We are indebted to the late Dr. Barbara Starfield of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health for this basic definition of the four pillars of primary care.
If the current legislation fails to curb costs or vastly increase access to care, it should be scrapped and a full on national, or even state by state, health care plan substituted in its place.
Private health-insurance and pharmaceutical industry lobbyists are threatening the health and stability of America. Some argue that this is equivalent to crimes against humanity.
Providing universal health coverage is essential, but there are many, many other social policy avenues to pursue if we seek to improve the health of our citizenry.
Anxiety and uncertainty about our health care will be once and for all gone. Even pharmaceutical companies will cut billions in costs because they'll have no need to advertise, lobby, or provide gifts.
Hopes for a quick fix for the nation's health insurance woes were dampened somewhat today when the medical industry released its proposal for a plan that would include a $2 trillion deductible.
Given that most newspapers still don't publish weekday comics in color, my mistake was putting today's cartoon guests in the green room rather than the black-and-white room.
While the so-called "debate" over health care reform heats up, the only real option to reform health care -- single-payer national health insurance (NHI) -- is being largely overlooked.
The excesses of the health insurance industry resemble those of Wall Street and the subprime housing market, typified by privatized profits for insurers and socialized risk for taxpayers and consumers.