The Buzz: Health Care Reform Not So Simple

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As President Obama continues to garner support for his healthcare reform plan, ScienceBloggers are also taking a look at the issues in play. Peter Lipson of White Coat Underground investigates the perception that centralized, salary-based medicine is more efficient than a system based on private practice. Revere of Effect Measure discusses the dangerous tendency to eliminate all reserve capacity--spare hospital beds--in order to cut costs. Mike the Mad Biologist argues against what he calls a mislabeled "centrist" position on reform. And Razib of Gene Expression presents a glimpse of what healthcare was like under Turkmenistan's notorious dictator, Saparmurat Niyazov.

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Turkmenistan had a bizarre dictator as its ruler until 2006, Saparmurat Niyazov. Here's a sample of his healthcare initiatives: So, in a frankly insane healthcare reform effort, he restricted the public's access to care by replacing up to 15,000 doctors and nurses with unqualified military…
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