The Curious Engineer

The Incidental Economist

2010–2026

163 posts

2026 14

August 2026

  1. Massachusetts Lawmakers Prioritize Health Policy

July 2026

  1. Comforting speeches won’t cure Alzheimer’s

June 2026

  1. Who Gets to Do Research in Space When the International Space Station Is Gone?

May 2026

  1. Why Long-Term Care Policy Keeps Failing – and How to Fix It

April 2026

  1. I tried price shopping for health care. It isn’t worth it – not yet.
  2. Dual-Eligible Patients Fall through the Cracks in Substance Use Disorder Treatment

March 2026

  1. If Gene Therapies are so Revolutionary, Why Does no one Want to Pay for Them?
  2. Walking Gently
  3. FDA’s New Program Injects Politics Into Drug Approval
  4. The Promise and Problems of Hospital Price Transparency
  5. If Medicare’s Hospital Fund Runs Out of Money, Who Will Pay?

February 2026

  1. Massachusetts Led on Dementia Policy Once. Can it Lead Again?

January 2026

  1. When Medicaid Steps Back, Hospitals Can Use 340B To Step Up
  2. New Alzheimer’s Breakthroughs Demand A New Definition Of Dementia-Friendliness | The Incidental Economist

2025 33

December 2025

  1. When Drug Price Transparency Isn’t Enough | The Incidental Economist

November 2025

  1. Want Better Health? Give Video Games A Try | The Incidental Economist

October 2025

  1. Trump’s Prescription Drug Policy: Rhetoric vs. True Reform | The Incidental Economist
  2. We Need Congress to Get Serious About Lowering Drug Costs | The Incidental Economist
  3. Dual-Covered and Underserved: Can the “OpenTable of Health Care” Change That? | The Incidental Economist

September 2025

  1. Libraries are health hubs: why eliminate them? | The Incidental Economist

August 2025

  1. Measuring Biopharmaceutical Innovation in the Modern Era | The Incidental Economist

July 2025

  1. Older Americans Backing Trump Now Face Cuts to Medicaid, Services | The Incidental Economist

June 2025

  1. A Primer on Pharmacy Benefit Managers | The Incidental Economist

April 2025

  1. Making Life Easier for Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease and Their Caregivers | The Incidental Economist
  2. Health Care Subscriptions: Who Benefits and Who Gets Left Behind? | The Incidental Economist
  3. Provider Supply and Access to Primary Care | The Incidental Economist
  4. Trump’s attack on public lands is an attack on public health | The Incidental Economist
  5. State-level actions targeting unethical substance use disorder treatment practices: A qualitative study | The Incidental Economist
  6. FDA cuts may mean even less oversight of pet food | The Incidental Economist

March 2025

  1. An Opportunity: Philanthropy Can Reshape Drug Innovation | The Incidental Economist
  2. Helping Medicare Beneficiaries Navigate Coverage: The Role of SHIP Counseling Services | The Incidental Economist
  3. Caring Letters Sent by a Clinician or Peer to At-Risk Veterans | The Incidental Economist
  4. Healthcare Costs Are Not a Simple Fix | The Incidental Economist
  5. RFK Jr. and Trump are Torpedoing Alzheimer’s Research | The Incidental Economist

February 2025

  1. A Systematic Review of the Effectiveness and Cost-Effectiveness of Palliative Care | The Incidental Economist
  2. Another year, another round of Shkreli awards | The Incidental Economist
  3. Your Therapist Doesn’t Accept Insurance? Here’s Why. | The Incidental Economist
  4. Physician Tenure and Clinical Productivity | The Incidental Economist
  5. There’s a way to deal with brain injuries in football. It isn’t safety gear. | The Incidental Economist
  6. Use of High-Risk Medications Among Older Adults Enrolled in Medicare Advantage Plans vs Traditional Medicare | The Incidental Economist
  7. Can We Engineer the Environment to Avoid Junk Foods? | The Incidental Economist

January 2025

  1. Coastal Living May Endanger Your Life | The Incidental Economist
  2. Covid Vaccine Misinformation or Disinformation? Which Was Worse? | The Incidental Economist
  3. Trump’s Return Puts Inflation Reduction Act in Jeopardy | The Incidental Economist
  4. A Bit More on Physical Pendulum Isochronal Pivot Points | The Incidental Economist
  5. The Geometry of Isochronal Pivot Points for a Physical Pendulum | The Incidental Economist
  6. Like the EpiPen, but cheaper, smaller, and no needle | The Incidental Economist

2024 90

December 2024

  1. Health Services Research ownership change | The Incidental Economist
  2. Reducing FTEs Increases Costs: The Impact of Increasing VA ED Providers on Community Care ED Use | The Incidental Economist
  3. Gaming the system: how drug manufacturers use patents to stifle innovation and harm consumers | The Incidental Economist
  4. Palliative Care and Hospice | The Incidental Economist
  5. Physician Salary and Time to Fill at the Veterans Health Administration | The Incidental Economist
  6. PACT Act: Year Two in Review | The Incidental Economist

