October 2011 - Health Beat - The Network of Care

*** Cancer-- Living with the Disease, Part 2

“The Best Care America Has To Offer” Below, Amy Berman describes her recent journey through our health care system as “eye-opening.” In part 1 of this post, she explained why she decided on palliative treatment for *** cancer, rejecting aggressive......

Published Mon, Oct 31 2011 11:38 AM by Health Beat

*** Cancer-- Living with the Disease -- part 1

When Amy Berman was diagnosed with Stage IV *** cancer a year ago, she made a courageous choice. Instead of fleeing death, she decided to pursue life. In the essay below, she describes why she rejected chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery,... Read More...

Published Mon, Oct 31 2011 7:31 AM by Health Beat

The Future of Health Care Reform: Health Wonk Review Raises Some Provocative Questions:

Should the Preventive Services Task Force Depend on Congress for Funding? Should Doctors Who Share Decision-Making Be Protected Against Lawsuits? If Doctors Don’t Tell Patients What They Are Doing, Is This Malpractice? Should Physicians Who Want Tort...

Published Mon, Oct 24 2011 2:06 PM by Health Beat

New State Laws Focus on the “Supply Side” of Abortion; Targeting Providers

Over the past decade, state laws restricting abortion have mostly focused on trying to reduce demand for the service. Some states do this simply by making abortion financially out of reach: The average cost of a first-trimester surgical abortion is.....

Published Mon, Oct 24 2011 8:35 AM by Health Beat

The Future of Reform: Fleshing Out the Rules for Accountable Care Organizations

Today, the Obama administration released newly revised rules for “accountable care organizations” designed to persuade hospitals, doctors, and other providers to collaborate in a reform movement that aims to provide better value for our health care dollars...

Published Thu, Oct 20 2011 12:58 PM by Health Beat

Filed under: Healthcare

A CLASS Act Failure

Sen. Orin Hatch (R-UT) called it a “Ponzi scheme,” President Barack Obama held it up as a testament to the work of Ted Kennedy who wanted to ensure that the elderly and disabled would be able to afford help with... Read More...

Published Mon, Oct 17 2011 2:05 PM by Health Beat

Health Insurers in the Spotlight: Part 1

Consumer Reports Publishes Quality Rankings; HHS Makes Rate Increases Public; They Can Run, But . . . Are health insurance plans with big brand names better than smaller insurers that most people have never heard of? “Not usually,” says Nancy... Read...

Published Thu, Oct 13 2011 2:27 PM by Health Beat

FDA Behind The Curve In Monitoring Safety of Approved Drugs

Over the past decade or so, there have been at least 20 prescription drugs removed from the market, including several cases of high-profile blockbuster drugs that were found to be harmful only after millions of patients had taken them. Vioxx,... Read...

Published Thu, Oct 13 2011 12:13 PM by Health Beat

Essential Benefits

Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, said her agency would hold “listening sessions where Americans from across the country” could explain their priorities states have adopted laws requiring insurers to cover specific services...

Published Fri, Oct 07 2011 3:32 PM by Health Beat

Filed under: Medicare, Healthcare, Medicaid, Medicare Reform, National Health Reform

Medical Industrial Complex Announces $3 Million Campaign to Maim Health Care Reform

A new group that calls itself “Partnership for America” has announced that it will be spending $3 million on a campaign to “freeze, investigate and replace’” the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The “Partnership” didn’t come up with this idea on... Read More...

Published Thu, Oct 06 2011 2:36 PM by Health Beat

Health Care Reform: The Next Stage, Part 1

Free Market Competition Cannot Make Heath Care Efficient: Why Health Care Should Be Regulated, Not By Government, but By Science Not a few politicians and pundits continue to believe that free market competition offers the best solution to creating a...

Published Thu, Oct 06 2011 7:04 AM by Health Beat

Court Action Is Necessary To Maintain Medicaid's Integrity

Should private citizens be allowed to sue their state Medicaid programs for imposing rate cuts on doctors and other providers? That’s the question the Supreme Court is currently considering in Douglas v. Independent Living Center of Southern California...

Published Wed, Oct 05 2011 2:29 PM by Health Beat

“Useless” (But Needed) -- “A Doctor’s Constant Companion”

From time to time, I cross-post a piece from Pulse: Voices From the Heart of Medicine, an online magazine that uses stories and poems written by patients and health care professionals to talk honestly about giving and receiving medical care.... Read More...

Published Sat, Oct 01 2011 11:42 AM by Health Beat

October 2011 - Health Beat

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