Articles

Personalized Medicine

(The Hill, July 10, 2012) It’s time to think of health in a disruptive way. Policy must set the enabling landscape, but the truly dramatic and the transformative will come from the exploding but still very young field of personalized medicine. All healthcare is local, and all health is personal. Personalized medicine is healthcare targeted…

What my doctor thinks of Obamacare?

(The Week, August 29, 2012) Lawmakers in D.C. may truly be committed to improving America’s health-care system. But according to actual physicians, our leaders are going about it all wrong Want real health reform that is in the interest of you and your family? Don’t make the same mistake that Washington did. In formulating ObamaCare,…

Need for Affordable Care Cuts Across Party Lines

(The Hill, August 1, 2012) Need for affordable care cuts across party lines By Tom Daschle and Bill Frist On June 28, 2012, the Supreme Court issued a decision that affects the health and well-being of every American, as well as the fiscal future of our nation. By affirming the constitutionality of the Patient Protection…

Is AIDS the last bipartisan issue?

(The Week, July 31) These days, Washington can’t agree on anything. Thankfully, though, some brave lawmakers are still willing to cross the aisle to fight a deadly disease. We live in fiercely contentious times. Every day, it seems, a new issue arises that Democrats and Republicans cannot agree on. Health care, taxes, energy, favorite flavor…

Why both parties should embrace ObamaCare’s state exchanges

(The Week, July 18, 2012) By Bill Frist, M.D. Largely lost in the fight over ObamaCare is a worthy provision that lets states develop insurance systems that are right for them — but they must act soon. When the new health care reform law was being debated in 2009 and 2010, everyone talked about “death…

Helping Haiti Build Back Better

(The Washington Times, July 13, 2012) As a board member of the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, I traveled to Haiti last month to check on the post-earthquake progress being made through the fund’s projects. What I saw confirms that developmental aid can have a greater impact than the humanitarian aid most people know. Moments after…

The Crucial Need to Hold Students to a Higher Standard

(The Week, posted on July 3, 2012) By Bill Frist, M.D. Far too many U.S. teens leave high school unprepared for college — not to mention the job market Over the last few months, hundreds of thousands of high school seniors have walked across a stage and received a diploma, an important moment that should be…

The world needs more health-care workers — millions more

(The Week, Posted on June 19, 2012) By Bill Frist, M.D. The most impressive part of any hospital or health clinic is the caring, skilled employees who prevent and treat illness. But the workforce we have is not enough.   As I visit health programs in far off corners of the world and right here…

America must invest in research universities — or get left behind

(The Week, June 5, 2012) By Bill Frist, M.D. Gone are the days when Bell Labs was the nation’s prime innovator. Today, we must rely on universities — and those universities need our help Innovation gave birth to Microsoft, FedEx, Xerox, Starbucks, Apple, and thousands more businesses that have powered America’s growth, making us the…

How to wean America from its dangerous food addiction

(The Week, posted on May 22, 2012 ) By Bill Frist, M.D. The nation’s obesity epidemic is as much about brain chemistry as it is poor diet and laziness — a fact we must realize if we’re going to treat obesity effectively In ancient history, eating was for survival. Food was tough to come by…

How Facebook is reinventing organ donation

(The Week, Posted on May 8, 2012) By Bill Frist, M.D. Thousands of Americans die each year waiting for heart, lung, and kidney transplants that never materialize. Mark Zuckerberg is intent on changing that What do you use Facebook for? To keep up with friends, share pictures of your kids, or pass around the latest…

5 reasons deficit hawks should lay off global health initiatives

(The Week, April 24, 2012) By Bill Frist, M.D. America’s national debt is ballooning at a worryingly rapid pace. But some programs ought to be spared the chopping block. Government spending is about to get chopped — no matter who wins the next presidential election. President Obama and his GOP challenger Mitt Romney have both…