November 2024

  1. Understanding Veteran Access to Care by Modeling Underservedness | The Incidental Economist
  2. Our Organ Donation System Is Broken. Here’s What We Need to Do to Fix It. | The Incidental Economist
  3. Heat-related illnesses are preventable. Here’s how. | The Incidental Economist
  4. Tampon Tim | Menstruation, Public Schools, and Political Nicknames | The Incidental Economist
  5. PEPReC’s FY24 Population-based Workforce Guidelines | The Incidental Economist
  6. Medicare Drug Price Negotiations | The Incidental Economist
  7. Can mRNA Vaccines Work for Cancer? | The Incidental Economist
  8. Paying to Breathe: Asthma in America | The Incidental Economist

October 2024

  1. The Impacts of Climate Change on Allergic Asthma | The Incidental Economist
  2. Incorporating Evidence into Public Policy Requires the Right Tools | The Incidental Economist
  3. What Mindfulness Can and Cannot Do | The Incidental Economist
  4. Sex Testing in Sports: Does it Make Sense? | The Incidental Economist
  5. Using evidence to justify policy and budget decisions | The Incidental Economist

September 2024

  1. Supplement Madness: Magnesium Edition | The Incidental Economist
  2. Supply of Post-discharge Care: A Key to Reducing Hospital Readmissions | The Incidental Economist
  3. Why Do Americans Pay SO Much More for Prescription Drugs? | The Incidental Economist
  4. Service Dogs vs. Emotional Support Dogs for Veterans With PTSD | The Incidental Economist

August 2024

  1. How Do Companies Decide Which Drugs to Develop? | The Incidental Economist
  2. How Sleep Deprivation Could Help Heal Depression | The Incidental Economist
  3. Recent Research: Integrated Health Record Viewers and Duplicate Imaging | The Incidental Economist
  4. Why Do Prescription Drugs Cost SO Much? | The Incidental Economist
  5. The United States’ Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network: An Overview | The Incidental Economist
  6. An In-Depth Look at America’s Opioid Crisis | The Incidental Economist
  7. Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Excess Mortality for US Veterans during the COVID-19 Pandemic | The Incidental Economist

July 2024

  1. Elder Abuse and Mental Health: Victims, Perpetrators, and Potential for Change | The Incidental Economist
  2. Medical Training Programs Impact on VHA Physician Workforce Recruitment, Productivity, and Turnover | The Incidental Economist
  3. Will the sale of two RI hospitals make health care better in the state? | The Incidental Economist

June 2024

  1. Clinic Efficiency: Improving Access to Care Within Resource Constraints | The Incidental Economist
  2. Elections Are Bad for Your Health, Research Suggests | The Incidental Economist
  3. Deadline Extended: HSR Call for Abstracts on the Role of Health Services Research in Advances in Cancer Prevention and Control | The Incidental Economist
  4. Potential Inequities in Accessing Medicare Counseling | The Incidental Economist
  5. The Drug Shortage Putting Newborns at Risk | The Incidental Economist
  6. The FDA Should Stop Letting Drug Companies Skip Steps | The Incidental Economist
  7. The MISSION Act Scribes Pilot: Implementation and Costs | The Incidental Economist

May 2024

  1. What Kind of Exercise Is Best for Depression? | The Incidental Economist
  2. A Call for Responsible Antibiotic Use in the Era of Telehealth | The Incidental Economist
  3. Oil pulling: promises so sweet, what’s it doing to my teeth? | The Incidental Economist
  4. Medicare’s fiscal cliff | The Incidental Economist
  5. Recent Research: Aging, Dementia, and the Risk of Becoming Homebound | The Incidental Economist
  6. Is Acetaminophen Safe for Pregnant People? | The Incidental Economist
  7. Stopping ‘Brain Waste’ for Foreign-born Workers in the US | The Incidental Economist
  8. Qualitative Brief: Better Understanding VA Urgent Care Delivery | The Incidental Economist
  9. Does Intermittent Fasting Increase Heart Attack Risk by 91%? | The Incidental Economist
  10. Effects of VHA’s Referral Coordination Initiative on Referral Patterns and Waiting Times | The Incidental Economist

April 2024

  1. New Obesity Drugs May Impact Mental Health | The Incidental Economist
  2. Examining Self-Directed Care for the Rural Veteran Population | The Incidental Economist
  3. A Preemptive Strike on Food Allergy Reactions | The Incidental Economist
  4. HSR’s outstanding reviewers in 2023 | The Incidental Economist
  5. Measles: The Comeback Kid | The Incidental Economist
  6. Evaluation of the Stratification Tool for Opioid Risk Mitigation (STORM) | The Incidental Economist

