Gary Puckrein

When government launched the Medicare program, it made a pact with the American people that President Lyndon Johnson articulated (his statement) at the July 30, 1965 signing ceremony for the enabling legislation:

No longer will older Americans be denied the healing miracle of modern medicine. No longer will...

Few would disagree that a systemic shift in our approach to the diabetes epidemic is in order. The challenge demands that we find more consumer friendly, effective therapies and make them broadly available. But is the American health care financing system up to the task?

The twin pillars of this...

The market forces that are capable of eliminating health care and health status disparities are gathering. On April 23 and 24, about 700 of my closest friends will join me in Washington, D.C., to discuss minority health. This will be National Minority Quality Forum's ninth Annual Summit dedicated to understanding...

To mandate or not to mandate is not the question. The Obamacare requirement that each individual purchase health insurance has ignited a political and legal firestorm. Much of the reporting by liberal, conservative, and nonpartisan media cloaks the fact that while there may be a political controversy about this mandate,...

If you have been following the debate over health care reform, you are aware that the small government community, as an article of faith, is zealously opposed to the federal government acting as a health care insurer. Their preference is a market driven by individual retail transactions, similar to the...

You probably missed this one, but this bit of legislation will have profound implications not only for your health, but the health of our economy. A provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) created a 15-member Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), delegating to it the responsibility to...

I hate to say "I told you so" but, as we discussed in my Jan. 31 post, (The Case Against Individual Retail Transactions), with the democratization of health care we can expect moments when we will hear cries of outrage as government in its less-than-delicate way steps on...

A just released report from the American Cancer Society (ACS) has triggered for me, yet again, a concern: The American clinical research system is not designed to maximize the potential for the best possible outcomes of health services that are delivered to all American health care consumers.

According to...

Many of us would like to disavow it, but the federal government, with all of its dissonance, is a walking manifestation of our collective voice -- 130 million voting Americans (last presidential election) pulling in as many different directions. When we look at the resulting odd misshapen creature (Congress, the...

In the pre-release preface to Essential Benefits: Balancing Coverage and Cost, the Institute of Medicine articulated the purpose of the report as giving guidance to the secretary of health and human services regarding the "essential health care benefits that must be offered to individuals and small groups in...

Today's advanced medicines, known as biologics, treat some of the most serious and costly medical conditions like cancer, diabetes, and kidney disease. Though it is impossible to make generic versions of these drugs, the 2010 Affordable Care Act has instructed the FDA to figure out how to approve biosimilars --...