Opponents of the Affordable Care Act have stepped up their misinformation campaign about the law now that the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld it. There are all sorts of false numbers and dire predictions about what the act will cost and what it will and won’t do that are circulating on the Internet, being posted…
Oh, the games people play, especially politicians. Only political junkies really care about the difference between taxes and penalties contained in Obamacare. What Americans care about is “What is it going to cost me?” Sure, the Republicans can holler that the president lied when saying that the health reform costs were not taxes. And the…
HIV Vaccine Awareness Day occurs every May 18 to raise awareness of, and encourage participation in, HIV vaccine clinical trials in humans. We need an HIV vaccine. Every year for 15 years, about 56,000 Americans have become newly HIV-infected. This number has not fallen despite behavioral education efforts. Over the same period, HIV treatment has improved…
On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law. The Act itself is a 2,700-page behemoth that was hastily cobbled together in secrecy and through backroom deals by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and a bunch of health insurance lobbyists. The Act was the culmination…
On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) — historic legislation designed to transform our health care system. Unfortunately, the health care reform debate, both before and after the legislation’s passage, has been hostage to a highly partisan political process that has had little to do with health…
According to numbers circulated by UNAIDS and the World Health Organization in November, the worldwide population of individuals living with HIV/AIDS in 2010 stood at 34 million. Yet despite the continuing importance of developing HIV vaccines, a range of research groups and small biopharma companies are finding challenges in obtaining the amount of funding that…
Congress’ pattern of procrastination has led to a series of fiscally irresponsible compromises that threaten Medicare’s physician foundation and endanger access to care for more than 40 million seniors, veterans and military families. Unless Congress acts, Medicare payments are scheduled to be slashed by 27 percent on March 1, and physicians will be forced to make…
Lack of trauma care remains the single most critical issue facing our state. The hard reality is that Georgia still needs a dedicated revenue stream to upgrade and expand its trauma center network. Thirty-three states have found ways to permanently fund trauma care, but our state lags behind. Here are some facts: • Georgia has…
”HIGH COURT KILLS HEALTH REFORM LAW — NOW WHAT?” In July 2012, that just might be the headline that throws the country into turmoil. Everyone is wondering whether the 26-state challenge to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will succeed. But a bigger question is: If it succeeds, then what? If the court rules…
Almost 14 years ago, I lost my oldest brother, Jim, to medical errors. Jim walked into a hospital at 2 a.m., complaining of severe chest, shoulder, neck and stomach pain — classic signs of a heart attack. But because he was only 39 years old and in seemingly excellent health, the doctors thought he was…