U.S. health care still lags on affordability

By Jack Bernard Many years ago, I had lunch with Dr. Uwe Reinhardt, a distinguished health care economist, who was a speaker at a national conference for hospital CEOs put on by the organization employing me. In a good-humored way, he made clear to me that the United States did not have the best health…

Something is lacking in our malpractice oversight 

As a longtime observer of Georgia’s health care system, I try to keep up with reports about problems our state faces, including low rankings in some categories, and pass the information along to general readers. A report by Sidney Wolfe, M.D., of the nonprofit Public Citizen organization, details how the medical boards of each state oversee…

Trump’s plan on pharmaceuticals needs support

I support President Trump’s recently signed four pharmaceutical-related executive orders, especially his initiative to tie the Medicare Part B price of drugs to the lowest price received by other nations (“most favored nations” pricing). While it can be argued that his actions are political, they are still welcome. It should be noted that there’s still…

Our CON laws are working, and we need to keep them

For the past few decades, there has been a push at many levels to do away with government regulations on business. This effort has only increased recently. Along these lines, every year or two, some state politician suggests doing away with Georgia’s Certificate of Need (CON) laws, which regulate where and how health care facilities…

The rush to throw out Obamacare could backfire disastrously

We are the most religious democracy in the world, and our Judeo-Christian ethic demands that we take care of the downtrodden. But we are also the only advanced democracy without universal health coverage. Are we confused . . . or just hypocrites? My bet is that we are very confused. The public’s reaction to Obamacare…

Why I’m at odds with my party on health care

“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” (James Baldwin) With a proven record of cutting waste and reducing spending, I am a fiscally conservative Republican, as well as a health care professional. But the Georgia GOP legislative leadership and I have reached very different conclusions…

Letter to Editor: Gov. Deal’s views incorrect

Letter to Editor: Gov. Deal’s views incorrect

As a retired health care executive and former state employee, I appreciated the GHN interview with Gov. Nathan Deal. So much so that I would like to comment on a few of the remarks he made. He indicates that Medicaid expansion would add 620,000 people to our Medicaid rolls, implying it would clearly be a…

Expand Medicaid to help local governments

Expand Medicaid to help local governments

The health policy role of a county commissioner is much more complicated than most people realize. As a member of a board of commissioners, you have to make decisions based on the needs of your community, rather than on increasing the organization’s bottom line, as for-profit companies do. What are a county’s health care responsibilities?…