How the U.S. Can Find and Train More Great Teachers

(The Week, April 10, 2012) By Bill Frist, M.D. Consider Laura. When she entered the third grade, she couldn’t understand the stories all her friends enjoyed. She was even too embarrassed to read aloud. Why? She could only read at a first grade level. Laura’s hardly alone — but that’s small comfort. A recent study…

Premium Support is the Only Way to Fix America’s Medicare Mess

(The Week, March 27, 2012) By Bill Frist, M.D. To save Medicare — and rein in our national debt — we must transform the entitlement program into a defined-contribution system Nothing is scarier than losing your health. A close second, however, is getting sick and not being able to afford the care you need. For…

How the Supreme Court’s ‘ObamaCare’ ruling will affect you

(The Week, March 13, 2012) By Bill Frist, M.D. The nation’s highest court is about to judge the president’s signature legislative achievement — and it’s not just politicians who are invested in the outcome. Is the new health care law constitutional? You might think it doesn’t matter — or at least, that it doesn’t matter…

3 ways to fix America’s child poverty problem

(The Week, February 28, 2012) By Bill Frist, M.D. One in five American children suffers through extreme financial hardship. It doesn’t have to be that way Americans hear a lot about decline. Declines in manufacturing, fading productivity, plummeting home values, spiralling deficits, and sadly, dwindling faith in the American dream. Let me tell you where…

What Childhood Poverty Means

(Huffington Post, February 3, 2012) By Bill Frist, M.D. This post is part of a series on childhood poverty in the United States in partnership with Save the Children and Julianne Moore. Moore leads the organization’s Valentine’s Day campaign, through which cards are sold to support the fight against poverty in the U.S. To learn…

Tennessee Tenure Reform

Tennessee SCORE

Health As A Currency For Peace

Senator Paul Simon Water for the World Act 2010

Sri Lanka Tsunami

Hurricane Katrina

Haiti Earthquake

Hope Through Healing Hands Water PSA

Frist Back From Haiti

University of Alabama – Health Care Reform Summit

Childhood Obesity

Bill Frist on Morning Meeting w/ Dylan Ratigan

Frist on Health Care Reform

American Morning -Health bill- A First Step

Larry King Live / Dean, Frist spar over summit

The Greatness of America

Portrait Two

Portrait One

Sen. Frist in Africa

Sen. Frist Water

Sen. Frist on Mission

Sen. Frist

Importance of K-12 Education

I was asked yesterday about education reform, specifically charter schools and vouchers. However, I used the opportunity to talk about some of the big issues in K-12 education and how important it is to the greatness of America. Take a look… The Greatness Of America from Bill Frist on Vimeo.

Looking Back On The Portrait Unveiling

Norman Shumway was smart. Peering over the open chest cavity — a flabby and worthless heart just lifted out and my mentor knowingly guiding my then novice hands as we sewed in a healthy heart — he would say: “Remember … whatever you’re doing at a moment’s time, you never own it.  You are… always……

Meeting With GE Foundation in Cambodia

I had a wonderful meeting today in Pnom Penh with Dararith Lim, health executive for General Electric who oversees the GE Healthymagination initiative for the underserved in Cambodia. I have been on the advisory board for the Healthymagination initiative for the past couple of years, exploring the opportunities that American technology, initiative, and business can…

Tour of the new URS-designed Caterpillar plant

I sit on the board of the giant engineering company URS, so today Karyn, Bryan and I toured the new URS-designed Caterpillar plant in Suzhou, China. Very impressive. 72,000 sq./m, LEED Gold certified factory of front-loaders (and corporate office). Took only 14 months to complete. URS recently acquired Scott Wilson, a London-based, global engineering firm….

