Opinion
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Small Business Health Insurance Bill Fails
Opinion -A bill to allow small businesses to band together to purchase health insurance, S. 1955, did not reach the 60 votes needed to obtain cloture in the U.S. Senate in May. In a party-line vote, the measure garnered the support of just two Democrats--Sens. -
Eat French Fries, Go to Jail
Opinion -In a culture where political correctness runs amok, sometimes it seems like the only people it's still OK to discriminate against are the obese. -
‘Fair Share’ Bills Aimed at Wal-Mart Move through State Legislatures
Opinion -A study released in June by the Council for Affordable Health Insurance (CAHI) sheds light on the effect of so-called "Wal-Mart bills," which several states are considering to reduce the number of uninsured residents. -
Patients Get Direct Access to Lab Tests
Opinion -One of the most basic aspects of health care reform is getting consumers to take more responsibility for their own wellness and disease prevention. -
Connecticut Democrat Presses ‘Mandate-Lite’ Insurance Proposal
Opinion -As Connecticut's 2006 legislative session drew to a close in May, a measure to allow the Nutmeg State's residents to purchase more affordable health insurance fell due to inaction. -
Bay Staters Feel Impact of New Law Mandating Insurance Coverage
Opinion -Massachusetts' new "Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority"--the agency charged with enforcing the new law mandating every state resident get health insurance--held its first meeting June 7 and is already talking about how to restrict access -
Citizens Create Health Care Wish List for Congress
Opinion -In late 2003, Congress created a quasi-commission "to bring the views of everyday Americans to the job of creating a better health care system. -
National Conference Focuses on Consumerism
Opinion -The dynamic Consumer Directed Health Care(CDHC) Conference, held May 8-10 in San Francisco, showcased the creativity and energy being invested in CDHC options and opportunities. -
Medicine Can Be Consumer-Centric
Opinion -Your Health Matters: What You Need to Know about U.S. Health Care by Gregory Dattilo and Dave Racer Bloomington, MN: Alethos Pr Llc, 2006 336 pages, hardcover, ISBN: 0977753409, $24.95 Available through Amazon. -
Kentucky First State to Implement New Medicaid Reform Plan
Opinion -In early May, Kentucky became the first state to redesign its Medicaid benefits under provisions in the federal Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA), signed by President George W. Bush in February. -
NJ Bed Tax Scuttled
Opinion -A proposal to impose a bed tax on all 74 hospitals that operate in partnership with the New Jersey state government failed in June when state Senate President Richard Codey (D-West Orange) declared to reporters, "The hospital bed tax, it's in the morgue -
Senate Opens ‘Massive Hole’ in Drug Importation Ban
Opinion -On July 13, the U.S. Senate unanimously approved a $32.8 billion FY 2007 appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security. The measure includes a controversial provision that would prohibit U.S. -
CDC Recommends HPV Vaccination for Young Girls
Opinion -The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) voted June 29 to recommend that a vaccine for the human papillomavirus (HPV), approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) earlier in -
Health Care Reform Advocates Directory
Opinion -Organizations American Enterprise Institute 1150 17th Street NW Washington, DC 20036 phone 202/207-0190 fax 202/862-7177 http://www.aei. -
Proposal Would Help Self-Employed
Opinion -U.S. Reps. Melissa Hart (R-PA) and Don Manzullo (R-IL) are working to build support for a bill they introduced that would level the playing field between employees of corporations and the self-employed when it comes to purchasing health insurance. -
Medicaid Commission Overlooks Private Financing Options
Opinion -The Medicaid Commission--a 30-member committee appointed by U.S. -
Wisconsin Court’s Foolish Inconsistency on Medical Malpractice
Opinion -"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds," as Ralph Waldo Emerson famously wrote. But what about foolish inconsistencies? -
Heartland Reply to Eric Schlosser
Opinion -Eric Schlosser, the anti-fast food advocate and author of Fast Food Nation and the new children’s book, Chew on This, strikes out against The Heartland Institute in an interview on the Bloomberg.com Web site. -
Road to Reform: Medicaid Management Makeover
Opinion -A recent study, "Medicaid Makeover: Six Tough (and Unavoidable) Choices on the Road to Reform," contends Medicaid would best serve the nation if state lawmakers reformed how the program is managed rather than implementing new policies. -
Mixed Reviews for Reform
Opinion -Critics of market-based Medicaid reform claim the plans are "untested" and would result in higher costs and worse health outcomes. "These plans make many false assumptions about Medicaid. -
NY Legislature Cuts Gov’s Medicaid Cost Reductions
Opinion -In his 2006/2007 Executive Budget, Gov. George Pataki (R) proposed to cut the cost of the state's Medicaid program by about $1.3 billion. -
Wisc. Passes HSA Bill, But Veto Expected
Opinion -Wisconsin state legislators say it will take a change in governorship before consumers can deduct from state taxes their contributions to health savings accounts (HSAs), after Gov. Jim Doyle (D) promised in May to veto a bill proposing to do so. -
Asheville Project Succeeds Against Chronic Disease
Opinion -When 43-year-old Brenda Mills of North Carolina was diagnosed with adult-onset diabetes late last year, she was devastated. Her mother was diagnosed with it in her 60s, and Mills knew people who had lost their legs and gone blind from it. -
California Pushes Government Takeover of Health Care System
Opinion -On April 11, I had the privilege of participating in a public forum sponsored by the Mendocino County Health Planning Council.
