Houston Healthcare Initiative's podcast

Can we rescue the expensive, cumbersome, and increasingly patient un-friendly healthcare system we have here in the U.S? Yes. To hear the details about how to do it, listen to the Houston Healthcare Initiative podcast with Dr. Steven Goldstein. www.houstonhealthcareinitiative.org.

Enhancing Population Health Approaches After Covid - 19. On this edition of the Houston Healthcare Initiative Dr. Steven Goldstein, will discuss the reversals in preventative care the American public experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic and what we can all do to stay healthier, and possibly live longer by re-committing to prevention as part of our collective health regimen. To learn more, please visit www.houstonhealthcareinitiative.org.

Final Three Biden Administration Healthcare Goals  

Doctors' Right To Prescribe Off Label Treatments for their Patients. Even in the year 2021 the more things change, the more they stay the same. By that I am referring to the off-label prescription options doctors have always had that are still controversial when it comes to the ongoing global Covid 19 pandemic. Off-label prescribing is when a physician gives a drug that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved to treat a condition different than the one you've got. This practice is legal and even common. In fact, one in five prescriptions written today are for off-label use. Last year Dr. Goldstein discussed the controversy and government interference with how hydroxychloroquine, a common treatment for Malaria was prescribed off-label for patients suffering with Covid-19. Fast forward from September 2020 to October 2021 and the same thing is happening with a drug called Ivermectin, a drug that is approved for treatment of certain parasitic worm infestations, and its possible use as a treatment for Covid-19. Here on the podcast with some much-needed insight is respected neurologist and founder of the Houston Healthcare Initiative, Dr. Steven Goldstein. This on the latest edition of his popular Houston Healthcare Initiative Podcast which can be heard on : Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Podbean, Soundcloud, and the Houston Healthcare Initiative website. How do the government, media and lobbyists work to suppress affordable treatments for Covid-19 and interfere with a doctor's right to prescribe off label  

There were a lot of unintended consequences of the Covid-19 lockdown. Sadly, at a time when Americans should have been focused on their health, as a population we did anything but. During the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown the average American gained two pounds a month. Americans in general were never known for healthy diets or enthusiasm for working out. But a bad problem got way worse during 2020 and the early month of 2021. To help us all gain some insight into this is the founder of the Houston Healthcare Initiative, Dr. Steven Goldstein. To see more visit www.houstonhealthcareinitiative.org.

Access to and paying for healthcare is a topic that Dr. Goldstein talks about a lot on the podcast and this one is no exception. But in this case access to primary care is a matter of the number of doctors who choose to pursue primary care as a career. Pay for those roles is lower than it is for most specialists. A lower number of primary care doctors are linked to 85 deaths every day according to a study published by the National Academy of Sciences. In addition to a shortage of practicing doctors, primary care visits declined significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Add to that a good number of primary care practices were not able to access federal funds and relief and went under. How can we manage all this? For answers we turn to respected neurologist and the founder of the Houston Healthcare Initiative, Dr. Steven Goldstein. To see many cash payment alternatives for healthcare, visit www.swampbutt.com. 

On this edition of the Houston Healthcare Initiative podcast, Dr. Steven Goldstein describes UnitedHealthcare's try at reducing emergency room claim payments by retroactively ruling that some emergencies were not really emergencies at all. The consequences of this could put patients in jeopardy. Listen to learn how this could affect you. And visit www.houstonhealthcareinitiative to learn about this and much more. 

In this installment of the Houston Healthcare Initiative podcast, respected neurologist and founder of the Houston Healthcare Initiative, Dr. Steven Goldstein, will explain the often-overlooked benefit known as the Health Savings Account. The Health Savings Account or HSA is a type of savings account that is used for medical expenses. Congress established them in 2003 for those with high deductible health insurance. It is a way to pay cash for routine medical care with pretax dollars. Because the HSA requires a high deductible, routine healthcare expenses are not covered by insurance but can be paid for by the HSA. HSA's are potentially a good value for those who can take advantage. Listen to this and over 50 installments of the Houston Healthcare Initiative podcast at www.houstonhealthcareinitiative.com.

