Category: Health Care
-
Virginia’s Descent into Madness — Literal Madness
by James A. Bacon Do you ever get the sense that society is on the brink of a total mental breakdown? I do, and never more so than when I read the news. Indeed, after reviewing today’s news feed, I’m tempted to think that Virginia may be further down the path to mass psychosis than…
-
Virginia’s Covid Vaccination Plan – Nothing to Exercise
by James C. Sherlock I have read a lot of speculation here on who is responsible for the mess that has been the distribution and administration of COVID vaccines. I will try offer some clarification. On a day-to-day basis, people get flu shots or shingles shots or whatever from a lot of different providers. The…
-
Private Sector Screws Up Vaccine Dispersal
By Peter Galuszka For more than a year, there has been a stream of criticism of government handling of the COVID vaccine. On this blog, there has been a relentless pounding of Gov. Ralph Northam for his role in trying to navigate the pandemic that has so far killed more than 500,000 Americans. This is…
-
Certificate of Public Need’s Hall of Mirrors
by James C. Sherlock In Versailles’ Hall of Mirrors, everything is reflected hundreds of times. The mirrors were also a commercial. They represented an effort of Louis XIV to establish for France monopolies on the production of luxury goods. Virginia’s Certificate of Public Need (COPN) law and regulations represent a similar structure. Everything in the…
-
Sentara and the Judge
by James C. Sherlock Updated Feb. 23 at 2:15 pm In an ongoing series of reports, Ray Locker, enterprise and investigative editor of the Checks and Balances Project, has exposed a story with far-reaching implications. Norfolk Circuit Court Chief Judge Mary Jane Hall sat in judgment on a case, Chesapeake Hosp. Auth. v. State Health Comm’r, in…
-
COPN – Don’t Leave Home Without It
by James C. Sherlock Sometimes I think we don’t personalize the effects of Virginia’s Certificate of Public Need (COPN) program on individual Virginians in ways that are relatable. Nor do many understand the power of the hospital monopolies. Many readers here have followed the progress of our reporting of the increasing and relentless suppression of…
-
Certificate of Public Need – This Seems Promising
by James C. Sherlock Democrats, the primary bulwarks for the Certificate of Public Need (COPN) law in Virginia, took the opportunity last year to create as part of a major revision to COPN law a new 19-member State Health Services Plan Task Force. That group is to advise the Board of Health on the content…
-
Bacon Bits: Fear and Loathing at Every Turn
Minutes away from monthslong blackouts. Partisans and their friends in the media will debate forever how to apportion the blame between renewables, natural gas and other factors in the rolling blackouts in Texas. What the situation in the Lone Star State indisputably does do, however, is drive home the absolute necessity of maintaining an electric…
-
Foy on Healthcare Reform: More Price Transparency
by James A. Bacon Judging by his campaign fund-raising e-mails, Terry McAuliffe thinks he can snag the Democratic Party nomination for governor by running against the Republican’s poll-leading candidate, Trumpette Amanda Chase. Given his name recognition as a former governor, that may work. But give his lesser-known rival for the nomination, Jennifer Carroll Foy, credit…
-
All According to Plan – the Biggest Government Scandal in Virginia History
by James C. Sherlock The Virginia Mercury published an excellent article on the difficulties being encountered in Virginia in scheduling COVID shots. But who could have anticipated the need? Who indeed. This story is part of the single biggest government scandal in Virginia history and the press is either ignorant of the underlying issue or…
-
Carilion Takes a Crack at Reforming Hospital Billing
by James A. Bacon Just as they’re borrowing billions to pay for college, and automobiles, and credit cards, and houses, Americans are borrowing billions to pay for their share of healthcare costs that their insurance doesn’t cover — $88 billion, according to a 2019 Gallup poll. Adding insult to injury, Americans are subjected to a…
-
More Vaccination Confusion
By Dick Hall-Sizemore I do not know who is to blame–CVS or the state–but the vaccination situation is unacceptable. The Commonwealth seemed to be getting on the right track by enabling individuals to register with their local health departments and the local agencies then using those registration to schedule appointments. Then the federal government changed…
-
Medicare for All – A Cautionary Tale
by James C. Sherlock For those of you who think “Medicare for All” would be a good thing, I offer a cautionary tale from Becker’s Hospital CFO Report titled Hospitals barred from suing over $840M pay cut. A group of more than 680 hospitals can’t revive a lawsuit saying they lost $840 million in payments…
-
Virginia’s Legendary Corruption Blocks Antitrust Enforcement
by James C. Sherlock Readers of this blog have indicated an unquenchable appetite for information about and discussion of Virginia’s Certificate of Public Need (COPN) law and its administration. This essay informs on the negative impacts of the COPN law and the Virginia Antitrust Act (the Act) itself on the enforcement of antitrust laws against Virginia’s…
-
Virginia’s Physicians and Nurses Must Take – Yes, Take – More Influence Over Virginia Health Policy
by James C. Sherlock As I have studied and reported upon Virginia’s struggles in COVID response, many things have come into focus that need to be done better in healthcare. I have reported on a lot of them here and called for changes. One major, overarching flaw needs attention. Virginia’s physicians and nurses do…