Doctors don't often share personal information with their patients, but sometimes it makes a difference.

Ibby Caputo, now a writer at the Washington Post, reports what happened when she was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia in 2007:

... The disease proved resistant to chemotherapy, but a transplant of blood stem cells was successful. A miracle. Six weeks after the transplant, I came down with viral meningitis, and though it left me skeletal and barely able to walk for a while, it did not kill me. A miracle.

But perhaps the greatest miracle of all was that shortly before I found out I was sick, I had moved to Cape Cod, Mass., to intern at a radio station and work as a coffee shop barista. I had no medical insurance when I received my diagnosis, but miraculously the state's watershed universal health-care law had recently gone into effect. And since I was not making much money, I qualified for the state's public option. ...

Via CommonHealth.

J.L. Bell proves what's old is new again, with a post on pre-Revolutionary fervor against vaccinations - for smallpox. In fact, anti-vacciners burned down a Marblehead hospital that was providing vaccinations - and when they were arrested, several hundred of their supporters beat back the local militia to spring them from jail.

Dr. Gwenn tries to dampen rising hysteria over swine-flu shots:

... Sometimes as parents we have to stop over thinking a situation and do what we have to in order to keep our children safe. I believe this is one of those situations. Instead of questioning data and acting out of fear, we need to start trusting the doctors and scientists working hard to keep our communities safe. After all, they have families and children, too.

My entire family is getting H1N1 this year. I believe in this vaccine and its safety. Please consider doing the same for your kids ...

The Globe reports on a proposal to pay health-care providers set amounts per patient per year, rather than per procedure.

A report last week indicated the number of non-emergency visits to Massachusetts emergency rooms hasn't really dropped since the state began requiring everybody to have health insurance.

Anya Rader Wallack, whose Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation helped fund the report explains some of the reasons why - most notably, people seeking medical care after their normal practitioners have gone home for the day:

... suggests that one way to significantly reduce ED visits in Massachusetts for non-emergency conditions is simply by offering care during evening and early morning hours as well as on weekends, or by managing more primary care needs over the phone (something for which physicians seldom receive reimbursement). ...

Here is a list of places to get free shots against the seasonal flu in Boston, if you don't have the money to pay for one at a drug store or if your regular health center has either already run out or can't get enough vaccine in stock.

The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center reports more people have health coverage here than anywhere else in the country.

And no pre-existing condition clauses! Of course, we also have the nation's longest wait to see a primary-care physician and, for people with families who find themselves self-employed, some pretty expensive premiums, even for coverage that could leave them liable for up to $10,000 a year in out-of-pocket expenses.

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center CEO Paul Levy gives his initial thoughts on Obama's health-care speech, which posits increased efficiencies can pay for coverage for millions of uninsured people:

... I think this gives a false impression that access to insurance, our highest priority, can be delivered at no additional cost to society. Quite the opposite will take place, as people who previously did not have access to preventative care and diagnostic care will obtain that access. Especially in the short run, this will result in higher costs, not lower costs, to society. ...

Health Care For All, HFCA, organized a Labor Day rally and march in support of health care reform, which started with speeches at the gazebo on the Boston Common and ended after a march and more live music at Copley Square.

To set a festive tone at the gazebo, a funk band followed by a rag time band played as the crowd of thousands gathered. Speakers on the gazebo included Rep. Michael Capuano, AG Martha Coakley, Rep. Stephen Lynch, Mayor Thomas Menino, Rep. Ed Markey, Rep. John Tierney, Betty McGuire from SEIU, a representative from Doctors for America, and a woman who told her story about needing surgery and being uninsured.