In the market for a new doctor? Wondering why you even need a primary care physician? There are lots of ways and reasons. Listen to the Houston Healthcare Initiative podcast with Dr. Steven Goldstein to get all the best information from an actual, practicing medical doctor. To learn more visit www.houstonhealthcareinitiative.org.

During the lockdown that was borne of the Covid-19 pandemic, Americans gained weight. How much you may ask? The American Psychological Association’s “Stress in America” poll, conducted in late February 2021 found that 42 percent of people surveyed reported they were heavier than the previous year. Sadly, this is not a new trend, but lockdown and isolation made it much worse. The pandemic and lockdown brought a lot of significant change to our society, our waste lines, and health. To learn more about this and other health related issues, please visit www.houstonhealthcareinitiative.org.

For those who ever tried something that said on the label ‘one size fits all’ there is some shared learning because one size never fits all. This is true for socks, t-shirts and healthcare. Yet in spite of this collective experience, we settle for doctors, hospitals and insurance companies who approach patients with templates designed to treat everything and everyone the same or at least very similarly. Instead of an emphasis on individual care, there is more weight placed on administrative efficiency. A better way to do medical business is the ‘patient centered care.’ On his regular podcast respected, Houston based neurologist and founder of the Houston Healthcare Initiative Dr. Steven Goldstein, describes how a patient centered model and cooperative payment method can work to the benefit of patients and healthcare professionals. Visit the web site at www.houstonhealthcareinitiative.org.

On this edition of the podcast, Houston based neurologist and the founder of the Houston Healthcare Initiative Dr. Steven Goldstein, will step us through the numbers associated with health insurance and hospitalization costs. Additionally, he will describe the profits hospitals and health insurance companies accrue and help us all decide was this a good way for all of us to spend money. Now make no mistake, neither one of us is against making a profit and no one works for free. Instead, Dr. Goldstein will show where the money came from and where it went. Ultimately, did the public purchase more benefits or receive a better value as a result of what they were charged. www.houstonhealthcareinitiative.org. 

In a time when so many lost their jobs because of the Covid-19 Pandemic…. Job & Health Insurance Loss Come and Go Together; How To Find Affordable Coverage  March 2, 2021 -- In December 2020, 66% of Americans who answered a survey said they fear they won’t be able to afford health care this year. Of the 41% of respondents who are very or moderately concerned about health-care costs, 53% are parents with children. The amount of people who were and remain unemployed because of the Covid-19 pandemic remains high. Since most individuals get their health insurance with their jobs, those same folks are also in need of medical coverage. On his regular podcast, Houston based neurologist and founder of the Houston Healthcare Initiative Dr. Steven Goldstein has immediate and affordable medical insurance solutions for those who need coverage.

This week respected Houston based neurologist Dr. Steven Goldstein will discuss the price’s patients are charged by doctors and hospitals. Specifically, on the new rules about healthcare price transparency. Specifically, on the new rules about healthcare and price transparency. What needed to change on disclosing prices and is anything different as a result? Of course, there are ways that the hospitals are playing around with the information. But there is one shining example of what looks like full compliance. Be sure to visit www.houstonhealthcareinitiative.org for more information about this and other issues.

A healthcare company blessed with lots of money, high tech abilities and really smart people will close up the end of January. Of course, this was Haven, the joint venture between Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan-Chase. Its purpose was to use the leverage of its tens of thousands of employees and its expertise in technology to improve the healthcare system. What lessons can we learn from its failure to accomplish its mission. Here to help reset the focus of reforming healthcare is respected Houston neurologist, Dr. Steven Goldstein.

