Diabetes is more than a life-threatening disease; it is a life-altering disease. It is a chronic medical condition that must be monitored and addressed daily to stay healthy. Diabetes is also the leading cause of kidney failure.As an African American man with diabetes, the disease affects me every day. I must take insulin every day to survive. I must deal with physical discomfort when I move and walk every day. Also, I must go in for dialysis treatments almost every other day. I am...
healthcare
Shoring up LGBTQ health
This year’s global monkeypox outbreak has dredged up harsh recollections of the early days of the HIV epidemic, especially for the LGBTQ health activists who lived through that ugly period and its prejudices.
Sean Cahill, the director of health policy research for the Fenway Institute, an organization aimed at creating healthier lives for people in the LGBTQ community, can still recall the time before life-saving treatments for HIV became available.
“We certainly pe...
Health reforms both parties should endorse
Health care consistently ranks near the top of American voters’ list of concerns and is likely to remain there. In fact, in Americans for Prosperity’s latest health care poll, conducted on June 22by Public Opinion Strategies, health care is in the top three, right behind inflation and jobs.
The vast majority of voters reject a government takeover of health care — they want to keep what’s working and fix what isn’t. But you would never know it from listening to candidates on...
Health Care — Biden boosts ‘cancer moonshot’ with JFK nods
Spare a thought for the people of Stow, Mass: They no longer have a Dunkin’Donuts in the town, and now have to drive as far as a mile and a half for theirmedium "regulah."
President Biden on Monday delivered a speech to promote his “cancer moonshot” initiative to end cancer reminiscent of former President John F. Kennedy’s push to reach the moon.
Welcome to Overnight Health Care, where we’re following the latest moves on policy and ne...
Democrats seek campaign opportunity with ObamaCare court ruling
Democrats are seizing on a federal judge's ruling against ObamaCare's prevention coverage as an opportunity to campaign on preserving health care just two months before the midterm elections.
The ruling on Wednesday by Judge Reed O'Connor in Texas escalates another battle over ObamaCare, and could jeopardize access to preventive care for millions of Americans, including screenings for colorectal and other cancer, depression and hypertension, among many other&...
Keeping the public interest in public health is key to combatting disease
On Aug. 23, Director Rochelle Walensky called for a paradigm shift in the manner the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) do their work.
“In these pandemic moments, we found ourselves having to talk to a broader audience,” she said. “We didn’t have to convince the scientific audience — we had to convince the American people.”
This shift is critical if the efforts of the CDC are to fully understand, address and co...
Health Care — Judge rejects ObamaCare coverage for HIV drugs
Former President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama had their official portraits unveiled at the White House today. The latter's portrait captured the former first lady looking “fine,” according to her husband.
A judge in Texas ruled on Wednesday that provisions in the Affordable Care Act requiring employer health plans to cover HIV prevention drugs violated religious freedom laws.
Welcome to Overnight Health Care, where ...
Federal judge rules against Obamacare coverage of HIV prevention drugs
A federal judge in Texas struck down a key provision of the Affordable Care Act that requires insurers and employers to cover HIV prevention drugs, ruling that the requirement violates the religious freedom of a Christian-owned company.
The ruling by Judge Reed O'Connor — who previously struck down the entire ObamaCare law before it was upheld by the Supreme Court — was a partial victory for the challengers.
It was not immediately clear what kind of impact the ruling...
What the Inflation Reduction Act means for health care coverage
The health insurance measures in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) will allow millions of Affordable Care Act (ACA), commonly known as Obamacare, enrollees to keep their coverage — for now. That’s good. But the IRA is the latest chapter in the turbulent 12-year saga of the ACA. As such, it represents another incremental step in the long slog to stabilize and expand health coverage in the U.S. — the only wealthy nation on Earth that doesn’t guarantee its citizens some form of universal hea...
Want affordable health care? Make hospitals comply with posting prices online
The Biden administration and Congress are addressing spiraling costs of health care and health insurance by extending expanded pandemic-era Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies in the Inflation Reduction Act. Yet simply transferring rising costs to taxpayers does nothing to address the underlying health care unaffordability crisis. In fact, increasing subsidies makes it easier for health insurers to further raise premiums and pad their record profits. Major insurers have already announce...