The U.S. infant mortality rate, children who die under one year of age, rose to its highest rate in two decades in 2022, up about 3 percent to 5.6 infant deaths per 1,000 live births. At the same time, the nation’s neonatal mortality rate, infant…
Category: Policy
Health insurers are ignoring price transparency rules at the expense of private practice
Since January 1, 2023, the Transparency in Coverage Rule required health insurance providers and health insurers to provide price information to participants in a publicly accessible place. This means consumers should, in theory, be able to go to any p…
911 call turned deadly: It’s time we invest in our community
“Shoot! Shoot in the heart,” local Miami resident Donald Armstrong screamed while waving around a screwdriver on his front porch during the peak of a mental health episode. Despite pleas from his mother not to kill her son, Armstrong was ta…
Uncovering health care’s true challenges: beyond doctor-patient dynamics
There are frequent accusations against physicians and other health care professionals regarding their behavior and/or education: they cannot communicate, are misogynist, racist, and ageist, and are poorly educated, despite American physicians training …
Harnessing U.S. health care’s resources to navigate the next decade
American health care faces persistent issues with consolidation, workforce shortages, integration of new technologies, and unrelenting economic pressure. In 2023, technologies such as clinical decision support (CDS) and other artificial intelligence (A…
The Supreme Court must consider science, not pseudo-science, in public health rulings
Measles is on the rise in more than a dozen states, an alarming surge for a vaccine-preventable disease eliminated in the United States nearly 25 years ago. Meanwhile, young women exposed to relentless unscientific deception by social media algorithms …
Medicine is not apolitical: Your vote dictates your ability to practice medicine
It’s Wednesday, March 6th, 2024. The day after Super Tuesday. I am sitting in the library, taking a break from writing a final paper for my health economics class, when I see a Politico article: “San Francisco’s Proposition F passed.&…
Do they care if women die? Exploring women’s rights.
I was faced with a stark question—one that, though I have spoken openly about women’s rights, somehow I had not distilled into the succinct question posed by a coming-of-age woman living and attempting to digest our country’s policies. Simply put: R…
Chiefs fan to gun violence advocate: How football and tragedy reshaped my mission
Those who know me well and even those who don’t are aware of my passion and commitment to the Kansas City Chiefs. As an avid fan who was born and raised in KC, I can assure everyone that there were many dark years and even decades prior to the cu…
Truth be told: We have a leadership crisis, not a health care crisis
In the annals of history, the transformative impact of a few courageous leaders has left an indelible mark, altering the course of nations and reshaping the face of societies. From the visionary leadership of figures like Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mand…
