Category: Policy

Chronic health issues and homelessness

In 2022, over 500,000 people in the United States found themselves homeless, without a permanent shelter to offer a sense of stability in their lives. This poses a far-reaching problem for the individuals who find themselves in this situation, but also…

The impact of certificate of need laws on rural health care

Rural communities have a problem. Their health care options continue to shrink, as medical facilities close or consolidate. The trend has accelerated in recent years, but Westfield Memorial Hospital in Western New York wants to expand. The tiny facilit…

Don’t disrupt success in Medicare

Each year, Congress goes through its annual budget process to determine how to spend more than $6 trillion on America’s priorities. This year, as part of the discussions on how to spend Medicare’s $900 billion budget, we are being told the Medicare Tru…

Transparency, not charity: a real solution to America’s medical debt crisis

A recent act of kindness from Trinity Moravian Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, has gone viral for its creative method of tackling medical debt. It involves the church paying off $3.3 million in medical debt belonging to 3,355 local families – …

Lawmakers Can’t Let Single-Payer Health Care Cross The Border—Or The Pond

Single-payer systems create unlimited demand for finite goods and services. This causes massive backlogs and leaves patients stuck waiting for medical care.

“System-ness”: the key to successful health care transformation

Value-based health care, the holy grail of American medicine, has three parts: excellent clinical quality, convenient access, and affordability for all. And as with the holy grail of medieval legend, the quest for value-based care has been filled with …

Physicians divided: SCOTUS affirmative action ban sparks debate

The fallout from the recent decision of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) to ban racially conscious admissions at Harvard and The University of North Carolina has had major repercussions throughout the medical profession. I would say that…

Despite Democrats’ Celebratory Mood, It’s A Sad Day For American Patients.

In the not-too-distant future, people of all ages may look back and rue this day—as the beginning of the end of America’s medical golden age.

The burden of bullets: Leadership needs to treat gun violence as a public health issue

Regular mass shootings are a uniquely American phenomenon. The United States is the only developed country where mass shootings have happened every year for the past 20 years, according to Jason R. Silva, an assistant sociology and criminal justice pro…

The high “cost” of waste in U.S. health care, and what we can do about it

A guest column by the American Society of Anesthesiologists, exclusive to KevinMD.com. The U.S. spends the largest amount of money on health care in the world – around $4.3 trillion annually. However, an estimated 20% to 30% of this is wasted, with no …