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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have tried several means to reduce healthcare spending, notably bundling services for procedural care and the patient-centered medical home (PCMH) for primary care. A new study looks at cost savings in the primary care model.

We've just gotten a whole bunch of good news – news we really needed – about finally getting the upper hand against COVID-19. Two vaccines, both more than 90% effective at protecting clinical trial participants against the disease, were announced just seven days apart. These numbers are well beyond expectations, but some critically important questions linger. Here they are. The answers will determine how successful the vaccines will be.

For decades, using rational arguments, scientists failed to convince European politicians of the importance of biotechnology, including gene editing. The reason is that Europe is convinced it is on the side of great virtue.

Like Dracula rising again from the grave, there's been another round of articles suggesting that based on death counts COVID-19 is not a problem. It's time to try, once again, to put a stake into this misbelief and misunderstanding.

What do we know about the impact of COVID-19 on the physical health of health care personnel? Precious little. And we know even less about the psychological toll. Here are a few insights.

A new study in JAMA Ophthalmology considers whether eyeglasses confer protection from COVID-19. What it really demonstrates is how a variable -- in this case, eyeglasses -- can point in so many directions as to be useless. (But it will get you published in a peer-reviewed journal.)

Americans -- so desperate to end the need for masks, social distancing, and limited access to restaurants, salons, concerts, and schools -- will surely be clamoring for a vaccine as soon as it’s available. Or will they?  Recent polls suggest that only about 40% of Americans would take the vaccine. It is vital that this number be increased. But how? Let's explore this issue.

Herd immunity as a way to fight COVID-19 is a hot topic these days -- but for all the wrong reasons. In an opinion column published in the Baltimore Sun, Dr. Katherine Seley-Radtke, and ACSH's Dr. Josh Bloom argue that it's dangerous and simply won't work.

On the literary menu this time: The disturbing past of statistics ... the intriguing past of textiles ... the hidden cost of flour ... and how we view dining out.

Polling is more art than science. Once again, American pollsters have shown that they aren't as good as we thought.

Be honest. Few of us actually read nutritional labels. That said, marketing specialists have studied which labels may make a difference, and to whom. Can we use their findings to help us make other choices?

From greasy menus to double-dipping, the COVID pandemic will help us say goodbye to some nasty cultural practices.

Vulnerabilities in cyberbiosecurity are becoming a major public health threat. It's time to prepare before the worst happens.

While the COVID crisis rages on across America, this massive epidemic and the coverage surrounding it -- while vitally important -- has effectively pushed another epidemic out of the media spotlight. Dr. Josh Bloom, ACSH's Director of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Science, and Dr. Jeffrey Singer, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, co-authored an Op-Ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer on the current state of the opioid crisis, to remind us that, among other things, pain patients are hurting and they must not be forgotten.

New Jersey health officials' interpretation of CDC guidance is going to put smokers ahead of nonsmokers in the COVID vaccination program. Crazy? We think so.

A dangerous five-step program converts "vaccine-hesitant" people into full-blown anti-vaxxers.

The answer is yes if you believe a paper recently published in the British Medical Journal. The article gives data mining for results a bad name. It is more like data dredging – scooping out mud and trash. Not to worry, no patients were harmed in this study, although the popular media couldn't help but report on this new reason to fear surgery and surgeons.

Can there be winners as well as losers as our climate changes? The truth about science. Is our ability to read some type of repurposed evolutionary skill?

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) created queue guidelines for those receiving the COVID-19 vaccines. While vaccination of healthcare workers and residents of long-term care facilities is already underway, there's much being written about position jockeying for those in the groups that follow. Let's take a deeper dive into these deliberations.

Increasingly there is evidence that even though COVID-19 is more deadly than seasonal flu, many of us mount an immune defense leaving us asymptomatic.

What would happen if we approached antibiotic resistance with the same fervor that we have for covid? Is there a reason why we should not?

The only thing that most environmental groups like the NRDC and Sierra Club do is complain, file lawsuits, and block things. They're never part of any solution.

By now, anyone even remotely following the nation's all-consuming mission to vaccinate every American has heard about the various obstacles that have impeded the delivery of the coveted "jab" that so many are waiting for. Addressing these difficulties in the supply chain, the American Council has been busy explaining to the public what's behind the miscues and delays, while also offering possible solutions to logistical hurdles. Two Op-Eds in prominent newspapers that appeared in January highlight ACSH's media presence in the national conversation.

A malevolent troll named Paul Thacker has made a living smearing and harassing scientists on Twitter. With the blessing of editors Nikhil Swaminathan and Jennifer Block, the website Grist has now given him a platform to spread his lies.

Dr. Vivek Murthy, President Biden’s nominee for Surgeon General, previously did a credible job, and presumably if confirmed, that will be true once again. But with the Washington Post reporting that his income last year was $2.6 million, some see a possible conflict of interest.