Those with an interest in reforming the healthcare industry will be very interested in the topic of this podcast as respected neurologist Dr. Steven Goldstein tells us all about how some very large organizations tried and failed at reforming their employee health insurance. This is a story about an organization that was called Haven. When it was formed, the three companies had a lofty goal: to provide U.S. employees and their families with simplified, high-quality, and transparent health care at a reasonable cost. Haven made one very big mistake, trying to fix the wrong thing. Learn more at www.houstonhealthcareinitiative.org.

That times are unsettled was never truer than in 2020 and 2021 will start out that way. But in an unsettled time with so much of the nation’s attention turned to medical care, could it be the time to really push healthcare reform and what might that reform look like? Americans remain in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. What can we learn from it and how can this influence our thinking when it comes to healthcare reform? Or is it all too big for any of us to do anything meaningful? Here to share his insight with us is respected neurologist and founder of the Houston Healthcare Initiative, Dr. Steven Goldstein.  Visit www.houstonhealthcareinitiative.org for more.

Is it possible to get good health insurance coverage in 2021 and save money on treatments, prescription drugs and the policy too? The answer according to Dr. Steven Goldstein, founder of the Houston Healthcare Initiative and respected neurologist, is yes. Learn more about this and issues like it at www.houstonhealthcareinitiative.org.

There are currently 120 Coronavirus/Covid-19 vaccines in development and a race to be the first one available for the public. Being first with this vaccine will mean big rewards for the maker in the form of profits and scientific prestige. Along with these developments there is political pressure to not only be first but be first by election day. Regardless, the benefits of a vaccine for this extremely contagious virus will ultimately accrue to the public. But nothing is foolproof and there will be problems with this vaccine because there were with all of them. And when there are problems who is ultimately responsible and how can the public find justice? To know better what the possible risk benefit for a vaccine to the Covid-19 is and help us understand the possible downside and upside is respected Houston neurologist Dr. Steven Goldstein.

A group of U.S. doctors known collectively as the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons or the AAPS recently sued the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for limiting use of hydroxychloroquine, and the right to prescribe hydroxychloroquine as an off-label treatment for the Coronavirus/Covid-19 virus. But there is a larger issue here that will eventually transcend the Coronavirus/Covid-19 pandemic and that is who ultimately decides what medicines we can take? Who is it that has more or less influence than they should?

On August 23, 2020 the Food and Drug Administration’s announced a decision to grant blood plasma treatment for Coronavirus/Covid-19 patients with a  fast-track authorization for its emergency use as a treatment for hospitalized COVID patients. This “emergency use authorization” triggered an outcry from scientists and doctors, who said the decision was not supported by adequate clinical evidence and criticized the FDA for what was perceived as bowing to political pressure. News coverage about this potential treatment has done little to clarify whether its useful or not. The idea that there could be a motivation behind the fast track authorization for this potential treatment other than looking for a useful therapeutic is troubling. More to the point, who should decide what patients receive in treatment for their illnesses? To help us make sense of how reforms for the pharmaceutical industry could potentially help separate facts from spin and who we should all listen to is respected neurologist, Dr. Steven Goldstein.

Early in the pandemic, hydroxychloroquine looked like it could be a promising treatment for COVID-19 but use of the drug quickly lost favor after articles in the Lancet and New England Journal of Medicine cast doubt. Both journals retracted the articles but the damage was done. Listen to Dr. Steven Goldstein describe how and why this went wrong. 

What are the reasons prices for prescribed medicine here are far higher than they are in Canada? Is there a good reason or any reason? Add to this the recent federal government action to bring U.S. drug prices close to or on par with their costs in Canada. To make sense of this, please listen to the Houston Healthcare Initiative podcast. And visit the website to learn even more, www.HoustonHealthcareInitiative.org.

This week Dr. Steven Goldstein will take a deeper dive into a court decision that requires hospitals to reveal private negotiated rates with insurers starting this coming January 1, 2021. Plus, he will provide more insight into how hospitals decide what and how much to charge us, and man is that a story. To learn more go to www.houstonhealthcareinitiative.org.