March 2024

  1. Primary Care Providers Are the Key to Alzheimer’s Care | The Incidental Economist
  2. Painful Truths the U.S. Can Learn from Global Healthcare | The Incidental Economist
  3. HSR Call for Abstracts: The Role of Health Services Research in Advances in Cancer Prevention and Control | The Incidental Economist
  4. When Times Get Tough: Regional Economic Conditions and Preventable Hospitalizations Among Older Patients with Diabetes | The Incidental Economist
  5. Ten Years Later: The HPV Vaccine is Still Incredible & Lifesaving | The Incidental Economist
  6. Do Oreos Lower Cholesterol? No. | The Incidental Economist
  7. Legal Sports Betting – Our Next Addiction Crisis? | The Incidental Economist
  8. Changes in Cost-Sharing Have Little Impact on VHA Reliance | The Incidental Economist

February 2024

  1. Will Massachusetts’ New Dental Insurance Law Benefit Patients? | The Incidental Economist
  2. Fraud, Abuse, and Malfeasance in the American Health System | The Incidental Economist
  3. The Ugly Stain of Ageism on Smart Home Technology | The Incidental Economist
  4. Take this breath: mindfulness and public health | The Incidental Economist
  5. Follow-up to our email subscribers | The Incidental Economist
  6. A sated wind | The Incidental Economist
  7. Does a non-VA emergency department visit lead to more non-VA care for Veterans? | The Incidental Economist
  8. Alone in America: How Attitudes About Connection Have Impacted Older Adults for the Worse | The Incidental Economist
  9. If you’re a TIE email subscriber or want to be one, read this | The Incidental Economist
  10. EMDR: A Popular, Yet Controversial New Approach to Trauma Therapy | The Incidental Economist
  11. Do Processed Foods Lead to Depression? | The Incidental Economist
  12. Home and Community-Based Services: Exploring Options to Control Costs and Expand Access to Long-Term Care | The Incidental Economist
  13. How Neuroimaging Could Change Mental Health Care | The Incidental Economist
  14. Do Food Dyes Make Kids Wild Out? | The Incidental Economist

January 2024

  1. Payers of Long-Term Services and Supports for Veterans | The Incidental Economist
  2. Navigating an Eating Disorder Crossover | The Incidental Economist
  3. How Do Geographic Variations affect Wait Times and Veteran Access? | The Incidental Economist H\
  4. Deadline Extended for HSR Special Issue Call for Abstracts — Medicare and Medicaid at 60 | The Incidental Economist
  5. We Need Caregivers’ Voices When Designing Effective Smart Home Technology | The Incidental Economist
  6. Artificial Sweeteners and Cancer | The Incidental Economist
  7. Telehealth Use and Availability in VHA Outpatient Mental Health Care | The Incidental Economist
  8. 4 Ways Clinicians Can Address the Non-Physical Side Effects of Serious Illness | The Incidental Economist
  9. SNAP, WIC, and HIP: Programs of Benefit | The Incidental Economist
  10. Antidepressants, Weight Loss Drugs, and Stigma | The Incidental Economist
  11. Ways We Can Mitigate Climate Change | The Incidental Economist
  12. Cancer is not a random assault of genetic bad luck | The Incidental Economist

2023 17

December 2023

  1. Even pro-vaxxers get worried sometimes. Why is that? | The Incidental Economist
  2. VHA’s Risk Prediction Model: Are There Prediction Disparities? | The Incidental Economist
  3. Public Health and Climate Change | The Incidental Economist
  4. “Do you guys ever think about dying?”- Barbie: Advanced Care Planning & its Benefits | The Incidental Economist
  5. Aspartame and Autism? | The Incidental Economist
  6. An Overview of the PACT Act | The Incidental Economist
  7. How Can Smart Home Technology Help Older Adults to Age in Place? | The Incidental Economist

November 2023

  1. What Is Missing from the Inflation Reduction Act? | The Incidental Economist
  2. The Mental Impact of Climate Change | The Incidental Economist
  3. HSR Special Issue Call for Abstracts: Medicare and Medicaid at 60 | The Incidental Economist
  4. High Heat, Health, and Hardship | The Incidental Economist
  5. TIE is on LinkedIn! | The Incidental Economist
  6. Less is more, but for health care | The Incidental Economist
  7. OCD, from the partner’s perspective | The Incidental Economist
  8. Debunking and Prebunking: How to Fight Misinformation | The Incidental Economist

October 2023

  1. Do dementia villages actually work? We just don’t know | The Incidental Economist
  2. HSR Special Issue Call for Abstracts: Social Care and the US Health Care Sector | The Incidental Economist

2022 3

August 2022

  1. Can’t sleep? Here’s a massive list of resources to help. | The Incidental Economist

February 2022

  1. Vaccine Monopolies: Innovation and Inequity | The Incidental Economist

January 2022

  1. My take on responding to reviewer comments | The Incidental Economist

2020 1

July 2020

  1. Cancer Journal: Playing for real money. In which I meet my tumour | The Incidental Economist

2019 1

September 2019

  1. My arms and me | The Incidental Economist

2015 2

December 2015

  1. How to write: 4 | The Incidental Economist

January 2015

  1. King v. Burwell (and Adler v. Bagley) | The Incidental Economist

2011 1

May 2011

  1. Professionalism | The Incidental Economist

2010 1

September 2010

  1. What makes the US health care system so expensive – Introduction | The Incidental Economist