on prescription drugs here accounts for nine to 9% of total healthcare cost. Annual pharmaceutical spending per capita is $1,443 compared to a range of $466 to $939 in other high-income countries.

We in the U.S. spent $334 billion on prescription drugs in 2017.

Source: AARP, United Healthcare and CVS keep prescription drug prices higher for seniors – Washington Times

Steve Parker, M.D.

PS: Reduce your healthcare costs by getting and staying as healthy as possible. Let me help….

Click the pic to purchase at Amazon.com. E-book versions also available at Smashwords. com.

I was glad to see this. The concept covered is one reason I’ve been working on my healthcare reform manifesto for months. Price transparency is a key component of fair and sane healthcare reform. Z  has a huge audience compared to mine.

From Townhall.com:

Private health insurance companies routinely deny legitimate medical claims. Most denied claims for doctors are for in-network (so-called “contracted”) services. In these cases, patients never see a bill, and the doctor must separately try to resolve the dispute with the insurance company. For out-of-network (“non-contracted”) claims, however, the doctor is required by law to send the patient a bill while trying to resolve the billing dispute. Most of these denied claims are for legitimate emergency services. They are simply routine claims, not exorbitant or outlier charges as some folks lobbying for the insurance industry would have you believe. Don’t take my word for it. Consider recent comments from former health insurance executive Wendell Potter, who spent more than 20 years working for the giant health insurance companies Humana and Cigna. He explains the real cause of surprise medical bills. According to Potter, “It’s because of a scheme quietly hatched by insurance companies like the ones I worked at, where they decide which hospitals and doctors to include in their networks. They make these choices based largely on what will maximize profits and minimize care.”

Source: Insurance Companies are to Blame for Surprise Medical Bills

Steve Parker, M.D.

PS: Avoid the medical-industrial complex by getting and staying as healthy as possible. Let me help.

Click the pic to purchase at Amazon.com. E-book versions also available at Smashwords. com.