Opinion
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The SimpleCare Story
Opinion -Editor’s note: In “Fee-for-Service Health Care Makes a Comeback,” published in the inaugural (March 2001) issue of Health Care News, we offered a brief introduction to SimpleCare, and described how the program had grown to about 600 medical providers in -
Letter in Favor of Microsoft Antitrust Settlement
Opinion -January 10, 2002Ms. Renata B. HesseAntitrust DivisionU.S. Department of Justice601 D Street NW, Suite 1200Washington, DC 20530-0001SUBJECT: Microsoft SettlementDear Ms. Hesse:I am writing to urge acceptance of the proposed Final Judgment offered by the U. -
Talking Points on the Proposed Chicago Smoking Ban
Opinion -WHO SUPPORTS THE BAN? 1. Most seats in most restaurants are already designated nonsmoking. 2. Nonsmokers who visit restaurants and bars are not complaining. 3. The general public does not support smoking bans in restaurants. -
Interior Department streamlines Everglades restoration
Opinion -Interior Secretary Gale Norton announced on November 6 that she is closing the Office of Everglades Restoration in West Palm Beach, Florida, in order to streamline the federal bureaucracy and steer more money directly to Everglades restoration. -
Greener than you think
Opinion -"That the human race faces environmental problems is unquestionable. That environmental experts have regularly tried to scare us out of our wits with doomsday chants is also beyond dispute. -
Bush Interior Department modifies Clinton mining rules
Opinion -Interior Department Solicitor William G. Myers III has issued a decision removing controversial language in mining regulations imposed by the Clinton administration in its final day of office. -
Emergency Health Powers Act: A Poison Pill
Opinion -And so it came to pass, in the fall of 2001, that the federal government, having taken unto itself great new powers to fight terrorists, turned its attention to the rest of us. -
01/2002: The Pulse
Opinion -You are invited to participate in an online discussion list dealing with many of the issues we report on here. To check it out, send an e-mail to [email protected]. -
Canada Saves Little with Generic Drugs
Opinion -Recently, a report on the cost savings of generic drugs made front-page news in Canadian newspapers. Malcolm Anderson and Karen Parent of Queen's University analyzed prices of 34 generic drugs introduced in Canada between 1995 and 1999. -
New Teachers Face NCATE Litmus Test on Diversity
Opinion -LAS VEGAS--The tight link between political advocacy of multicultural diversity and accreditation of the higher education institutions that train the nation's K-12 teachers was on display during the recent annual convention of the National Association -
Maryland Single-Payer Proposal Would Cost 117,000 Jobs, Shrink Payroll Tax Receipts by $4.89 Billion
Opinion -A proposal to implement single-payer health care in Maryland could cost the state as many as 117,000 jobs and as much as $4. -
Insurance Industry Feels 9/11 Pain
Opinion -Prior to the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York City and the Pentagon, employers were bracing for a new round of health insurance premium increases. Washington-based Watson Wyatt Worldwide predicted a national average increase of about 14 percent. -
A Second Look at MSAs
Opinion -Reforming the U.S. health care system is always a matter of evolution, not revolution. Remember Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs)? For the last five years, they stumbled along slowly in a flawed federal pilot program. -
TennCare Reform Moves Ahead
Opinion -Starting last December, Tennessee officials were allowed to begin removing ineligible enrollees from TennCare, the state's troubled Medicaid managed care program, under a compromise agreement reached in federal district court. -
Table: Projected Economic Effect of Four Universal Health Care Alternatives
Opinion -Projected Economic Effect Four Universal Health Care Alternatives Proposal Loss of Jobs Loss inPayroll Taxes (billions) Tax Increase Effect Increase inPersonal Income Tax Medicaid expansion 30,618 $1. -
Rethinking a Drug Discount Program
Opinion -On July 11, 2001, President George W. Bush announced his Medicare Prescription Drug Discount Program. -
Letter to the Editor
Opinion -Dear Editor: I truly do not understand the fuss about global warming. Just what is the problem? The goal of many people is to retire and move to a warmer climate. -
Whitman EPA adopts Clinton arsenic standard
Opinion -The Bush administration will adopt tighter arsenic standards first proposed just hours before former President Clinton left office, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christie Todd Whitman announced on October 31. -
States Don’t Wait on Patients’ Rights
Opinion -When North Carolina Governor Mike Easley (D) signed “patients’ bill of rights” legislation, the state joined 45 others that have given more legal power to health care consumers. -
Politics, Law Delay Federal Rx Discount Card
Opinion -If you've flipped through a copy of Reader's Digest lately, you’ve probably come across an advertisement for the Reader's Digest-Merck Medco YourRxPlan. -
Soaring Malpractice Premiums Bleed Doctors, Rob Consumers
Opinion -Skyrocketing medical malpractice insurance premiums are wreaking havoc in communities throughout the United States. -
The FDA’s Victims
Opinion -The Food and Drug Administration, the federal agency that is supposed to certify the safety and efficacy of pharmaceutical products and medical devices, often drives excellent products off the market. I should know. -
Table: States Don’t Wait on Patients’ Rights
Opinion -State Year Enacted Provisions Alaska 1998 Ban on gag clauses, direct access, bans financial incentives Arizona 2000 Grievance procedures, direct access, experimental treatment Arkansas 1997 Inpatient care after childbirth, mastectomies, -
Table: Medical Malpractice Payments for Individual Physicians, 2000
Opinion -Medical Malpractice Payments for Individual Physicians, 2000 State Median* Total Rank Alabama $200,000 $34,839,809 24 Alaska 100,000 3,244,459 51 Arizona 150,000 68,920,361 15 Arkansas 91,880 15,220,747 42 California 55,000
