In last week’s speech by President Biden, something stood out to me that was overlooked by many pundits: the president spoke of the NEED to fix sky-high health insurance deductibles immediately. It's not the sexiest topic, but here's why it matters. Many think that...
The only reason you’re reading this essay by me is because of a man named Stan Brock, – whose work inspired me to leave my old job as an insurance executive. Few people in my life have been as consequential as Stan. And he’s been even more...
The Chamber of Commerce brand is synonymous with small town pride and locally-owned businesses, but a new report reveals that these business organizations are really working for the corporate health insurance industry. The report from the Campaign for New York Health and the New...
We know that our healthcare system is broken. We need transformative solutions to fix and repair this system, but right now, we need Congress to take immediate action while millions of Americans are left with zero coverage in the middle of a global health crisis. In...
This is part two of a two-part series exploring racism as a public health crisis in Appalachia and its compounding due to COVID-19. Read part one here. As COVID-19 bore down on his community, Thomas Beavers recognized that primary among...
Racism in Healthcare is a ‘Fundamental Truth,’ and COVID-19 Has Intensified Its Impact in Appalachia
Shortly after midnight on Sept. 29, Felisha Walter assumed an identity very much at odds with the fullness of her life: statistic. Walter was a devoted mother, a chef and caterer; gracious, giving and forgiving; spiritual and kind. And when she passed away, just...
For an example of just how heartless and profit-obsessed health insurers are, take a look at what is playing out in Connecticut, where my former employer, Cigna, is based. Low income people with diabetes in Connecticut and other states are having a hard time...
A campaign cobbled together on a tight deadline required by Oklahoma’s strict referendum law, battled and won a narrow victory last Tuesday to amend the state’s constitution and mandate the expansion of Medicaid, overcoming the opposition of a Republican governor and legislature and major out-of-state funding for...
When Andrew Yang began his presidential campaign in 2017, he was relatively unknown in the mainstream political scene. A young Democrat from Schenectady, New York, he made waves when he proposed some seriously progressive ideas during his short but impactful run in the presidential primaries of 2020—one...
There are really two pandemics currently wreaking havoc across the US. Both involve the same COVID-19 virus, but while they are both terrifying and dangerous, they differ in the type of damage they are causing. One epidemic is a general contagion afflicting everyone. Even...
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...
As coronavirus infections in the US soar past the 150,000 mark, making the US epicenter a growing world-wide COVID-19 pandemic that has shut down the US economy and threatens a global recession, the Pentagon, seemingly on autopilot, continues to focus its spending on such purported national security...