Opinion
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Fixing Medicaid
Opinion -One of the reasons most states struggle with balanced budgets is the escalating cost of Medicaid. Medicaid costs rose 13 percent in 2002 and by an average of 9 percent a year since 1997. -
Medicare Deform
Opinion -Attempts by politicians and bureaucrats to offer prescription drugs to Medicare enrollees has taken on the look of “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” or maybe more correctly, Pennsylvania Avenue. Whatever you call it, it’s becoming a bad horror show. -
Germ Warfare
Opinion -Most Americans are losing the battle against germs. Close to half of 1,000 people surveyed allow dust to accumulate in their vacuum cleaners for more than six months. -
Al Gore and the Liberal Dream
Opinion -Former Vice President Al Gore recently began pounding the drum for health care reform. He told the nation what most of us already know: The U.S. health care system is in a state of crisis. -
All Shook Up
Opinion -If the rest of the country is anything like North Carolina, an estimated 1,300 U.S. children will suffer severe or fatal head trauma from child abuse. -
Bugs in a Bottle
Opinion -Lots of folks like to keep plastic water bottles at their desks or in their car. Good idea, right? Maybe not. A study in the Canadian Journal of Public Health suggests your water bottle could be making you sick. -
Buyer Beware
Opinion -Congress is considering legislation to make re-importing drugs legal, not just from Canada but also from two dozen other countries. -
Consumer-Friendly Health Care Reform
Opinion -While the media attention has been focused on Medicare reform and a prescription drug benefit, little attention has been paid to the most consumer-friendly section of the new law, which has nothing to do with Medicare. -
Cooking Your Kids
Opinion -Picture this: You’re alone in the car. The windows are open a little. The temperature is rising. It’s hard to breathe. You need to get out, but you can’t. You’re strapped in a child’s car seat. -
Counting Sheep
Opinion -More than 70 million Americans suffer from insomnia--one of the main reasons people see their doctors. -
Defining Consumer-Driven Health Care
Opinion -A consumer-driven health plan defines the dollar amount an employer will contribute to employee health insurance premiums and asks employees to be more responsible for their own health care decisions, lifestyle choices, and cost-sharing. -
Drugs for the Aging
Opinion -As the population of seniors continues to grow, America’s pharmaceutical companies are investing billions of dollars in research to ensure we will live longer and healthier lives. -
Dumbing Down Kids
Opinion -The very youngest children in America are growing up immersed in media, spending hours a day watching TV and videos, using computers and playing video games, according to a study released by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. -
Employer May Be Liable for Medical Advice
Opinion -The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) does not prevent a plaintiff from suing her deceased husband’s employer and the employer’s medical services provider for advising the employee to stay in Saudi Arabia for dangerous surgery, according -
Health Policy Reform High on Agenda for 108th Congress
Opinion -Congress has a wide range of health policy reforms to consider when it opens its 108th session this month. -
Junk Lunch A La Carte
Opinion -Public schools offering students pizza and fries as lunch alternatives not only encourage children to eat high-fat foods at school, but also at home. -
Prescription Drug Roulette
Opinion -A growing number of governors say they intend to defy federal regulators and allow the purchase of lower-cost prescription drugs from Canada. Using potentially dangerous re-imported drugs is nothing more than prescription drug roulette. -
States Take Lead on Medical Malpractice Reform
Opinion -The United States Senate killed by inaction a malpractice reform bill approved by the House of Representatives. -
Student Drinking
Opinion -Many newspaper articles claim binge drinking is a worsening problem among teenagers and on college campuses. These articles give the wrong impression. It’s time for some balanced reporting. -
Target Benefits
Opinion -Did you know more than 60 drug companies have “patient assistance programs” that make prescription medications available to millions of qualified patients at no cost? -
Teens Are Not Immune to H.I.V.
Opinion -Newly reported H.I.V. infections in the under-25 generation rose in 2002. The increase was troubling and may be due to the fact this younger generation never experienced the fear surrounding AIDS in the mid-1980s. -
Uninsured Rate
Opinion -43.6 million people without a health insurance policy is not the crisis it’s being made out to be by advocates for national health care. -
U.S. Betrayed by WTO Patent Policy
Opinion -President George W. Bush’s diligence in enlisting allies to fight terrorism and disarm Saddam Hussein is paying off, but the United States all but capitulated in its efforts to protect vital pharmaceutical and biotech patents during recent trade talks. -
Oregon Voters Rebuff Single-Payer Measure
Opinion -Seventy-nine percent of Beaver State voters on November 5 rejected a plan to have government officials run a health care system for the state’s 3.5 million residents.
