The Bureau of Economic Analysis recently released data showing Medicare and Medicaid costs jumped 10% in the second quarter of this year. This puts the two healthcare entitlement programs on course to reach spending levels of almost $992 billion. Yes, that is almost $1 trillion. And guess what,...

This week Senators Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Tom Coburn (R-Ok.) introduced a proposal to eliminate $600 billion from the Medicare system. They should have been applauded, commended and celebrated around the country. Instead, democrats swiftly rejected their proposal. No questions asked. They were portrayed by liberals as attacking the benefits...

While healthcare reform is now 13 months old, one might have been misled into believing the country had solved the health care crisis. Sure, many more Americans will have access to affordable healthcare insurance. Health care reform, or health care insurance reform as many call it, is a big step...

There has been a strange lull in the healthcare discussion in this country. Certainly the events in the Middle East and the recent good jobs report have taken the news spotlight off of healthcare reform. While the debate over repealing healthcare reform is far from over, the news has definitely...

What are we really going to do about the rising healthcare costs in this country?

In order to understand the challenges facing the healthcare system in the United States, we must first accept two very important principles:

1. We are all going to die
2. None of us want to die (and...

As we all know the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was passed this past March, and if you do not follow the news closely you might think not much has happened since then. Some people are asking about various aspects of the reform including the timelines of when changes...

One of the key provisions of the healthcare reform legislation, also know as the Patent Protection and Affordability Act, is to provide all Americans with access to healthcare insurance. Now written into law is consumer protection requiring insurance companies to cover all individuals including those with preexisting conditions.

The...

It is now known throughout the country that health care reform has become law and the landscape of how health care has been delivered in this country is going to be changing. Only time will tell whether or not the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will finally fix our...

This was a very big week for health care in this country. As we all know by now, President Obama signed the Senate Finance Committee Bill into law. The reconciliation process is underway and within a few weeks, this country will be taking a big step forward in transforming our...

The healthcare reform debate is more fluid than ever before. One minute it is on the road to passage, the next minute it is dead. Whatever happens over the next few weeks as President Obama tries one last time to get this massive domestic legislation passed, it is important to...

This past week, the Republicans and Democrats participated in a discussion lead by President Obama with the goal of finding common ground on health care reform. Did the American public really expect our elected officials would come together in a bipartisan way to help solve our national health care crisis?...

This is another big week for health care reform. President Obama is hosting a bipartisan summit on Thursday to discuss all options for health care reform -- Democrat and Republican in full view of the American people. I do not expect any major breakthrough on reform but as always, I...

Last week was really tough for me. A new report came out showing 2.7 million Americans lost their health care insurance last year. Some lost it because they lost their jobs and could not afford COBRA or simply did not have a COBRA option. Others lost their insurance...

I received a disturbing phone call on my radio show this week (Healthcare Connect - Sirius 114/XM 119) from of a concerned listener in Iowa. She called to tell me how upset she was by a recent conversation she had with a staff member from Iowa Senator Charles Grassley's office....

What is most upsetting to me about the failure of healthcare reform is that so many Americans do not understand what just happened. Sure, they know the Senate and House reform bills were expensive. They certainly know that there are among 30 to 50 million Americans without health insurance coverage...