It may pay to shop around for health care. New legislation requiring transparency in health insurance coverage allows price comparisons between hospitals, across hospital systems, and with different insurers. In a new issue brief, Vivian Ho and co-author Evelyn Li compare quality and analyze pricing data from Houston area hospitals.
A comparison of the prices at three major Houston hospitals — Houston Methodist, St. Luke’s Health and Memorial Hermann — associated with Blue Cross Blue Shield and UnitedHealthcare PPO health plans finds wide-ranging costs for services.
As China’s power reaches its peak over the next decade, President Xi Jinping may make a bold move against Taiwan. To protect American interests and the rules-based order, the authors argue that the United States and its allies should immediately mobilize resources to deter Chinese aggression.
Gabriel Collins, Andrew S. EricksonDecember 20, 2021
"China talks green but runs on coal," write the authors, who suggest leveraging the threat of carbon taxation to incentivize change in the PRC and help set a path toward preserving the Earth for future generations.
Gabriel Collins, Andrew S. EricksonAugust 31, 2021
Following a comprehensive review of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the authors determined that the CDC’s COVID-19 case reports contained surprisingly incomplete information about the spread of the virus in the United States. Uniform case reporting to the CDC for life-threatening pandemics should be mandated, they write.
The authors offer strategies to counter an increasingly aggressive China and to position the Indo-Asia-Pacific for continued prosperity and growth under a rules-based regional system. Their recommendations comprise a dynamic blend of diplomatic, information, military and economic action.
Gabriel Collins, Andrew S. EricksonNovember 12, 2020
To promote optimal resource use in cancer care, this study investigated referral patterns of follow-up colonoscopies for colorectal cancer survivors and their test results.
Woohyeon Kim, Mariana Chavez-MacGregor, Vivian HoOctober 30, 2019
Rising health care costs and generational attitudes toward convenience and the ability to personalize life choices are driving a trend toward greater individual responsibility over the use of health care services.
A study comparing the community benefit expenditures of two sets of Houston hospitals leads the authors to propose strategies that can better justify the tax exemptions the institutions enjoy.
Alex Alexander, Marah Short, Vivian HoFebruary 8, 2018
The authors analyze how the AKP and other Islamist parties in Turkey have fared in municipal governance and whether municipalities governed by Islamist mayors promote and Islamic political identity.