The third part of the approach President Obama outlined in his fiscal policy speech on April 13 addressed health care costs. He first contrasted his approach with his characterization of the Republican plan. He said Republicans intended to reduce health care costs in the federal budget by “asking seniors and poor families” to pay the [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Health care’
Who Is This Guy? (The Health Care Side)
Posted in America, Healthcare Reform, Politics, tagged America, Budget Deficit, Federal Budget, Health care, Health Care Reform, Politics, President Obama on April 19, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Phony Figures
Posted in America, Healthcare Reform, Politics, tagged America, Department of Health and Human Services, Health care, Health Care Reform, Health Insurance, Healthcare, Healthcare Reform, Kathleen Sebelius, Obamacare, Politics on January 18, 2011 | 2 Comments »
Today Kathleen Sebelius, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, released a report that concludes that up to half of all Americans below age 65 — 129 million in all — have some kind of “pre-existing condition” that might otherwise cause them to be denied health insurance coverage. The report, which was [...]
Actions Speak Louder Than Words
Posted in America, Healthcare Reform, tagged America, Canada, Health care, Health Care Reform, Healthcare Reform on February 23, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
The Premier of the Canadian provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador came to the U.S. for a special form of heart surgery. In Canada, his only choices given his condition were procedures that would have required breaking his ribs. In America, he underwent an advanced procedure that allowed his heart condition to be surgically fixed through [...]
An Alternative Perspective
Posted in America, Healthcare Reform, Politics, tagged America, Health care, Health Care Reform, Healthcare, Healthcare Reform, Politics on January 9, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
I thought this article was an interesting, alternative perspective on the much-maligned (in some quarters) health care system in the United States. The article indicates that although the World Health Organization ranks the U.S. number 37 in the world in terms of overall performance, based largely on the WHO’s view that the United States’ overall [...]
Let The Debate Begin
Posted in America, Healthcare Reform, Politics, tagged America, Congress, Health care, Health Care Reform, Healthcare, Healthcare Reform, Politics, United States Constitution, United States Senate on December 1, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
On Thanksgiving, after we had finished our dinner, some of us sat around the table and talked about the issues of the day. Inevitably, the talk turned to health care reform. We discussed what to do about people who are uninsured through no fault of their own and those who are uninsured by conscious choice, [...]
Step Away From That Cheeseburger
Posted in America, Healthcare Reform, World, tagged America, Health care, Health Care Reform, Healthcare Reform, Japan on November 10, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
As health care, health care costs, and health care reform dominate the headlines and political debate in America, here’s an interesting story about Japan’s approach to health care. Even though Japanese are already quite fit in comparison to other industrial nations, the government has enacted legislation that sets a maximum waistline size. For men over [...]
A Poll For Every Perspective
Posted in America, Healthcare Reform, tagged America, Health care, Health Care Reform, Healthcare, Healthcare Reform, polls on October 8, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
I was interested in UJ’s post, below, on the AP Poll on health care. The most recent Pew Research survey, on the other hand, shows sharply declining support for the health care reform proposals since September, and particularly a decline in the number of people who — like UJ — strongly support the reform proposals. [...]
Everything I Need To Know About Avoiding Swine Flu I Learned In Kindergarten
Posted in Comics, Growing Up, Humor, tagged Akron, Archie, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Growing Up, H1N1, Health care, Humor, kindergarten, Rankin Elementary School, Richie Rich, Swine flu on September 16, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Yesterday the HR people at the firm circulated a publication from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that gave people tips on h0w to avoid getting H1N1, the latest strain of “swine flu.” The CDC webpage reflecting the advice is found here. I was struck by how elementary the CDC advice was. Indeed, it [...]
Drug-Addled
Posted in America, tagged America, drugs, Health care, medicine, Michael Jackson on August 25, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The latest story about the circumstances of Michael Jackson’s death is sad, but also symptomatic of how modern medical practices often seem to be extraordinarily reliant on prescribing drugs as the cure for every ill. The amount of medication Jackson apparently received is astonishing. Can’t sleep? We’ll give you a drug, and if that doesn’t [...]
Health Care Reform: A Dog’s Perspective
Posted in Dogs, Healthcare Reform, Humor, Penny, tagged Dogs, Health care, Health Care Reform, Humor, Penny on August 11, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
A British doctor asks the critical question: if you need health care in Great Britain, is it better to be a dog than a human? (Hint: he thinks the answer is of the four-legged variety.) I can’t answer that question, but I do know this — when Penny comes back from a visit to Dr. [...]
Fear Of August (III)
Posted in America, Healthcare Reform, Politics, tagged America, Budget Deficit, Congress, Health care, Health Care Reform, Keith Olbermann, News media, Politics, taxes on August 4, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
I think UJ’s post below raises a fair question: how do we know whether anything we see on TV, or on Youtube, is real, as opposed to staged? My belief is that everyone should approach these kinds of things with a skeptical attitude, a willingness to listen to both sides, and the confidence to reach [...]
Fear Of August (Part II)
Posted in America, Healthcare Reform, Politics, tagged America, Congress, Health care, Health Care Reform, Politics on August 3, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
I’ve seen a few YouTube clips of protests and angry comments at “town hall” meetings between members of Congress and their constituents. The above clip, of edited parts of a protest at the end of a meeting with Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas, shows that at least some people are concerned enough about the rush [...]
Weighty Taxes And Personal Freedoms
Posted in America, Healthcare Reform, tagged America, freedom, Health care, Health Care Reform, health Nazis, Obesity, taxes on July 28, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
This is a predictable (and predicted) development: people are now advocating levying hefty taxes on foods and drinks that contribute to obesity in order to help pay for health care. The underlying concept is that obesity has contributed mightily to increasing health care costs, so behavior that contributes to obesity should be discouraged. Taxes on [...]
Curse Of The Health Nazis
Posted in America, Politics, tagged Dr. Regina Benjamin, Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail, Health care, health Nazis, Hunter S. Thompson, President Obama on July 23, 2009 | 1 Comment »
I am appalled by the mean-spirited comments of people who have raised questions about the weight of President Obama’s nominee to be Surgeon General. By all accounts, Dr. Regina Benjamin is a fine family doctor who has sacrificed much for her patients; rather than maximizing her potential financial return she has pursued a practice that [...]
The Power Of Choice
Posted in Healthcare Reform, Politics, tagged Congress, Health care, Health Care Reform on July 20, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Following up on UJ’s post, below: I have to admit that I am a bit offended by what seems to be the Republican “talking points” approach to the health care debate. I am leery of apocyrphal or individualistic stories about how something affected one person, for good or ill. The fact that a specific individual [...]
