An Appalachian physician explains how health care system mergers result in staff layoffs and have negative effects on his community’s economy.
Propagandists are trying to force Congress and voters to make fear-based choices about health care.
By Brent Korson As the PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) shortage crisis strikes the country, New York remains the hardest hit. To convey the scale, Mayor Bill De Blasio’s team wrote us last week, “To give a sense of the sheer magnitude, The City of New...
When you buy an overpriced medicine at the pharmacy, a complex network of players has taken a quiet cut. They aim to keep it that way.
When most Americans think of the rights and principles that our country was founded on, we refer to the ideals of freedom, prosperity, and the pursuit of happiness written in the Declaration of Independence. However, have our political institutions evolved from this 18th century premise? When we...
Wendell Potter A word to the wise: During this coronavirus crisis, keep an eye on every move of my old industry: health insurers. Behind the PR spin, they’ll be doing everything they can to deny care and maintain profits while making it look...
Studies show life expectancy in the United States is going down while it continues to go up in other developed countries.
The new corporate media and conservative Democratic argument against front-runner Bernie Sanders’ eminently logical proposal for creating a single-payer government health insurance program that he calls “Medicare for All” is that it would destroy the huge health insurance industry and put 1.8 million insurance industry employees out...
Seventy-five percent of Democrats support “Medicare for all.” But the American health care industry appears to have pushed Democratic leaders away from backing House candidates who would support universal public health insurance. This backhanded approach occurs as key lobbies for the industry have united in opposition to single-payer with...
Look at the front page of any newspaper and you can’t help but be affected by the scenes of suffering and tragedy coming out of Ukraine. Turn to the business pages, however, and you will find this cloud’s silver lining. On 25 February, the day after the Russian invasion,...
The Food and Drug Administration is stopping more packages at the border. Many are ordered by Americans trying to save money on medications.
Part of the planning process before entering into a military engagement is called “shaping the battlefield.” It’s a strategic maneuver that aims to create a warfighting environment in which your strengths are optimized and your weaknesses are mitigated. With the election of Joe Biden as President, it...
Now that the Russian onslaught of Ukraine has escalated from incursion to all-out war, many pundits will be claiming “I told you so,” or “we saw this coming a mile away.” Perhaps some of these people had the clairvoyance or insight to be able to make these claims now,...
David Lichtenstein A new treatment could extend David’s life by 33%. But he can’t afford to take it. David Lichtenstein has ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, and likely has only 3 to 5 years to live. This summer, the FDA approved a new treatment called Redicava that could extend...
A retired Tennessee physician and professor watches his state shred the medical safety net of his state. Just when I thought things couldn’t get much worse for the TennCare program, they did. (TennCare is Tennessee’s Medicaid managed care program.) First, Medicaid has not been expanded under the Affordable Care Act in...
As insurance companies push doctors to save money by switching their patients to generic drugs, complaints about those generics appear to be on the upswing. That’s the observation of journalist Katherine Eban, who has written a book, “Bottle of Lies,” that tells a very dark tale about...
Both American political parties recently concluded their national conventions on the eve of an election that may be one of the most critical in history, not just for the United States, but for the world. In normal times – meaning the good ole days when only a...
I’d like to introduce you to a couple of former colleagues of mine who played key roles in making sure you pay a lot out of your own pocket before your coverage kicks in. Meet David Cordani, CEO of Cigna, and Karen Lynch, CEO of CVS Health, which now owns...
Harris's plan won't work and history will prove it.