Comments on: Doctors, Patients, and the Racial Mortality Gap http://healthcare-economist.com/2008/02/28/doctors-patients-and-the-racial-mortality-gap/ An unbiased look at today's health care issues Tue, 13 May 2008 13:08:17 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Healthcare Economist · Healthcare Economist wins blog of the week award http://healthcare-economist.com/2008/02/28/doctors-patients-and-the-racial-mortality-gap/#comment-136906 Healthcare Economist · Healthcare Economist wins blog of the week award Wed, 05 Mar 2008 18:26:43 +0000 http://healthcare-economist.com/2008/02/28/doctors-patients-and-the-racial-mortality-gap/#comment-136906 [...] (RHI) blog today named Healthcare Economist as their Blog of the Week for my post on “Doctors, Patients, and the Racial Mortality Gap.” The RHI Health Blog of the Week is awarded to an exceptional health-related post appearing [...] [...] (RHI) blog today named Healthcare Economist as their Blog of the Week for my post on “Doctors, Patients, and the Racial Mortality Gap.” The RHI Health Blog of the Week is awarded to an exceptional health-related post appearing [...]

]]> By: AnnR http://healthcare-economist.com/2008/02/28/doctors-patients-and-the-racial-mortality-gap/#comment-136825 AnnR Tue, 04 Mar 2008 23:33:53 +0000 http://healthcare-economist.com/2008/02/28/doctors-patients-and-the-racial-mortality-gap/#comment-136825 re: ability to pay. Doesn't the VA offer prescription coverage? I thought they had a formularly list. re: ability to pay. Doesn’t the VA offer prescription coverage? I thought they had a formularly list.

]]> By: Daniel S. Goldberg http://healthcare-economist.com/2008/02/28/doctors-patients-and-the-racial-mortality-gap/#comment-135930 Daniel S. Goldberg Thu, 28 Feb 2008 19:56:28 +0000 http://healthcare-economist.com/2008/02/28/doctors-patients-and-the-racial-mortality-gap/#comment-135930 This is a nice study, but obviously the pressing issue is the "why" of compliance. I think sensitivity is also needed here to avoid a "blame the victim" mentality. There is reason to believe that stigma plays a crucial role in driving disparities, and chalking it all up to compliance without further analysis of why compliance is a problem for medically underserved communities runs a significant risk of directing blame to the victims of health disparities. Such an approach would not make for helpful public health policy, IMO. This is a nice study, but obviously the pressing issue is the “why” of compliance. I think sensitivity is also needed here to avoid a “blame the victim” mentality. There is reason to believe that stigma plays a crucial role in driving disparities, and chalking it all up to compliance without further analysis of why compliance is a problem for medically underserved communities runs a significant risk of directing blame to the victims of health disparities. Such an approach would not make for helpful public health policy, IMO.

]]> By: Jason Shafrin http://healthcare-economist.com/2008/02/28/doctors-patients-and-the-racial-mortality-gap/#comment-135915 Jason Shafrin Thu, 28 Feb 2008 17:59:12 +0000 http://healthcare-economist.com/2008/02/28/doctors-patients-and-the-racial-mortality-gap/#comment-135915 The author does include an income variable, which should be a fairly good measure of the patient's ability to pay. It is not perfect of course. A single man making $20,000 may be able to pay for treatment while a household with 2 adults and 4 kids with a total income of $20,000 may have less ability to pay. I do not believe that the author controlled for family size (income per person in the household) so if blacks have bigger families than whites, this could affect the ability to pay. Using the income variable, however, should do a fairly good job of controlling for monetary factors. The author did find that socio-economic factors (race, income, education, etc.) accounted for 20% of the racial mortality gap. The author does include an income variable, which should be a fairly good measure of the patient’s ability to pay. It is not perfect of course. A single man making $20,000 may be able to pay for treatment while a household with 2 adults and 4 kids with a total income of $20,000 may have less ability to pay. I do not believe that the author controlled for family size (income per person in the household) so if blacks have bigger families than whites, this could affect the ability to pay.

Using the income variable, however, should do a fairly good job of controlling for monetary factors. The author did find that socio-economic factors (race, income, education, etc.) accounted for 20% of the racial mortality gap.

]]> By: Ian Furst http://healthcare-economist.com/2008/02/28/doctors-patients-and-the-racial-mortality-gap/#comment-135872 Ian Furst Thu, 28 Feb 2008 10:22:11 +0000 http://healthcare-economist.com/2008/02/28/doctors-patients-and-the-racial-mortality-gap/#comment-135872 how did she control for there ability to pay for the meds? Is it a matter of compliance or ability to pay? <a href="http://www.waittimes.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">www.waittimes.blogspot.com</a> how did she control for there ability to pay for the meds? Is it a matter of compliance or ability to pay? http://www.waittimes.blogspot.com

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