To Comfort The Afflicted
And Afflict The Comfortable

To Comfort The Afflicted And Afflict The Comfortable

Thursday, March 27, 2025

Observercast

Curbing Medicare Costs Without Vouchers

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BY FROMA HARROP About 10 years ago, a new radiation treatment for prostate cancer came on line. A single course of “intensity-modulated radiation therapy” cost Medicare about $42,000. The older radiation therapy cost $10,000. Hospitals bought the new machines and stopped using the traditional method. This tacked another $1.5 billion per year to Medicare spending on prostate cancer alone. Did the fancy new machines do a better job than the old ones? Medicare did not […]

Arnold Hamilton
Arnold Hamilton
Arnold Hamilton became editor of The Observer in September 2006. Previously, he served nearly two decades as the Dallas Morning News’ Oklahoma Bureau chief. He also covered government and politics for the San Jose Mercury News, the Dallas Times Herald, the Tulsa Tribune and the Oklahoma Journal.