Physicians and policymakers are, in different ways, both responsible for the health and well-being of patients. While physicians care for patients to the best of their ability, policymakers ensure that the structures that make up the health care system are effective and equitable. Whenever and wherever there is a threat to these goals, both groups have a role to play in recognizing and combating it. That is why we are speaking out on the need to make fundamental changes to the Medicare ...
healthcare
Biden turns ‘Godfather’ on prescription drugs
They say that wherever government gets involved, there are unintended consequences — results that most people who had initially cheered on government action hadn’t considered. But the cynic in me believes there are few truly unintended consequences — that most proposals are not goals, but only a stop along the way toward a larger objective.
As a former health policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation, and as someone whose mother’s life was extended and improved by prescriptio...
Another health care enrollment period, still no dental care
On Nov. 1, people across the country began navigating the health care open enrollment process, a complex ritual that happens every year to secure health insurance. As a part of that process, individuals will inevitably encounter gaps and inconsistencies in coverage for services most of us understand to be essential. Among the services that aren’t covered for most adults — oral health care.
Over 20 years ago, former Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), Donna Shalala, s...
The new House Speaker’s views on health topics
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We need a public option for pharmaceuticals
America is currently facing dual public health crises of record drug shortages and skyrocketing prices. Several critical medicines are in short supply, including at least 14 essential generic cancer drugs, ADHD treatments, antibiotics, and even children’s acetaminophen. Americans also spend more on prescription drugs per capita than people in any other country. A quarter of adults surveyed in 2022 said that they or a member of their household have not filled a prescription, cut pills in...
Government the single greatest obstacle to health care quality
Once again, it’s Health Care Quality Week, when researchers and activists turn to government to fix the many serious quality problems in the U.S. health sector. Yet whenever government inserts itself into health care, low quality is the inevitable result.
Government routinely mandates and subsidizes low-quality health care while blocking high-quality care. Whether it’s terrible health insurance, poor-quality care, or lack of quality innovations, government is not the solution ...
Advocacy can lead to change and save lives: early detection of breast cancer is critical
As we kick off Breast Cancer Awareness Month, there is no better time to discuss how advocacy can lead to change and save lives.
Driven by our own life experiences, expanding access to diagnostic and supplementary breast screening holds personal significance for both of us.
Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among American women, with about one in eight women facing a diagnosis in their lifetime. We know that regular mammograms...
If they like their ObamaCare cash, let lower-income earners keep their ObamaCare cash
Despite President Joe Biden’s best efforts to convince the public that inflation has peaked, anyone who has shopped for groceries lately knows we’re not out of the woods.
And unfortunately, the pain is about to extend beyond the dairy aisle.
Next year, Americans are projected to suffer the largest jump in health care costs in more than a decade. A recent Mercer study projects a 6.5 percent increase in the cost of health plans. Although a majorit...
Is Bernie Sanders the new healthcare pragmatist?
It is hard to find someone I agree with less than Bernie Sanders, particularly in my own area of healthcare. But increasingly, I find myself agreeing with him on significant healthcare issues.
Is Bernie Sanders becoming the ultimate healthcare pragmatist — wanting good progress even as his deepest healthcare desires do not seem achievable?
Things seem to be pointing this way, especially with his recent announcement regarding the need to tackle the primary care cris...
Biden wants to torpedo short-term health insurance
While campaigning for the presidency in 2019, Joe Biden assured voters that he would not eliminate private health insurance plans. He even told an audience in Iowa, “If you have private insurance, you can keep it” — a risky echo of President Barack Obama's 2013 "Lie of the Year."
But over the Independence Day weekend, the Biden administration announced a new rule that would severely restrict Americans from purchasing short-term, limited-duration insurance...