Editorials and Your Comments

Senate Republicans voted today to open debate on the Floor of the U.S. Senate on various partially understood versions of potential legislation to repeal, or repeal and replace, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare). . . . → Read More: How Would the Health Care ‘Plans’ Being Debated by Senate Republicans Affect You? – And, How to Make Your Voice Heard

In a new report issued on Friday, the nonprofit Commonwealth Fund reported the results of its 2012 biennial survey on the number of U.S. adults who lacked health insurance or were underinsured. The total number of uninsured adults over . . . → Read More: Number of Uninsured Up, but Health Care Law Has Helped & Will Help Further Starting in 2014, Commonwealth Fund Reports

The Center for Medicare Advocacy, a non-profit organization “that provides education, advocacy and legal assistance to help older people and people with disabilities obtain fair access to Medicare and necessary health care,” issued a statement on Wednesday, March 13, . . . → Read More: Opinion: Center for Medicare Advocacy Condemns Paul Ryan Budget; Offers Solutions

The American College of Physicians (ACP), the largest medical specialty group in the U.S. and second-largest physicians group (whose members include 133,000 internal medicine physicians and related subspecialists), has issued its annual “State of the Nation’s Health Care” report . . . → Read More: Large Physicians Group Calls for More Health Care Reforms; Condemns Budget Impasse in Washington

In an editorial published by the Huffington Post on January 24, 2013, John Geyman, M.D., Professor Emeritus of Family Medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine, makes a case that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) only goes . . . → Read More: Would Medicare-For-All be the Answer for our Health Care System?

Originally published January 6, 2011; Updated November 28, 2012 A  study funded by the National Institute of Aging and published in the New England Journal of Medicine, shows that 66% of Americans underwent medical testing involving exposure to radiation . . . → Read More: Avoid Unnecessary Medical Tests That Involve Exposure to Radiation

In a health policy paper published on October 11, 2012 in The Lancet medical journal, US and UK experts on healthcare policy who co-authored the article conclude that, even though the US and UK healthcare systems are often thought . . . → Read More: US and UK Healthcare Systems Should Learn From Each Other, Experts Conclude

By selecting Paul Ryan as his running mate, former Governor and Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney has taken action that backs up and gives teeth to his previous endorsements of the Ryan Budget Plan and his promise to sign it . . . → Read More: Ryan-Romney Budget Proposals Would End Medicare as We Know It & Cut or Eliminate Programs for Poor, Elderly & Vulnerable

The Palm Beach County Medical Society announced that it will hold its sixth annual Future of Medicine Summit on September 27-28, 2012. A number of notable national and regional health care experts will speak at the Summit, which will . . . → Read More: 2012 Future of Medicine Summit to Focus on Mental Health, Heart Disease and Diabetes

The American College of Physicians (ACP), a nationwide nonprofit organization of doctors of internal medicine, issued a comprehensive report, entitled “The State of the Nation’s Health Care 2012: How Bad Budget Choices and Broken Politics Are Undermining Progress in . . . → Read More: American College of Physicians Urges Politicians to Stop Unwise Health Care Cuts, Provides Alternative Proposals

The Save the Children foundation has published its 13th annual “State of the World’s Mothers Report,” which compares and ranks 165 countries around the world in terms of the Best and Worst Places to Be a Mom. This year’s . . . → Read More: Norway Ranks as Best Country to be a Mom; U.S. 25th in the World, New Report Finds

A new HBO documentary, The Weight of The Nation, produced by John Hoffman in conjunction with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), explores the costs and causes of the well-publicized obesity epidemic that is plaguing America and its health . . . → Read More: New HBO Documentary, The Weight of The Nation, Explores Causes, Costs of Obesity

Several new studies and reports have been published recently documenting the high costs of obesity to America and Americans. According to these new research findings, obesity adds $190 Billion per year to health care costs, which is over 20% . . . → Read More: New Reports Document High Costs of Obesity in America

In Supreme Court arguments last week and in the press, the debate over the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act (“Affordable Care Act”), which some call “Obamacare,” has centered around legal arguments whether the individual insurance mandate in the . . . → Read More: New Reports Highlight Harm to Women if Supreme Court Strikes Down Health Care Law

MIT Economist Jonathan Gruber, who advised the Obama Administration on health care reform and was an architect of Governor Romney’s health care reform in Massachusetts, has written a new 152-page comic book that explains and combats some common misconceptions . . . → Read More: New Comic Book by MIT Economist Explains Health Reform Law

The 22nd annual America’s Health Rankings® report was released on December 5, 2011, grading and ranking the 50 U.S. states in terms of the level of their overall health and health care, determined by 23 objective measurements. The annual . . . → Read More: Which States Have the Best and Worst Health Rankings in 2011?

In its Fall, 2011 newsletter, Take Care!, the National Family Caregivers Association (NFCA), a non-profit association working to support family caregivers, has published a thoughtful editorial entitled: “Family Caregivers and the Affordable Care Act: Where the Action Is.” In . . . → Read More: NFCA Calls for Family Caregivers to Help Support the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation under the Affordable Care Act

On Monday, November 14, 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an Order agreeing to review and decide four specific issues in the litigation challenging the constitutionality of the health care law, the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act, that . . . → Read More: What Issues Will the Supreme Court Decide on the Health Care Law?

Please take this short, Yes or No, survey. In your opinion, Should the Supreme Court strike down the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act (the Health Reform Law of 2010)? Yes or No? Click here to take survey We . . . → Read More: In Your Opinion, Should the Supreme Court Strike Down the Health Care Law?

On Monday, November 14, 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an Order agreeing to review and decide the litigation challenging the constitutionality of the health care law, the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act, that was passed by Congress . . . → Read More: Supreme Court Grants Review of Health Care Law – Decision Expected by Summer 2012

The Republican Presidential candidates participated in a nationally televised debate on November 12, 2011, hosted by CBS News and held at Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina. While the subject of this debate was foreign policy and national security, . . . → Read More: In Debate 3 GOP Presidential Candidates Say They Would End Medicare / Medicaid or Shift It to States or Vouchers

Professor Lawrence Lessig of Harvard Law School has written a seminal new book entitled, Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress–and a Plan to Stop It, recently published by Hachette Book Group. In it he argues that the root of . . . → Read More: Is Money in Politics Harmful to Health & the Real Enemy of Meaningful Health Care Reform?

The Fifth annual Future of Medicine Summit, sponsored by the Palm Beach County Medical Society, will take place on October 27-29, 2011, at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida. Here is information about the . . . → Read More: Future of Medicine Summit V, Oct 27-29, Sponsored by Palm Beach County Medical Society

A new study by researchers at Harvard Medical School has found that “Medicare Advantage” plans marketed by private insurance companies that offer too many options confuse seniors and lead to poor choices, especially among those who are cognitively impaired. . . . → Read More: Too Many Confusing Choices in Medicare Advantage Plans Lead to Poor Plan Decisions by Seniors, Study Finds