Hospitals, doctors, health insurance companies and pharmaceutical manufacturers do not want you to know how prices are set. Find out why and how on this week's podcast. 

Because of the Coronavirus/Covid-19 pandemic, 25–43 million people could lose their jobs and their health insurance. People who had a serious illness before the outbreak and job loss could be dealt a literally fatal blow. Others who had symptoms and even serious accidents while unemployed and without insurance could suffer more than they would have if their insurance were in place. But there are resources available as described this week on the Houston Healthcare Initiative podcast. To learn more, go to www.houstonhealthcareinitiative.org.

If the stress and anxiety associated with the Coronavirus/Covid-19 pandemic were not enough, people who must go to doctors, clinics or hospitals, because of the virus or anything else, may also be more likely to receive a nasty surprise in the form of a much higher than expected bill. This bombshell applies even to those who have insurance and follow all the rules dictated by their healthcare insurance provider. Houston based neurologist Dr. Steven Goldstein explained how a bad situation is now much worse on his podcast. To learn more visit www.houstonhealthcareinitiative.org.

The current coronavirus/covid-19 pandemic is affecting the lives of everyone on the planet. All of us are asked to follow social distancing guidelines and self-isolate to curb the spread of the virus. Loneliness is one of the unexpected outcomes of all this distancing. Respected neurologist Dr. Steven Goldstein brings his medical opinions to how isolation impacts those who are most prone to both it and the coronavirus/covid-19 virus. www.houstonhealthcareinitiative.org.

The end of the Coronavirus/Covid-19 crisis may be several weeks away, but the end will come and change is likely. What about the healthcare industry will change and what will go back to what it was before? Dr. Steven Goldstein shares his opinions and insights on this latest podcast. To learn more, please visit www.houstonhealthcareinitiative.org.

There are few tragedies that surpass bankruptcy, particularly one caused by medical bills. You leave the hospital, recover enough to return to work and discover the costs of your treatment are more than you can ever afford to pay. But the debt does not end at the hospital exit. The costs of health care are much more enmeshed in people’s lives than just the immediate issue of a hospital stay. The Bureau of Labor Statistics found that in January 2018, a single month, 4.2 million people missed work due to illness, meaning lost wages and, potentially, their jobs. The burden extends to other family members too: helping a family member both in and out of the hospital means missed hours at work, lower pay and the likelihood that patients will use credit cards to pay their bills. The payment by individuals in the U.S. adds up to an incredible expense to everyone in society.  To help us get a better idea of what the total price is to all of us is respected neurologist Dr. Steven Goldstein.

This week on the podcast Dr. Steven Goldstein will help us better understand the roles of managed care and the prices paid by all of us. How are prices determined and by whom? Is it the free market at work?www.houstonhealtcareinitiative.org.

This week our conversation is right out of the headlines, and that is Medicare for All. There are pros and cons for it and here to help us make sense of it all is respected neurologist Dr. Steven Goldstein.

Earlier this year both houses of congress were debating legislation that would end practices that led to surprisingly large and unexpected hospital bills. It seemed that passage was all but done. But over the summer, special interests — specifically hospitals and the private-equity-backed companies that have largely taken over their emergency rooms — are standing in the way; spending piles of money on their advocacy ads sponsored under innocuous sounding names like Doctor Patient Unity. Respected neurologist Dr. Steven Goldstein explains how this practice exists and why big business is against it.

Who is behind all those ‘government rate setting ads’ and what should the public know about them or do differently? For that matter, what exactly are they advocating? In his latest podcast, respected neurologist and founder of the Houston Healthcare Initiative CO-OP, Dr. Steven Goldstein discusses the intent behind those government rate setting ads that are now on radio and television. Not knowing the source of these ads and who is paying for them, what positions they advocate, and what to know about them are all explained by Dr. Goldstein. After the wide acceptance of his locally focused podcast, the Houston Healthcare Initiative CO-OP podcast is now positioned to be useful and relevant to people all over the USA. The Houston Healthcare Initiative CO-OP podcast can be heard on iTunes, the Houston Healthcare Initiative CO-OPweb site and other places around the Internet.

