The British Parliament’s Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) has reported that the authorities for investigating healthcare failures in Britain are too numerous and unaccountable. I am pleased that at least one committee has criticized the structure of British healthcare, but the PASC airily follows all previous inquiries by recommending a lot of cultural change, and … Continue reading »
healthcare
How the right wing is killing women
According to a report released last week in the widely-respected health research journal, The Lancet, the United States now ranks 60th out of 180 countries on maternal deaths occurring during pregnancy and childbirth. To put it bluntly, for every 100,000 births in America last year, 18.5 women died. That’s compared to 8.2 women who died during pregnancy and … Continue reading »
Why you shouldn’t succumb to defeatism about the Affordable Care Act
Whatever happened to American can-do optimism? Even before the Affordable Care Act covers its first beneficiary, the nattering nabobs of negativism are out in full force. “Tens of millions more Americans will lose their coverage and find that new ObamaCare plans have higher premiums, larger deductibles, and fewer doctors,” predicts Republican operative Karl Rove. “Enrollment numbers will … Continue reading »
Where federal health care reform falls short, local reform steps up
San Francisco is an exciting place to be — especially because of its history of progressive politics and culture of grassroots organizing. The city’s passage of the Health Care Security Ordinance (HCSO) in 2006 represented an attempt to implement near-universal health care throughout San Francisco and reaffirmed the city’s commitment to vulnerable people. No doubt … Continue reading »
A good day for America
The Supreme Court has upheld the Affordable Care Act. We are fortunate to live in a state that has been working overtime to implement those parts of the law that have already gone into effect and to prepare for implementation of the remaining elements of the law in January 2014. The law has already had … Continue reading »
Now it’s time to learn what the Affordable Care Act really does
The verdict is in (although not yet posted in full). The Affordable Care Act is constitutional: “the mandate can be regarded as establishing a condition — not owning health insurance — that triggers a tax — the required payment to IRS.” This, the court found, is a legal use of existing congressional power. So now … Continue reading »