Author Archives: ceopate

First of all, two disclaimers. I am providing you with my thoughts. These are not official positions of the federal government or the state of Idaho, though I do think my advice is consistent with government guidance. For official advice, go to coronavirus.gov or coronavirus.idaho.gov. Second, this is a rapidly evolving situation and as weContinue reading “Answers to Questions you have about Coronavirus that you are Afraid to Ask”

There are now about 225 confirmed cases of coronavirus diseases (COVID-19) and 14 deaths in the U.S., although these numbers may have changed by the time you read this. Yes, that is scary. But, let’s put that in perspective. The virus has been in the U.S. for at least six weeks. The population of theContinue reading “Why You Still Shouldn’t Panic about Coronavirus”

The United States Supreme Court just granted a request to hear the case challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that I wrote about on my blog on January 27, 2020. At that time, it was called Texas v. United States, but for some confusing reasons that we don’t need to get intoContinue reading “Breaking News – Supreme Court Unexpectedly Decides to Hear Obamacare Case”

In last week’s blog post, I discussed some of the legislation being considered in an attempt to control drug prices. I concluded that piece indicating that this week’s blog piece would address another proposal that President Trump has talked about – allowing for the importation of drugs from other countries as a way to makeContinue reading “Is Drug Importation the Answer to High Drug Prices?”

There is no doubt that the situation concerning coronavirus has worsened. I certainly felt more encouraged when the overwhelming majority of cases were confined to China. The spread of cases (but, keep in mind, we are talking very low numbers of cases) to 58 countries is disappointing and suggests early efforts to restrict travel wereContinue reading “If You are Freaked Out about the Coronavirus, Read This!”

Loyal readers of my blog (both this one and my prior blog for St. Luke’s Health System) know that I try very hard to present health care issues fairly, objectively and from a non-partisan viewpoint. I try to outline both sides to these issues, state the pros and cons, and write my analysis in aContinue reading “Legislating Drug Prices”

The Trojan Horse The political system is designed to bring disparate views toward middle ground. The healthcare proposals by Democrats and Republicans – “Medicare for all” and short-term and association health plans, respectively– that I referred to in last week’s blog post, could hardly be more diametrically different. There is another, little understood but perhapsContinue reading “Public Option – The Trojan Horse of Healthcare Reform”

We enter into the 2020 election with very different views between Republicans and Democrats (and even within the Democratic party) as to how to solve our health-care challenges. Unfortunately, the national discussion is misguided. Despite the fact that health care is the number one issue for voters and their concern is how to pay forContinue reading “Health Care and the 2020 Election”

In his State of the Union speech before Congress last night, President Trump stated, “I’ve also made an ironclad pledge to American families. We will also protect patients with pre-existing conditions.” I have come to judge politicians not by what they say (not that that is not important), but what they do. Using this framework,Continue reading “Health Care and The State of the Union”

Everything You Need to Know about the Wuhan Coronavirus (2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV)) What is a virus? A virus is a small (you cannot see a virus with the naked eye) infectious agent that cannot replicate itself without infecting a host cell. But, once a virus infects a suitable host cell, its genetic material canContinue reading “What You Need to Know about the New Coronavirus”