Refugees International Gala

05.07.10 This past evening, I attended to the 31st Annual Refugees International Gala at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium with many former Senate colleagues and advocates for those displaced by crisis or conflict. At the gala, I was honored to receive the McCall-Pierpaoli Humanitarian Award, which was named in the honor and memory of Penny…

Nashville Flooding and What You Can Do

The numbers from the flooding in Nashville continue to astound. Twenty-one people have died in Tennessee and thousands of people have been driven from their homes. The pictures that are continuing to come in show the level of devastation in Middle Tennessee, and many families are just now being able to get back and see…

SCORE Joins Highlands Town Hall Debate 2010

COOKEVILLE — The Highlands, Nashville’s WTVF NewsChannel5, Tennessee Tech University, and the League of Women Voters of Tennessee today announced that the State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) is joining as a sponsor in the Highlands Town Hall Debate 2010, a general-election gubernatorial debate scheduled for September 14 at TTU in Cookeville. SCORE, a not-for-profit,…

BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Pledges $500k to SCORE

BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee today announced a $500,000 contribution to advance K-12 public education reform — and better health outcomes — in partnership with the State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE), founded by former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. “BlueCross BlueShield has a history of supporting promising community work across Tennessee, especially when it…

CGIU Student Grant Competition Extended to April 30

There is exciting and timely news for students looking to make a direct impact in the world. Each year, the Clinton Global Initiative’s CGI U sponsors a competitive grant program called the Outstanding Commitment Awards. These grants are given to students who submit proposals for “Commitments to Action” that are aimed at improving communities and…

Frist Op-Ed in USA Today: “Race to the Top swiftly changes education dynamic”

NASHVILLE — Something remarkable is happening in American public education. In a matter of months, the Obama administration’s Race to the Top competition engineered the kind of wholesale reform that ordinarily would take a generation to pull off. Ideas once considered to be the realm of conservative education policy are seeing a refreshing bipartisan embrace….

Frist’s Statement on Race To The Top.

NASHVILLE – Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who chairs the education-reform group Tennessee SCORE, on March 4 issued this statement following news that Tennessee is a finalist in the federal government’s groundbreaking Race to the Top competition: “Tennessee’s spot as a finalist confirms what we’ve known: The Volunteer State is poised to move…

Frist Statement on Race to the Top

NASHVILLE — Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who chairs the education-reform group Tennessee SCORE, today issued this statement following news that Tennessee is a finalist in the federal government’s groundbreaking Race to the Top competition: “Tennessee’s spot as a finalist confirms what we’ve known:  The Volunteer State is poised to move farther, faster in public education reform…

Special Session Presents Once-in-a-Lifetime Opportunity

By: Sen. Bill Frist, M.D. In my 12 years of service to Tennesseans in the United States Senate, I learned that progress often comes from taking advantage of moments when the stars align around a specific goal.  In Tennessee, one of those moments is upon us, as for the first time in over 25 years…

Bill Frist Receives 2011 NBAA Humanitarian Award

Bill Frist Receives 2011 NBAA Humanitarian Award from Bill Frist on Vimeo.   Bill Frist Flies Missions Worldwide to Help Those in Need Esteemed doctor, pilot and former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has been awarded the National Business Aviation Association’s (NBAA’s) 2011 Al Ueltschi Award for Humanitarian Leadership in recognition of his life-saving efforts…

Frist Visits Refugee Camp in East Africa

This week I traveled with Second Lady Dr. Jill Biden to refugee camps in eastern Kenya along the Somali border to witness the impact of the most acute food security emergency on earth.We need your help, and your help I promise will make a difference. Yesterday we visited intake centers just on the border where…

Sen. Frist heads to Kenya to study famine’s effects

More than 29,000 young children have died of malnutrition and disease in Somalia in the past 90 days. We are now on our way to the Horn of Africa to see what more we as a nation can do. Early this morning, our plane left Washington, D.C., bound for East Africa. I’m flying with Second Lady…

East Africa – “The Children’s Famine”

As I write this, East Africa is in turmoil. Roughly 12 millions people, almost 5 million of which are children, along the Horn of Africa are experiencing the worst drought in sixty years. Tens of thousands have already died and millions more are at risk, especially children, who are dying at such a rate this…

Tennessee Global Health Coalition PSA and Recap

On Monday, Hope Through Healing Hands partnered with the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health to put on a Summer Social for the Tennessee Global Health Coalition. Global Health Coalition PSA from Bill Frist on Vimeo.

