EKG During Sleep Study

Merry Christmas

I probably won't be posting much more on this blog. I hope to continue posting periodically to sleepdoctor.

I will continue on Facebook, at my own site as well as visiting and occasionally posting at the Reggie White sleep sites (including Tupelo Sleep Diagnostics, the old name of Reggie White Sleep Disorder Centers- Tupelo)

(A note to any of my patients who are reading this: although I am unable to be Facebook friends on my personal site with any of my patients, I do encourage you to visit the various Reggie White sites on Facebook)

For you poker players out there, I am often on the WSOP Facebook app.

thanks to all who have read this blog over the years

Merry Christmas

Obama Lied

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/Obamacare-is-even-worse-than-critics-thought-960772-103571664.html

Obamacare won't allow employees or most small businesses to keep the coverage they have and like. By Obama's estimates, as many as 69 percent of employees, 80 percent of small businesses, and 64 percent of large businesses will be forced to change coverage, probably to more expensive plans.

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/Obamacare-is-even-worse-than-critics-thought-960772-103571664.html#ixzz10NgiMLEa

Sarah Palin reveals more of the President's lies:

http://www.facebook.com/notes/sarah-palin/lies-damned-lies-obamacare-6-months-later-its-time-to-take-back-the-20/433315368434

Obama's proposed immigration reform

http://d.yimg.com/kq/groups/17260182/1610997888/name/ftc-vi26.wmv

Republican 2012 Presidential Nominee

Fox News reports that Mitt Romney won the 2012 GOP presidential straw poll at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference. He barely edged out Rep. Ron Paul.

I wish Ron Paul would have won the nomination in 2008. In my opinion, he will be too old to run for President in 2012.

I think Romney would make a good presidential nominee, although I would prefer a Christian. Besides his Mormon religion, Romney's other big problem in winning the nomniation is the socialization of health care in Massachusettes under his leadership as governor. Obama-care and health care reform in Massachusettes are very similar. The big difference is that regulation of medical care is traditionally and constitutionally the function of the states, and not the federal government. Although health care reform in Massachusettes has been a disaster with cost overruns and physician shortages, if he takes the appropriate steps Romney should be able to minimize the resulting damage to his candidacy. My humble recommendation to Romney would be to give a series of speeches in which he 1) defends states rights and 2) promises to roll back Obama-care if elected President.

I will be supporting my governor, Haley Barbour, if he decides to run for President. He served Mississippi well in the aftermath of Hurrican Katrina. At the Southern Republican Leadership Conference, he stated that the policies of President Obama and other Democrats are a "man-made disaster."

Coal in your Stocking

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_health_care_overhaul

Senate Democrats passed a landmark health care bill in a climactic Christmas Eve vote

Guest Article on Tort Reform

Below is a guest article on Tort Reform by Barbara O’ Brien; the opinions below are not my own:


Tort Reform Doesn’t Lower Health Care Costs

A few weeks ago the Congressional Budget Office released an analysis that said tort reform would save the federal government $54 billion over ten years. That sounds like a great argument for tort reform. But if you read the analysis more carefully, you see the picture is not so simple. For example, on page 4 of the analysis you can find this little bombshell:

“CBO’s estimate takes into account the fact that because many states have already implemented some of the changes in the package, a significant fraction of the potential cost savings has already been realized.“

The fact is, more than half of the states already have “reformed” tort. The CBO is saying that federal tort reform would not give us an additional $54 billion in savings. Rather, we’re already enjoying a significant fraction of the $54 billion in savings because tort is already “reformed” in most states.

Wait, you didn’t notice that health care costs are dropping because of state tort reforms? That’s because they aren’t.

What we see in states like Texas, which has enacted sweeping “tort reform” laws, is that while the number of lawsuits go down the overall costs of health care and health insurance keep going up — as much as in states that haven’t changed their tort laws.

It is true that states with “reformed” tort law have seen a big reduction in the number of personal injury lawsuits and jury awards, which does save some money. But the costs of caring for people injured by malpractice, mesothelioma cancer, or other injuries from dangerous products or workplaces, don’t go away. And if the responsible party doesn’t pay, usually the rest of us do — in higher insurance premiums and taxes.

And according to a 2006 Harvard study published by the New England Journal of Medicine, only 3 percent of malpractice claims are completely frivolous.

Every state has its own tort laws, and there may be many reasons to reform many of those laws. But reducing health care cost is not one of those reasons.

Barbara O’ Brien