If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
While Republican governors like Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Rick Perry of Texas play games with people's lives to throw red meat to the extremists in their party, Kasich and the a growing number of GOP governors put the needs of their state before their political party.
Making people obtain and maintain health insurance is not the nanny state; it is grow-up time. The nanny state is what we have today, prior to full implementation of Obamacare, and what we have had since the 1986 passage of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act.
February is American Heart Month, which makes this a good time to talk about the ways the Affordable Care Act helps us take better care of our hearts. Right now, heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States.
Stark income inequality and poverty separate us from other wealthy nations, who also have more generous safety nets and demonstrate greater social mobility than we do. In America, the best predictor of good or bad health is the income level of your zip code.
If you wonder why we spend more money on health care than any other country but have some of the worst health outcomes, you need look no further than the halls of Congress to figure it out.
The regulations released by the Department of Health and Human Services today make it clear that your boss doesn't get to decide whether you can have birth control. These regulations treat birth control like what it is -- basic preventive health care.
This is an historic time for those Americans who never had health insurance, who had to go without insurance after losing a job or becoming sick, or who had been turned down because of a pre-existing condition.
America's Health Insurance Plans, the industry's big PR and lobbying group, has rolled out a slick campaign aimed at getting Congress to gut some of ObamaCare's most important consumer protections.
How is it that the increasingly popular Democrats refuse to wield the political cudgel that the voters have placed in their hand, while the increasingly unpopular Republicans have no qualms about pushing radical reforms to maintain a toehold on power?
Despite what we are being told by politicians on both sides of the aisle, our deregulated health care marketplace is not sustainable, and there is no real fix short of single-payer financing reform coupled with a more accountable private delivery system.
In his Inaugural Address, the president called the Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security programs commitments we make to each other that strengthen us. Are Medicare and Social Security safe now? They are for the moment.
California needs real leadership in oral health. California has not had a dental director in years. Without a strong office of oral health, led by a dental director, California is missing opportunities to ensure children have the best dental care possible.
Sustainable improvements in health and the elimination of health disparities will occur only when society removes the silos between medical care and other social services. The nation must embrace an approach that addresses these upstream determinants of health.
Staci Sarkin is now closing in on 500,000 signatures (nearly the population of Wyoming), and is preparing to take the petition to Washington.
For the first time in a long time, my former insurance colleagues and I agree on something: it's time for affordability. Health insurers' big PR and ...
In taking on health care reform Obama made a very clear statement that community is an American value. It is how he chooses to defend and expand Obamacare that will dictate whether he is remembered for his commitment to community or to the special interests of Washington.
