Waste Not, Want Not On Health Spending

Health care wastes hundreds of million dollars a year. There are some solutions.

Eva Bee/Ikon Images/Getty Images A Prescription To Reduce Waste In Health Care Spending Over the last year ProPublica’s Marshall Allen has been reporting on some eye-popping waste in health care. Take, for instance, eyedrops that are just too big to fit in a human eye. Then there are drugs with arbitrary expiration dates and expensive pills that turn out to be nothing more than two cheap medicines combined. While looking back at what he found, Allen offers some ideas for how to reduce the waste. When it comes to squandered surgical supplies, some hospitals have found that they can trim the list of items opened automatically for operations that then are thrown away. Nursing homes can donate unused drugs to organizations that redistribute them to patients in need.    For patients, Allen came up with some great tips to help protect against crazy medical bills. One of the best is to ask your doctor if a proposed test or treatment is absolutely necessary. What would happen if you don’t get that test or procedure right away? It never hurts to ask. Scott Olson/Getty Images Robust Health Insurance Sign-Ups Surprise Supporters And Opponents On Thursday officials said that 8.8 million Americans had signed up for health coverage on HealthCare.gov, the federal insurance exchange, for 2018. That figure is just short of the 9.2 million who signed up last year, despite the fact that the enrollment period was cut in half for most people in states that use the federal exchange. Enrollment is still open in parts of seven states, including Florida and Texas, that use the federal exchange but were affected by hurricanes earlier this year. And quite a few other states that operate their own exchanges are still open for enrollment. Archive Photos/Getty Images Heart 2 Sizes Too Small? Mr. Grinch, See Your Cardiologist Not many people have a heart that becomes enormous in a single day. So how did it happen to the Grinch? Johns Hopkins cardiologist David Kass ponders what could have caused the Grinch's abrupt change of heart in the classic holiday story. Was it a form of heart failure that led to a ballooning heart or did a valve rupture suddenly? There’s another possibility that Kass thinks might explain it best, and it might also explain the Grinch’s unique skin tone. May your heart swell only with glad tidings during the holidays! Your Shots editor, Scott Hensley You received this message because you're subscribed to our Health emails. |  Unsubscribe  |  Privacy Policy | NPR 1111 N. CAPITOL ST. NE WASHINGTON DC 20002