Opinion
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Massachusetts Collecting Fines from its Uninsured Residents
Opinion -Penalties went into effect this year for Massachusetts residents who do not have health insurance. The penalties, assessed in the form of monetary fines, range from zero to $912 for an entire year without coverage. -
Michigan Proposal Would Erode Health Care Quality, Choice
Opinion -At the end of 2007, after a single, perfunctory committee meeting, the Michigan House of Representatives passed a series of four bills which, if approved by the Senate and signed into law by Gov. -
Telemedicine Holds Promise for Health Care
Opinion -A new report from the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA), "Convenient Care and Telemedicine," says telemedicine can remedy several of the problems currently plaguing the health care industry. -
Arizona Health Care Bill Supports Personal Choice
Opinion -(Chicago, Illinois - February 4, 2008) The new year has brought a number of proposals in state legislatures to mandate health insurance and legislate coverage and premiums. -
Mayo Clinic Enters Retail Care Business
Opinion -In a prominent example of a major medical name getting into the fast-growing express-care retail clinic business, the Mayo Clinic has announced it will open a Mayo Express Care clinic in early 2008 at a shopping center in Rochester, Minnesota. -
Pharmacies May Get Exemption from Antitrust
Opinion -The U.S. House Judiciary Committee has approved a bill creating an exemption in antitrust law to enable independent pharmacies to negotiate contracts with Medicare Part D plans and private pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). -
Medical Groups Support Disclosure
Opinion -The American Medical Students Association (AMSA), National Physicians Alliance (NPA), and the Prescription Project have declared their support for a proposed federal Physician Payments Sunshine Act. -
United Nations Panel Lowers its Politically Correct AIDS Estimate
Opinion -The United Nations' AIDS program has issued its annual report in which, finally, it doesn't say how many more current HIV infections there are this year than last. Rather, it drops the figure by more than six million from its 2006 estimate. -
Congress Extends, Does Not Expand, SCHIP
Opinion -By a nearly unanimous vote, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a measure extending the current State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) until March 31, 2009. At press time, President George W. -
Generic Drugs Are Saving Money for Seniors in Medicare Part D
Opinion -The use of generic medicines is bringing down costs in Medicare's Part D prescription drug program, and Congress is considering a proposal to require pharmacies to use generics unless a doctor can prove brand-name drugs are medically necessary. -
E-Health Software Can Improve Bottom Lines
Opinion -Using a computer to store health records isn't a new concept--in fact, it's been around for decades--but more doctors and consumers are embracing it as electronic health technology flourishes. -
New York Targets Restaurants with Menu Plan
Opinion -New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) is trying for the second time to force the city's chain restaurants to display calorie information on their menus and menu boards, claiming a proposed ordinance would help conquer society's ongoing obesity battle. -
Democratic Presidential Hopefuls Disagree on Health Care Policy
Opinion -A heated debate is taking place in the Democratic presidential primary between U.S. Sens. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Barack Obama (D-IL) over whether the federal government should mandate health coverage for individual citizens. -
The Keys to Aging Well
Opinion -Younger Next Year: A Guide to Living Like 50 Until You're 80 and Beyond by Chris Crowley and Henry S. Lodge, M.D. New York, NY: Workman Publishing, Inc. 320 pages, hardcover, ISBN: 9780761134237, $24.95. -
The Coming Tax Tsunami
Opinion -Over the next 25 years American taxpayers will face a fiscal tsunami. The first of the Baby Boomers will be eligible for early retirement beginning this year and will be eligible for Medicare in 2011. -
Canadians Stand for Fairness But Would Pull Strings for Better Care
Opinion -Many Canadians who advocate "fairness" in health care would pull strings or give gifts or donations to see a doctor sooner than the national health care system there will allow, and a significant number actually do so, according to a study published in -
False Alarm Raised on CT Scan Risk
Opinion -Once again, the media (with considerable help from some in the medical community) are raising misleading and alarmist health fears. -
Third-Party Payment Destroys Good Ideas
Opinion -I was pretty excited when I heard Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina was getting on the medical-tourism bandwagon, but then I heard a presentation at the Consumer Health World conference by David Boucher, an executive from that company. -
A Three-Part Plan for State Health Care Reform
Opinion -The first in a series of excerpts from The Handbook on State Health Care Reform, by John C. Goodman, Michael Bond, Devon M. Herrick, and Pamela Villarreal. The U.S. health care system faces three fundamental problems: cost, quality, and access. -
Analysis: Real Health Care Reform
Opinion -Insurance with first-dollar coverage is not the same as health care, much less health itself, and it certainly does not encourage individuals to use less costly solutions to their health problem(s). -
Doctors’ Group Helps Reduce Frivolous Lawsuits
Opinion -Providing a way to cope with a tort system that imposes huge unnecessary costs on doctors and other providers, Medical Justice, a membership-based organization run by physicians, has helped doctors successfully defend themselves against various meritless -
Myths of Socialized Medicine Lead to Bad Health Care Policies
Opinion -Advocates of socialized medicine generally claim administrative costs are lower, quality of care is higher, and access to care is more equal in Canada than in America. -
Patient Privacy May Be at Risk with E-Records
Opinion -Nine health care companies have joined forces to create a consortium urging better security safeguards in electronic health records. -
Washington State Senator Supports Government Health Care Monopoly
Opinion -(Chicago, Illinois - February 1, 2008) On Monday, January 21, Washington state Sen. Karen Keiser (D), chair of the Senate Health Committee, unveiled legislation that would put government in control of the state' health care system.
