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Section: Blogs/Opinion

Fighting for Our Lives

Republicans have now tried and failed three times to pass health care bills that would dismantle the Affordable Care Act — and potentially cut access to health care for millions. We’ve seen the introduction of hundreds of new reproductive health restrictions and insistent efforts to defund Planned Parenthood. In the midst of the GOP’s attack […]

August 9, 2017

The Repeal Attempt That Won’t Die

Just when you thought your health insurance was safe. The Senate failed to pass a plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act—their attempts at “replacements” were too pathetic to even qualify as such. Many Republican senators have seemingly thrown in the towel. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has declared that it’s time to move on from […]

August 7, 2017

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OK, Now Fix it

After falling one senator shy on an irresponsible, thrown-together plan cynically branded “skinny repeal” of the Affordable Care Act — thanks, John McCain — Senate Republicans have a fateful choice. They can finally meet the outstretched hand of Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and get to work on real-world, bipartisan fixes to the law, which, though […]

August 2, 2017

What F.D.R. Knew

When the Social Security Act of 1935 was being drafted, liberals chided Franklin Roosevelt for the measure’s funding method, via payroll taxes, which did little to redistribute wealth from the rich to the poor. Roosevelt responded that the critics misunderstood the purpose of the payroll taxes. “We put those payroll contributions there so as to […]

July 31, 2017

He’s No Hero

Today, John McCain is doing something “heroic” or “tough” or “badass,” according to a certain echo chamber of political pundits with short memories. After recently being diagnosed with brain cancer, one of a series of ailments that have plagued McCain over the years, he’s decided that today’s health care vote is so important that he […]

July 26, 2017

‘I Didn’t Come to Washington to Hurt People’

I must start this column with the powerful statement that Sen. Shelly Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) made in explaining why she would not go along with her party leadership and vote to repeal ObamaCare without a replacement. She simply said, “I did not come to Washington to hurt people.” Read More

July 24, 2017

Fix the Mess

Republicans will never get enough votes to repeal and replace Obamacare until they realize their real problem. Moderate Republicans are addicted to Medicaid and conservatives want more free market measures. There are ways to accommodate both sides and pass a bill. Read More

July 19, 2017

Changes We Need

The Trump administration and Congress must rethink their approach to providing social welfare support for all Americans. Programs need to adapt to changing times. Liberals suggest we need socialized medicine and a single payer system. Republicans lack a coherent/thoughtful alternative. Meanwhile, the long-term financial condition of Medicare, Medicaid, and Obamacare is unsustainable, as federal expenditures […]

July 17, 2017

What If Obamacare and Trumpcare Both Collapse?

Obamacare is on the verge of collapse — at least according to some in Washington. It’s easy to see why they think that’s the case. Major insurers, including UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH), have pulled out of most Obamacare exchanges after losing billions of dollars. Aetna (NYSE:AET) is one large insurer that has totally withdrawn from Obamacare exchanges. On the other hand, Trumpcare […]

July 12, 2017

Who Is Preventing “Single Payer” Care?

Muncie, IndianaBlog– Lots of interesting news floating around on the internet about the G20 Summit, Russia, Trump, #FakeNews, etc., but none of these distractions are as important as our health care crisis in America made worse by income and wealth inequality. As Warren Buffet recently lamented, the percent of GDP spent on healthcare in this […]

July 10, 2017

AHCA Disaster for Rural America

Much has been made of the distress and discontent in rural areas during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Few realise, however, this is also felt through unequal health. Researchers call it the “rural mortality penalty.” While rates of mortality have steadily fallen in the nation’s urban areas, they have actually climbed for rural Americans. And […]

July 5, 2017

Living with Cognitive Impairment

On more than one occasion, when I was a young boy, my grandmother roamed the streets of Washington, D.C. at night. One night she was picked up by the police, and ultimately placed in a home with others “like her.” Back then, these types of events were attributed to old age and senility. Today, my […]

June 28, 2017

Why Trumpcare is Mean, Mean, Mean

The Senate’s bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act is not a healthcare bill. It’s a tax cut for the wealthiest Americans, paid for by a dramatic reduction in healthcare funding for approximately 23 million poor, disabled, and working middle class Americans. America’s wealthiest taxpayers (earning more than $200,000 a year, $250,000 for couples) would […]

June 26, 2017

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A Doctor’s First Day

I arrived at the hospital, white coat and stethoscope in hand. It was my first day as a doctor, and I was filled with a nervous mix of optimism and excitement. I walked up to the medicine team room, entered the code on the door and introduced myself to the other residents — some of […]

June 21, 2017

Too Much Secrecy

We are hurtling toward one of the most significant pieces of legislation in recent congressional history, with real-life consequences for every single American. Now if only we knew something about it. Such is the reality of the Obamacare repeal being crafted by a group of Republican senators – including South Dakota senior member John Thune […]

June 19, 2017

Eradicating Polio

As former directors of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we often view matters of public health through the lenses of our separate experiences and histories leading the world’s premier health agency. And because these matters are almost always complicated, both clinically and politically, our histories can lead us to different conclusions about what […]

June 14, 2017

Healthcare: What Puzzles Me Is……

Before we can adequately debate healthcare – at the state or national level – I think we have to figure out what are we talking about. I’m still puzzled about what we are buying. Is it a cooperative bulk-purchasing club for health services and medical goods, somewhat like Costco operates? Read More

June 12, 2017

End the War Against the Poor

In an age when we are supposed to be a society that cares enough to see that all of us receive the health care that we need, we still have those among us who insist that people with no assets — often homeless and frequently missing meals — are supposed to exercise “personal responsibility” by […]

June 7, 2017