Mother-and-child health challenges persist globally

This Mother’s Day, moms in Tennessee and around the world have more to celebrate than ever before. Infant mortality rates are declining in many communities and many countries. Yet even today, where a woman gives birth determines dramatically different odds of survival for her child. We can, and must, change that. A baby in Shelby…

Medicine Serves as a Currency for Peace

Just eight years ago, fewer than 50,000 HIV-positive people in Africa had access to the medicines needed to live. Today, through American-created and -supported programs, almost 4 million people are being treated for as little as 40 cents a day. They are raising their children, building their communities, farming the land and inventing new technologies;…

Frist’s Foreword to the 2011 State of the World’s Mothers Report.

“Working together with developed and developing country partners, we reduced the total number of under-5 deaths worldwide by more than one-third in less than two decades.” When children in developing countries die, we all mourn this loss of life, especially when we know that most of these deaths could have been easily prevented. We are…

Can Africa Make The Cut?

by Raynard Jackson Whenever the U.S. government enters into a state of fiscal austerity, politicians always look for budget cuts from programs they deem to be less important or have little or no constituency. Foreign policy budgets, especially those directed towards Africa seem to always show up near the top of that list. The left…

Using Health as a Currency for Peace

I just had this video made introducing my message of using Health as a Currency for Peace and thought I’d share it with you. Health As A Currency For Peace from Bill Frist on Vimeo.

Clinton Bush Haiti Fund: Inveneo Project

See how the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund’s grant to Inveneo is empowering rural and underserved communities in Haiti with information and communications technologies. Their grant will accelerate the development of sustainable, high-speed wireless broadband connectivity to 20 population centers in six rural regions across Haiti, which will in turn stimulate economic growth and support decentralization…

Clinton Bush Haiti Fund: YouthBuild IDEJEN Project

See how the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund’s grant to YouthBuild International, partnering with IDEJEN, will put young people back to work in Haiti and give them the skills necessary to rebuild their country. The centers will serve at-risk youth (ages 16–28) by providing them with vocational training in construction and leadership skills for the future….

Clinton Bush Haiti Fund: Artisans in Jacmel

See how money from the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund has provided sales and marketing support for local artisans. Their funds also helped these local business people rebuild their workshops, damaged during the earthquake. Through our support, artisans were able to complete their order to Macy’s for its exclusive “Heart of Haiti” collection, inspired by the…

Conversation: Exploring Global Health

Tuesday night I was in New York at an event for Harvard Medical School, “Conversation: Exploring Global Health.” Moderated by 60 Minutes’ Byron Pitts, the event was a conversation about the history and direction of global health with Dr. Paul Farmer, who among other things leads the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at…

Clinton Bush Haiti Fund Update

In the ten months since the catastrophic earthquake, the Haitian people have been working towards rebuilding and recovering. But now, a devastating cholera epidemic is spreading, threatening progress. The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund is dedicated to funding initiatives that create jobs, teach skills, and assist local businesses. With programs that promote economic opportunity for all…

UPDATE: Haiti Cholera Outbreak

I write to you today a little more optimistic than my last post on the developing disaster in Haiti. I will be keeping on top of the situation there and encourage you to stop by to read updates on my personal website, BillFrist.com. This weekend, I urgently emailed around the medical community, searching for desperately…

Haiti Cholera Outbreak

As the cholera outbreak continues to ravage through Haiti, killing hundreds and inciting terror and riots throughout the country, I’m afraid I may have more bad news. It has come to my attention today that the cholera outbreak is being vastly underreported and underestimated. My sources on the ground in Haiti have estimated that the…

Senator Frist on the Childhood Obesity Epidemic

Why is ending childhood obesity such an important issue for you? Why is ending childhood obesity such an important issue for you? from Bill Frist on Vimeo. What is the private sector’s role? What is the private sector’s role? from Bill Frist on Vimeo. Why should the private sector care about childhood obesity? Why should…

