Category: Public Health & Policy

Why this physician supports Medicare for all

Alexa Karsdan’s medical bill for a sore throat reached over $28,000. NPR told her story recently, but I want you to know why I am actually glad this happened. Why is it good news that her charges were so exorbitant, and that her insurance paid over twe…

Why generations need to talk to each other

The words of the year as 2019 ends appear to be “OK Boomer” and “woke.” To this Boomer, it appears that the younger generation is blaming us for all the evil in the world, from their perch of “woke” moral superiority. They consider us to be out of touc…

Obesity is America’s self-inflicted preexisting condition

Consuming too many potato latkes and Christmas cookies has left its mark on our waistlines. Unfortunately for Americans and their medical care, the seasonal overeating seems to last all year. Indeed, the American Medical Association has declared that o…

Does socialized medical care provide higher quality than private care?

Americans are not fans of socialized medicine. Sure, some people want socialized health care payment, including many people who are fans of Medicare for all. But even most Bernie Sanders supporters probably aren’t in favor of socializing the enti…

Your grocery cart on WIC

Karen smiled nervously, her swollen belly peeking out from under her stretched silver tank top. Six months pregnant with her first child, the eighteen-year-old had come to the WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) office for help with getting enough to ea…

Only Biden, Bloomberg, and Buttigieg have health plans that have a realistic chance of becoming law

In an earlier post, I pointed out that there is no better chance of passing a Medicare for all health care plan through Congress in the coming years than there was in 1977, or 1993, or 2009. Then Elizabeth Warren showed us just how politically unrealis…

Stop the war on PAs and NPs

I think it’s time for physicians to end the assault on the clinical practices of PAs and NPs. Are you worried about PAs and NPs taking your job? If you’re a good doctor, you should stop worrying. Great PAs and NPs are everywhere, and I think it’s time …

Changes are coming to health care in 2020. Are you ready?

Of the nation’s 3.5 trillion in annual health care spending, 90 percent is for people with chronic and mental health conditions. How long can this continue? Can health care institutes afford not to engage in the 2020 wave of preventative care health ca…

The president’s plan for payment parity goes against what patients want

“Listen to your patient; he is telling you the diagnosis.” This quote from famous physician William Osler is as true today as it was 100 years ago. And yet the latest version of President Trump’s executive order on Medicare threatens what patients over…

Stop penalizing physicians with pay for performance

Throughout my career, I’ve contemplated what it means to be a good doctor. While I still cannot fully articulate it, I know a good doctor when I see one. She’s the masterful diagnostician who can solve any medical mystery. He’s the ph…