Every once in a while, we like to take a moment and focus on health systems around the world. Today, we're looking at Taiwan, which made the transition to a single payer system kind of suddenly, and pretty recently.

One argument we continue to hear about the reaction to Covid-19 is that “it’s just another flu”, and that we can move forward with life as usual, much like we move forward with life during flu season. While we wish that were true, it...

PCR tests for Covid-19 are pretty accurate. But they're often very slow and they can be hard to get. Results sometimes aren't available in time to be useful. Faster tests can be less accurate. As we try to reopen schools and businesses...

A brand new study indicates that where you live in a time zone can reduce how much you sleep, and have general negative impact on health. So, do we actually need time zones?

Aaron Carroll answers more of your Covid19 questions. Click on a time code to jump to a question. 0:00 - start 0:10 - Do exhalation valves on masks defeat the purpose of wearing a mask? 0:40 - Are antibody tests accurate enough to bother...

Lots of parents in the United States rely on paid childcare so that they can do things like go to work, or get things done in a reasonably efficient manner. Daycare provider rules that keep sick kids at home for things like pink eye or a...

Last week we started our deep dive into the RAND Corporation’s comprehensive report on early childhood programs. We talked about how they’re defined, and how they’re targeted. Great. But do they work? What are the outcomes they improve?...

Electronic cigarettes, like Juul, have been in use in the United States for over a decade now, so what’s up with the sudden spike in e-cigarette related illnesses? SPOILER: We wish we knew more.

Mask-wearing is one of a set of measures that helps slow the spread of respiratory disease. This is particularly important in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, but mask uptake has been low in some areas. In today’s episode we discuss a...

Thanks to a ridiculous accounting trick enabled by the new tax law, the cost of funding the Children's Health Insurance Program went from $8 Billion to $800 million. How is this possible? And how is it still not funded? Dr. Aaron Carroll...

As we've explained in previous episodes, insurance is complicated. Even John gets confused (watch the video!). But there's a reason we have all these deductibles, co-pays, and co-insurance. It's because of the moral hazard, and a very...

You’ve probably heard before that acetaminophen during pregnancy is associated with symptoms of ADHD and Autism in offspring. Well, we’ve got another study on that association. In today’s episode, we examine that study and revisit why we...

For a lot of patients, prescriptions build up over time, and older people end up taking A LOT of different drugs. Doctors don't always have the time or will to assess these mounting prescriptions. Empowering pharmacists to recommend...

New studies indicate that beef is not really all that bad for your health, as long as you eat it in moderation. BUT, don't think you're off the hook yet. The production of beef turns out to have a lot of environmental downsides....

It takes a lot of ongoing training to get doctors to take up new treatments and techniques in their practice. But it turns out it's REALLY difficult to get docs to stop using treatments when later studies show that treatment to be...

You may have seen news stories this week saying that if you exercise in the morning, you’ll lose more weight. Can this be true?

The HPV vaccine is pretty well known amongst the public, but mostly as a measure against cervical cancer in women. A recent news article highlights its use in men, and we want to highlight that highlight.

Is that video title going to convince you to exercise? MEGASTUDY alert. The term megastudy is a pretty new one to us, and we like it. Basically, a MEGASTUDY is a group of large randomized controlled trials run simultaneously to look into...

We’ve spent the last few weeks talking work requirements for safety net programs, and it’s all been leading up to this: work requirements for Medicaid. By looking at the EITC and TANF, we learned some things. Can these lessons inform...

So far we’ve been pretty focused on the antibody side of things during the pandemic, but recent work suggests that T Cells aren’t sitting this one out, and that could mean something significant in terms of immunity, even for people who...

We’re talking about housing for four weeks, thanks to the support of the RWJF! In the last episode, we introduced you to the pathways by which we might think about improving housing for low-income individuals. Today we’re going to get...

Access to healthcare in childhood has long term effects on health outcomes, but many children in the US are either uninsured or underinsured, meaning they often don’t have access to the care they need. Why is that and what can we do...

The opioid epidemic is certainly terrible. Even as we're plumbing the depths of it, we should remember that there are other terrible drugs out there killing people and making lives worse. Cocaine is a big problem as well, and it kills a...

While we’re all probably aware that we’re sometimes exposed to air pollution in one way or another, we generally assume that some official (you know, like from the EPA) is keeping tabs on it to make sure it isn’t excessive. However, a...