Health Beat

Health Bill Will Help, Not Hinder, Small Business

The war of words over health reform is increasingly focused on how the legislation will impact small business and employment. The day before the House voted—in a meaningless act of political theater—to repeal the “job-killing” health law, the White House...

Published Sat, Jan 22 2011 8:46 AM by Health Beat

Cancer Breakthrough?

In an Opinion column on CNN, Dr. H. Gilbert Welch, M.P.H., a professor of medicine at the Dartmouth Institute of Health Policy & Clinical Practice and the author of Overdiagnosed: Making People Sick in the Pursuit of Health" (Beacon Press......

Published Wed, Jan 19 2011 11:25 AM by Health Beat

When A Local Newspaper Investigates Local Hospitals . . .

Hackles rise and fur flies. As Maude Beelman, Deputy Managing Editor at the Dallas Morning News, explains in an essay cross-posted below, local newspapers have good reason to be wary of investigating their community’s most prestigious medical centers...

Published Tue, Jan 18 2011 8:21 AM by Health Beat

Mass. Data Supports “The Importance of the Individual Mandate”

The individual mandate to buy health insurance is clearly the most contentious aspect of health reform. More than two-dozen states have joined federal lawsuits seeking to have health reform repealed on the grounds that the mandate is unconstitutional...

Published Fri, Jan 14 2011 3:06 PM by Health Beat

Giffords Shooting: A Tragedy That Spotlights Two Important Issues

The grotesque slaughter of innocents in Tucson, Arizona over the week-end has led many progressives to focus on the violent rhetoric that pundits on the Right often employ when attacking liberals. No question, this hate-speech has created a poisonous...

Published Mon, Jan 10 2011 11:29 AM by Health Beat

A Non-physician Who Teaches Doctors: “I Regard the Medical Profession with Awe”

Below , a story by Lawrence Dyche from Pulse: Stories from the Heart of Medicine. I wish that more people like Dyche observed residents, taught them, and learned from them. I’m sure that most residents would appreciate the encounter. As... Read More....

Published Fri, Jan 07 2011 8:20 PM by Health Beat

On the Road to Reform: The Mainstream Media Is Telling the Story of Waste Part 1

Anyone who suggests that “we don’t really know where the waste is” in our healthcare system just hasn’t been reading the news. There is so much over-ripe, low hanging fruit waiting to be plucked that the stench of excess has... Read More...

Published Fri, Jan 07 2011 1:54 PM by Health Beat

Calling the Health Bill a “Job-Killer” is “Inflammatory Rhetoric”

A lot of thought goes into the naming of new legislation. Calling the health bill the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act hits on the essential goals of health care reform—medical security and financial savings. So the GOP’s proposed law... Read...

Published Thu, Jan 06 2011 2:53 PM by Health Beat

Update: Atul Gawande on “Reversal of Fortune for End-of-Life Planning”

Naomi’s post (below, January 5) says everything that should be said about the administration’s decision to reverse its position on end-of-life planning. She nailed the story (thank you, Naomi). I’m tacking on a postscript only to report that tonight Read...

Published Thu, Jan 06 2011 12:04 AM by Health Beat

A Reversal of Fortune for End-of-Life Planning

After all the ridiculous fear-mongering by Sarah Palin and her Conservative compatriots about government funding of “death panels,” Congress dropped a proposal to encourage end-of-life planning from the health reform legislation passed last March. But...

Published Wed, Jan 05 2011 9:57 AM by Health Beat

Why We Cannot Afford to Cut Domestic Spending in 2011

On the first day of 2011, Princeton economist Paul Krugman ran an eye-opening chart in his New York Times column, illustrating the relationship between economic growth and unemployment. The horizontal axis shows annual growth rates of real GDP [after...

Published Mon, Jan 03 2011 8:08 AM by Health Beat

Health Care 2010: A Battle From Start to Finish

As 2010 comes to a close, The Century Foundation has once again charged us with composing a “Best of/Worst of” list to recount the year’s highs and lows in health care. I am off for vacation tomorrow so my list... Read More...

Published Tue, Dec 21 2010 1:38 PM by Health Beat

Just One Week before Christmas

Summary: The “Dream Act” seemed to come and go so quickly in the news cycle. Legislation to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” plus the hoped-for treaty with the Soviets pushed the failed bill off the media’s radar screen. I wrote... Read More...

Published Mon, Dec 20 2010 5:45 PM by Health Beat

What Does the Tax Cut Deal Mean for Medicare, Social Security and Health Care Reform? --Part 2

When the Obama-McConnell tax compromise passed the House last week, 112 Democrats voted against the legislation. Just 139 Democrats supported the bill. The split within President Obama’s own party underlines the uncertainty as to whether passage of the...

Published Mon, Dec 20 2010 2:10 PM by Health Beat

What Does the Tax Cut Deal Mean for Medicare, Social Security and Health Care Reform? Part 1

When President Obama struck a deal with conservatives on tax cuts, his opponents set the stage for 2012. With this legislation, the conservative agenda of the Bush administration once again becomes national policy. The goal: to redistribute wealth upward...

Published Wed, Dec 15 2010 12:36 PM by Health Beat

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