• more about #medicare more comments →
    zackrobbin: all we need is a $7,850 iphone app that disables everything but the text-to speech app. then everybody wins! more »
    Sevenfeet: One other thing about how brain dead that Medicare's thinking is about paying for programs like Proloquo2go + an iPhone/iPod Touch. Assistive devices... more »
    SuperSonik: Where did the government get the no-bid contract for an 8000-dollar, text-to-speech only solution? Ladies and Gents, I present to you a fleeting glim... more »
    banmojo: Here's a perfect example of why government should NOT be in charge of deciding what doctors are trained to decide. Do you really think Obama will be ... more »
    Barry99705: Honestly, the people that really need the expensive device couldn't use the iPod/iPhone version anyway. There's a real good chance they won't have th... more »
    TheWerewolf - Sotto voce: While I agree with the principle of the article... let's flip it around and see why the government is so paranoid about this. Imagine if they started... more »
    blash: I find this article really rather funny - if we turned the situation on its head, and Medicare did decide to pay for the iPhone for disabled people, w... more »
    EdgarJPublius: there are enough parents who try to claim their kids are autistic already without the promise of free iPhones to entice fraudsters. more »
    gizzed: couldn't someone just buy the ipod touch on their own dime and get subsidized for the app? yeesh. more »
    Scott Jackson: I agree that $8000 is outrageous, but speaking as somebody who has had a family member use one of these dedicated TTS devices, you clearly don't under... more »
    Faxmonkey: It might be the smarter choice. It's hard to say. There point is allowing a device that can do other things invites fraud. It means that people who... more »
    wolfstone: "We would not cover the iPhones and netbooks with speech-generating software capabilities because they are useful in the absence of an illness or inju... more »
    stre: while this seems just plain stupid, there's a reason they aren't paying for a non uni-functional piece of equipment. i'd be pissed if medicare subsid... more »
    EllaAnaxagoras: As someone who has worked in the government health care system (medicaid) let me try to shed some light onto the reasoning behind these decisions: If... more »
    moozicmon: It makes me sick thinking about all the "cutting edge technology" advertised by different companies that is in fact existing technology in a much shin... more »
  • #politics

    Medicare Would Rather Buy $8000 Computer than $150 iPhone App

    Say that, all things equal, you could fix a problem for $8000 or fix the same problem for $150. Which would you choose? Clearly, you are not Medicare. More »
  • #prescriptionguns

    Party-Pooping FDA Says Palm Pistol Definitely Not a 'Medical Device'

    Yesterday the inventor of the Palm Pistol, intended primarily to allow arthritic old people to settle beefs, claimed it had been approved as a medical gadget by the FDA. On the matter, the FDA had this to say: "NO." More »
  • #prescriptionguns

    Prescription Handguns For the Elderly and Disabled: This Won't End Well

    Ohhh yes—be very afraid. Remember the Palm Pistol ergonomic handgun from a few months back? Well, you will be interested to know that it has been designated as a medical gadget by the FDA. More »