Can P4P Programs Increase Racial Disparities in Health Care?

If it meant more money for your work, would you see anyone but white men?

Racial disparities just might be enhanced by pay-for-performance (P4P) initiatives, whether or not they are intentional.

Read the article from Health Affairs.

Want to Live Longer? Be White...It'll Be Alright!

Racial disparities in health care continue to be a problem.

Don Berwick has even commented on them.

In the Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, "Unequal Treatment", it's made clear that "...many people of color receive lower quality of care than whites, even when presenting with the same health problems and the same health insurance."

Why the fuck didn't the Department of Health and Human Services want to include this in their recommendations?

("Duh...Gee...I thought those people were all killed off by Katrina?")

Down with the Anti-Vaccinists!

I've said it before...

The anti-vaccinists are selfish bastards, that think nothing of leeching off of the rest of society. Belgium has taken a hard stand on this, and rightfully so, jailing Belgians that refuse polio vaccine.

Polio is a horrible disease. The World Health Organization's efforts at eradicating it started in 1988, and they've done a pretty damn good job: 99% reduction.

Both medical experts and bioethicists agree:

"...unlike other medical problems, in which rejecting treatment only affects the individual, refusing a vaccine for a transmissible disease like polio puts others at risk as well."

"Ethicists argue that people who refuse vaccinations are taking advantage of everyone else who has been vaccinated. Once the majority of a population is vaccinated, there are few susceptible people the disease can infect, thus lowering the odds of an outbreak.

People who refuse to be vaccinated are 'free riders,' Harris said. 'They can only afford to refuse the vaccine because they are surrounded by people who have fulfilled their obligations to the community.'"


So, listen up you fucking selfish dumbshit anti-vaccination cocksuckers! Just because you're rich enough to both "afford" and waste the luxury of health care in this country doesn't give you the right to potentially inflict harm on the rest of the population.

...and once and for all, despite the media bullshit, vaccines don't cause autism.

Bite me...self-indulgent assholes.

Skin Color is Often the Most Important Predictor of Survival

RWJF on Thursday released a report that looked at how education, income, race and ethnicity play a role in health. Findings include:

• Blacks are more likely than whites to die from many health conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer (Hille, Washington Examiner, 2/29);
• Residents who have not graduated from high school are more than four times as likely to have poor or fair health than college graduates;
• College graduates on average live five years longer than residents who do not graduate from high school;
• Higher-income residents on average live two years longer than middle-income individuals; and
• About one in three lower-income residents has a chronic disease, compared with about one in 10 higher-income residents.

What a Fuckin' Shame...Katrina Still Haunts Us

Katrina's a fuckin' bitch.

Katrina was and continues to be a bitch.

But it goes beyond the initial death and destruction she caused.

She surfaced issues about race, about corruption, about choices in federal spending (or underspending), about media lies, about the facade that makes us think we're safe and protected by our government....and of course health care.

Mental health issues, stigmatized and under-treated, carry huge cost and societal burdens. And mental health has been underfunded (and has also had shameful access) for a long time.

This has been true for a long time, and it's also very true (magnified 10x) in New Orleans.

Bitch. I wish I could have ignored the problem...

Strong women get a bad rap. They raise issues that the rest of society doesn't want to deal with. They take a stand. They are accused of being unwomanly. And they know their shit. And society calls them "bitches".

Let's fucking listen for a change.

The Biggest Predictor of Longevity Is....

Race.

Ask Don Berwick.

Now the a report from the American Cancer Society says the same.

It's more than economic factors, since the same pattern is seen in insured minorities versus insured caucasians.

No...racism doesn't exist anymore.

Racial Disparities in Health Care--Having Coverage Isn't Enough

Having coverage isn't enough to eliminate racial disparities in health care. A racial disparities study seeks to dig deeper.