With so many different parts to the whole health insurance debate, this week noted Houston based neurologist and founder of the Houston Healthcare Initiative Dr. Steven Goldstein will take one piece of it and that is the pre-existing condition.  If you want to learn more about the Houston Healthcare Initiative CO-OP please visit the web site at www.houstonhealthcareinitiative.organd of course please come back next time for another edition of the Houston Healthcare Initiative CO-OP podcast.

Patients may go to the hospital designated as in network by their insurance, but the doctors who treat them may not be part of that network. This is one of the main reasons for big bills even among those who have health insurance. Patients rarely have any say about who treats them, especially in the case of accidents where they are incapacitated. This is the message that Dr. Steven Goldstein has for podcast listeners this week. The Houston Healthcare Initiative CO-OP podcast can be heard on Soundcloud, Google Play, and iTunes. The podcast and much more information is available from the Houston Healthcare Initiative CO-OP website: www.houstonhealthcareinitiative.org.    

Lately, conflicting reports about infections and how to prevent them received a lot of attention. Are we right to be concerned with infections in summer? Should we and our children wash our hands, take showers every day and spend more time outside or, are these activities overkill? With what will be a good word or two about this is respected Houston based neurologist and founder of the Houston Healthcare Initiative CO-OP, Dr. Steven Goldstein.

Pop quiz: Do pharmaceutical companies spend more on research or advertising? The answer may surprise you as the price of prescription medicine goes ever higher. These price increases cause many patients to forgo medication, putting millions of lives at risk. For example, insulin, which is needed by Type 1 diabetics for survival, has nearly quadrupled in price. The price of Lantus, a brand-name insulin that's a mainstay of treatment as a long-acting drug that helps diabetics stay under good control, saw a 54 percent price increase in 2014 even though it's been on the market for decades. The simple question is why? Houston Healthcare Inititiative CO-OP founder and respected neurologist, Dr. Steven Goldstein takes the quiz and teaches the rest of us that a lot of what we thought about drug companies and the prices set by them are just wrong. Learn more at www.houstonhealthcareinitiative.org.

No one believes that they can train themselves to not drink water, or drink significantly less than they should for any length of time. Why then do we think that sleep is somehow optional? We've read and heard about people who insisted they could train themselves to go without as much sleep as was always recommended. Best-selling author Tim Ferris, who wrote ‘The Four-Hour Work Week’ and ‘The Four Hour Body said the secret to sleep was not the amount but the quality of sleep that mattered. Sleep and consistent quality sleep is incredibly important. Sleep can even aid weight loss. But If anyone read the headline, ‘sleep more to lose weight’, they’d dismiss it because it’s counter-intuitive to say the least. Doesn’t more motion and activity burn calories? Here with the real answers is respected Houston based neurologist and founder of the Houston Healthcare Initiative CO-OP is Dr. Steven Goldstein.

Summer comes early here in the Houston Area. And with each summer comes several common and avoidable illnesses that can ruin a vacation, a long weekend or any type of summer fun. Here with a strategy for avoiding or if not avoiding treating some of the more common hot weather hazards is well known and respected Houston based neurologist and the founder of the Houston Healthcare Initiative CO-OP, Dr. Steven Goldstein. To learn more visit the website at www.houstonhealthcareinitiative.org. 

