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...
By Kimberly J. Soenen Abilify, Advair, Cialis, Depakote, Enbrel, Diovan, Humira, Lantus, Lexapro, Lipitor, Nexium, Plavix, Seroquel, Singulair, Viagra, Vioxx, Xanax, Zyprexa, and other drugs have all became household names over the last three decades. Like Tampax, Frisbee, Jell-O, Xerox, Q-Tip, Saran Wrap and Kleenex, during the commercial...
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...
While Chinese manufacturing plants have been scrutinized for safety issues, American pharmaceutical companies have relied on them for sourcing cheaper ingredients for generic drugs since 2001. Now, this dependence is raising new concerns as a national security risk. Thousands of prescription drugs found in...
By Brent Korson The Most Pressing Question in America’s Fight Against Coronavirus There’s a lot to process right now, in the time of coronavirus, which means the questions to prioritize feel daunting. The one that keeps returning to the top of the list though, is...
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...
Less than a week ago, the World Health Organization finally announced the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus had reached a point of global spread that it is now officially a pandemic. Many U.S. Schools are closing until April
Last September, an emergency medical dispatch team sent drones buzzing out over the forests and roads of the Ottawa River Valley in the County of Renfrew, Ontario. On each flight a quadcopter carried a defibrillator in its belly and sought out different spots where reports from bystanders said a cardiac arrest...
Experts are warning that within two to four weeks the United States will find itself facing a full-blown pandemic caused by the COVID-19 coronavirus. We often hear mindless propaganda from conservative and liberal politicians alike declaring the the US has “the best health care...
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...
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...
The current network of health cares and doctors has prevented people with uncommon conditions and smaller hometowns to lose critical options, Trudy Lieberman writes.
We know too well the cost of American health care keeps rising as far as the eye can see. In 1995, health care accounted for 13.4 percent of GDP; in 2018, it consumed 17.7 percent. It is projected to rise even more. Despite all the talk about how they should...
In recent days, several tweets shared ominous news about the state of health insurance in the country. One tweeter said she bought an Affordable Care Act policy for a $1,200 monthly premium and a $7,500 deductible. By May, she said, she could no longer afford that premium. Another tweeter said...
Ascension Health Alliance caught some attention last month when the nation’s largest Catholic hospital system formed a partnership with Google to find and use patient data in a more efficient way. But for those who are watching Ascension’s business practices, this seems more of a practical move to cut...
If you’re buying health insurance on your own this year, the marketplace is more complicated – and dangerous – than ever. Dangerous? How can that be? This is health insurance we’re talking about, not some sketchy Internet site. But the reality is that the scam artists are out in full...
As health insurance, pharmaceutical and hospital companies fight to prevent more politicians from backing Medicare for All, the industry’s front group has turned to top Democratic consulting firms and pro-business nonprofits for help, according to its 2018 tax return. The array of consultants includes presidential candidate Joe Biden’s pollster. The...