Odds and ends

·         Every day for two weeks, Granma published lists of health services and their cost – just a list, no comment, no indication if the idea was simply to sensitize consumers to the costs or to prepare them for a change in policy (example here).  AP dug around and found, as can be expected in a system where consumers pay nothing, that some Cuban health professionals say that some consumers make unnecessary doctor visits.  It’s hard to imagine that Cuba would charge for medical care, so consumers are likely to remain insensitive to cost.  So maybe the idea is to strengthen the hand of doctors and health care professionals such that “free” doesn’t mean “unlimited” and doesn’t mean that the patient is in charge when it comes to ordering tests and treatment. 

·         Granma: Cuba’s health ministry says that the cholera outbreak that originated in Manzanillo, producing 417 cases and three deaths, is ended.  It has been more than 10 days since a new case has been identified.

·         Herald: The daughter of Vice President Marino Murillo went to Mexico for a conference, crossed the U.S. border, and has decided to stay.

·         In this interview on Spanish televisión, the brother of the late Oswaldo Paya says, “Carromero is innocent, we know it,” and asks for an international investigation of the July 22 crash that also claimed the life of dissident Harold Cepero.