Safety Net Under Siege

Safety Net Under Siege

Peace of mind. That’s what Medicare and Medicaid mean for nearly one in every three Americans. Almost 50 million Americans have paid into, and are beneficiaries of Medicare, our national health insurance program for seniors and people with disabilities. And...
Romney Runs away from his Running Mate

Romney Runs away from his Running Mate

Poor Paul Ryan — he successfully rammed a budget bill through the U.S. House of Representatives that gutted Medicare, thus earning him the undying adulation of the far-right Republican fringe, whose unrestrained enthusiasm for him compelled Mitt Romney to name...
Corporations Score another Supreme Court Victory

Corporations Score another Supreme Court Victory

As a physician, I find it very odd that the debate over the Affordable Care Act has focused on the effect the law will have on the presidential election rather than the impact it will have on patients, health professionals, and health outcomes. The Supreme Court case...
Ryan’s Medicare Hot Air

Ryan’s Medicare Hot Air

There’s a scary graph in Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan’s new budget blueprint that shows the federal government’s “unfunded promises” rising from $76.4 trillion in 2010 to $99.6 trillion in 2011. That’s $23.2 trillion in just one year....
Our Health Care Racket

Our Health Care Racket

Patients pay me Well indeed; Getting tests That they don’t need. In most countries, health care is aimed at curing the sick. Here, not so much. In the United States, health care is a profit center, one of our nation’s few growth industries. Young people...