Health Care
Commentary
Health Net’s Arbitration Verdict: A $9 Million Reward for Carelessness
Time, once again, to defend the indefensible….. Health Net is reeling from a one-two punch. Last Wednesday, Rocky Delgadillo, the Los Angeles City Attorney filed civil suit against the for-profit health insurer, alleging unfair business practices and false advertising. Then, last Thursday, an arbitrator gave over $9 million to a ...
Commentary
What if the doctors went out on strike?
WASHINGTON – With the writers’ strike at an end, couch potatoes can sigh with relief. But imagine if labor strife had befallen a far more critical group of individuals — like doctors. The notion of white coats on the picket lines is not as far-fetched as it may seem. Some ...
California
Senator Kuehl’s Health Care Agenda
Democratic Sen. Sheila Kuehl, who chairs the Senate health committee, made sure that a recent attempt at health care overhaul in California went down in flames last month. Her committee rejected ABX1 1, the Schwarzenegger-Nunez health care reform legislation. That measure aimed for “universal” health care through compulsory purchase of ...
Commentary
Do Our Candidates Need Their Vision Corrected?
The campaign trail is awash with promises to make universal health care a reality in the next presidential term. Candidates from both parties claim they can lower costs — and insure everyone — through legislative mandates and increased government intervention in the healthcare market. But they’re wrong. Only with a ...
Commentary
Massachusetts Hospital Association’s New Recipe for Fudge
An amazing story in the usually reliable Boston Globe by Steve LeBlanc made me gulp: might I have to recant my position on the ineffective and expensive Massachusetts health reform? Luckily, no: a report by the Massachusetts Hospital Association on the reform’s “success” manages to fudge the numbers just enough ...
Commentary
The Hidden Dangers of Government Health Care
Child and Family Protection Association, February 21, 2008 “Socialized health care” is the term we are using to describe various forms of government-controlled health care delivery and funding programs. This topic continues to spark a great deal of debate. We have already addressed a critical part of this issue from ...
Commentary
On Patent Reform, Don’t Be Evil
Google has achieved wild success and cultural notoriety by operating under the corporate mantra “Don’t be evil.” But when it comes to patent reforms currently under consideration in Congress, Google — along with several other tech heavyweights — seems to be straying from the company line. The Patent Reform Act, ...
Commentary
Reject National Health care
America’s medical system has flaws, but government control is no cure Last December, Nataline Sarkisyan, a comatose leukemia patient, failed to receive a liver transplant potentially in time to save her life. Politically motivated opportunists such as former presidential candidate John Edwards have been exploiting the 17-year-old’s tragic death to ...
Commentary
Drug ads a form of free speech
David Lazarus claims that direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising results in “forcing physicians to respond to people’s demands for heavily touted drugs.” (“Ads spur urge for drugs,” Consumer Confidential, Feb. 6.) Actually, physicians have a government-granted monopoly on prescribing drugs, and no patient can “force” a physician to do anything. Rather, research ...
Commentary
NY’s “Cuomortician” Strikes Again! Attorney General to “Fix” Prices
It’s been a couple of months since New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, scourge of the health insurers, has caused me to address the sorry state of the Empire State’s political direction on health reform. Last time, I expressed concern (and perhaps a little contrition) that I was too hard ...
Health Net’s Arbitration Verdict: A $9 Million Reward for Carelessness
Time, once again, to defend the indefensible….. Health Net is reeling from a one-two punch. Last Wednesday, Rocky Delgadillo, the Los Angeles City Attorney filed civil suit against the for-profit health insurer, alleging unfair business practices and false advertising. Then, last Thursday, an arbitrator gave over $9 million to a ...
What if the doctors went out on strike?
WASHINGTON – With the writers’ strike at an end, couch potatoes can sigh with relief. But imagine if labor strife had befallen a far more critical group of individuals — like doctors. The notion of white coats on the picket lines is not as far-fetched as it may seem. Some ...
Senator Kuehl’s Health Care Agenda
Democratic Sen. Sheila Kuehl, who chairs the Senate health committee, made sure that a recent attempt at health care overhaul in California went down in flames last month. Her committee rejected ABX1 1, the Schwarzenegger-Nunez health care reform legislation. That measure aimed for “universal” health care through compulsory purchase of ...
Do Our Candidates Need Their Vision Corrected?
The campaign trail is awash with promises to make universal health care a reality in the next presidential term. Candidates from both parties claim they can lower costs — and insure everyone — through legislative mandates and increased government intervention in the healthcare market. But they’re wrong. Only with a ...
Massachusetts Hospital Association’s New Recipe for Fudge
An amazing story in the usually reliable Boston Globe by Steve LeBlanc made me gulp: might I have to recant my position on the ineffective and expensive Massachusetts health reform? Luckily, no: a report by the Massachusetts Hospital Association on the reform’s “success” manages to fudge the numbers just enough ...
The Hidden Dangers of Government Health Care
Child and Family Protection Association, February 21, 2008 “Socialized health care” is the term we are using to describe various forms of government-controlled health care delivery and funding programs. This topic continues to spark a great deal of debate. We have already addressed a critical part of this issue from ...
On Patent Reform, Don’t Be Evil
Google has achieved wild success and cultural notoriety by operating under the corporate mantra “Don’t be evil.” But when it comes to patent reforms currently under consideration in Congress, Google — along with several other tech heavyweights — seems to be straying from the company line. The Patent Reform Act, ...
Reject National Health care
America’s medical system has flaws, but government control is no cure Last December, Nataline Sarkisyan, a comatose leukemia patient, failed to receive a liver transplant potentially in time to save her life. Politically motivated opportunists such as former presidential candidate John Edwards have been exploiting the 17-year-old’s tragic death to ...
Drug ads a form of free speech
David Lazarus claims that direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising results in “forcing physicians to respond to people’s demands for heavily touted drugs.” (“Ads spur urge for drugs,” Consumer Confidential, Feb. 6.) Actually, physicians have a government-granted monopoly on prescribing drugs, and no patient can “force” a physician to do anything. Rather, research ...
NY’s “Cuomortician” Strikes Again! Attorney General to “Fix” Prices
It’s been a couple of months since New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, scourge of the health insurers, has caused me to address the sorry state of the Empire State’s political direction on health reform. Last time, I expressed concern (and perhaps a little contrition) that I was too hard ...
