We've always loved our Twisted Oak  neighbors, and the pandemic has prompted us to spend even more time together--outside and six feet apart, of course. Out of one of our happy hours, the idea to hold neighborhood TwED Talks was born. We'd each pick a subject we know well and give a 20-minute presentation. We've learned about regulatory compliance, CRISPR gene editing, and behavioral economics and Nudges so far. Last weekend it was my turn, big surprise, I talked about choosing safe medical care. Some neighbors asked me to post my slides with links to the sites we discussed, so here they ..read more

​Mental Health Care is in the U.S. is in crisis. There are too few providers, too few providers in networks, widespread gaps in collaborative care, and too little evidence-based practice. Access to providers who participate in insurance networks is particularly bad in the state of Maryland, placing a heavy financial burden on patients and their families. The problem affects all of us who live and work in the state.  We've watched our colleagues at ASHA suffer. The stories we hear from parents trying to get care for their children are genuinely heartbreaking. Adults face similar challenge ..read more

When you go to the hospital, what you pay is based on what your insurance covers. This raises the question, how do insurers determine what a hospital is paid? On one end there is the chargemaster amount, the list price for services that hospitals are now required to post. On the other end, there is what Medicare pays. Traditionally insurers have negotiated discounts from the chargemaster prices, but that's starting to change. Employers are banding together to force insurers to negotiate up from Medicare instead of down from the chargemaster. A group of self-insured employers in Indiana c ..read more