You don’t need a calendar or a thermometer to know that spring is here. Just listen to all that sneezing. I know one man who starts sneezing and will sneeze 15-30 times in a row. Most of us are not afflicted like that poor man, but the symptoms of allergies, colds, and even flu are very similar. Given that 2 of those 3 are contagious and potentially really harmful to people with asthma or other respiratory challenges, it’s important to know how to distinguish one from the other. Is it possible? To find out we turn to highly respected Houston neurologist and founder of the Houston Healthcare Initiative Co-Op, Dr. Steven Goldstein. To learn more, visit the website at www.houstonhealthcareinitiative.org. 

The Houston Healthcare Initiative Co-Op is offering a three month introduction for $45.00. This includes access to the 'Doctor's Hotline', special price and vendor list, and a free medical exam. But why the co-op is offering this is the real surprise. To learn more go to www.houstonhealthcareinitiative.org. 

Actor Luke Perry passed away last week following what his publicist described as a ‘massive’ stroke. Perry was 52 years old. His death leaves people at or close to his age wondering if this could happen to them. We have absolutely the perfect person to talk with about this, neurologist and founder of the Houston Healthcare Initiative, Dr. Steven Goldstein. To learn more visit www.houstonhealthcareinitiative.org. 

For those feeling beat up, picked on, and maybe even a bit bullied by their doctor, hospital and health insurance company there is probably good reason to feel that way. Doctors and hospitals are charging more for services and insurance companies are denying more claims. Patients need both their health care providers and insurers, but as respected neurologist and Houston Healthcare Initiative Co-Op (www.houstonhealthcareinitiative.org) founder Dr. Steven Goldstein tells his podcast audience, this is not a normal ‘business-customer’ relationship.  

Dr. Steven Goldstein told listeners to his weekly podcast that not only were opioid pain killers not the best option for treating back pain but that they could make the situation worse. Dr. Goldstein is a well-known neurologist and the founder of the Houston Healthcare Initiative Podcast. The podcast can be heard on iTunes, Soundcloud and at www.houstonhealthcareinitiative.org.

Eliminate Managed Care; One Way to Solve the Opioid Crisis. The policy of some insurance companies to limit or refuse coverage for opioid based pain killers effects millions. While drug abuse of any type is terrible and to be avoided, opioid based pain treatments are important for millions who suffer from chronic pain. Here to help us sort this out is well known Houston based neurologist and founder of the Houston Health Initiative, Dr. Steven Goldstein.

Houston based neurologist and founder of the Houston Healthcare Initiative (www.houstohealthcareinitiative.org) Dr. Steven Goldstein talked about the risk of strokes and their relationship to weight and obesity on his weekly podcast. While the outcomes from strokes are always bad, Dr. Goldstein allowed that from a pure psychological point of view, losing weight was more difficult than recovering from a stroke. “Assuming the patient survives and has the ability to rehabilitate him or herself, there is a lot of motivation for them to do the things that will lead to recovery,” Dr. Goldstein told his audience. “Where losing weight means changes in lifestyle, adding exercise, eliminating things that we all like to eat and drink in a process that takes a lot of sacrifice, it is very hard to maintain this type of change over any amount of time. Motivation for losing weight is psychologically challenging, but on the whole it is better to lose weight than endure a stroke.”

On the Houston Healthcare Initiative podcast, Dr. Steven Goldstein discusses the many health hazards associated with snoring and the major cause for snoring. Listen here or to learn more go to www.houstonhealthcareinitiative.org. 

On the Houston Healthcare Initiative podcast, the facts and consequences of obesity. Obesity will affect mental and physical health, increase the odds of mortality in all cause related disease and the cost of insurance. Learn how to overcome obesity and earn financial rewards by visiting www.houstonhealthcareinitiative.org.

Over the past few weeks Dr. Steven Goldstein, a respected neurologist and founder of the Houston Healthcare Initiative co-op, talked about the benefit of early diagnosis of certain conditions that are possible when co-op members receive their free medical exam. One in particular is high blood pressure. This week we will discuss specifically one of these conditions that is possible to treat successfully with early detection. High blood pressure. Learn more at www.houstonhealthcareinitiative.org.