Senator Frist’s Recommended Changes to US Health Care

I sat down with the Alliance for Health Reform earlier this year and talked about some necessary changes and helpful ideas for the future of healthcare reform. Watch the videos below to see my thoughts on the big changes needed to US health care and especially the need to support primary care. Sen. Bill Frist’s…

Private sector must join in fight against child obesity

More than one-fifth of preschool children are overweight or obese. That’s 20 percent of kids 5 years old and younger who are already on track for chronic health problems such as cancer, type 2 diabetes and heart disease before their first day of kindergarten. That’s more than 4 million toddlers already queued up for health…

America’s Greatness and “Real” Healthcare Reform

  By William H. Frist, MD, Former US Senate Majority Leader, and Ejaz Elahi, Dresner Partners Introduction. In this article, we review the current state of the healthcare landscape, the fundamental causes of how we got here, and the legislative response. In addition, we offer a view to the likely future direction of the healthcare…

University of Alabama – Health Care Reform Summit

I spoke last Thursday, February 17th, at the Health Care Reform Summit hosted by the University of Alabama Business School. Here is my full talk on the scope and intent of Obamacare, a little “inside baseball” on the passage of the bill, and the way forward. University of Alabama – Health Care Reform Summit from…

In Case You Missed It… RealClearPolitics : Newsmaker Interview with Bill Frist

RCP: Republican candidates are pledging to repeal the health care bill, and with your background in medicine and also as a leader in the Senate acutely aware of policy-making, what’s the best way for Republicans to proceed? Frist: Republicans will not repeal the fundamentals of the new law. Because of the law’s unpopularity with so…

Health care, education, and places to go, things to do

The federal health care law has a lot in common with TennCare, says former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. “They both began with a benefit package that was very rich and had no effective cost controls or cost accountability in the system,” Frist said during a recent conversation in Washington. There are elements within…

Frist Named As Vice Chair For First Lady Michelle Obama’s Childhood Obesity Foundation

Partnership for a Healthier America Expands Leadership, Naming Board of Directors and Honorary Vice Chairs Sen. Frist, Mayor Booker Join First Lady Michelle Obama as Honorary Leaders of Childhood Obesity Foundation Nine-Member Board of Directors Brings Vast Array of Experience and Expertise to Support Partnership, Guide its Activities Washington, DC – The Partnership for a Healthier…

Frist Reacts to Health Care Overhaul

With Congress passing the Health Care Reform Bill last night, Senator Frist has been doing several interviews discussing his take on the bill and what it means for this country. Here is Senator Frist’s interview on CNBC about the Health Care Reform Bill.

Frist / Breaux Op-Ed in Politico

(Politico, March 19, 2010) By Sen. Bill Frist, M.D. and Sen. John Breaux Though we come from different political backgrounds and disagree on key aspects of health-care reform, we share a deep concern about provisions of proposed legislation that would establish a super-powerful board to dictate the future of Medicare. While the new entity, an…

Senator Frist Discusses Health Reform on TV

Senator Frist has been on TV lately discussing the recent Health Care Summit.  Here is the link to watch Senator Frist on Charlie Rose, on 2/25/10.  Below is his appearance on Larry King Live.

A Historic and Dangerous Senate Mistake

By Bill Frist Published: February 26, 2010 Using ‘reconciliation’ to ram through health reform would only deepen partisan passions. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has announced that while Democrats have a number of options to complete health-care legislation, he may use the budget reconciliation process to do so. This would be an unprecedented, dangerous and…

Sen. Frist in The New York Times: How the G.O.P. Can Fix Health Care

In a bid to reopen the debate over health care reform, President Obama has arranged a televised bipartisan meeting this Thursday. Republican leaders in Congress have been invited to bring their best ideas for slowing the growth of health care expenditures and expanding the number of insured Americans. The Op-Ed editors asked five conservative thinkers…

Don’t Give Up on Healthcare in 2010

Americans have once again demonstrated when it comes to health reform, they are most comfortable with incremental, not comprehensive, policy changes. With an increasingly distrustful public, a real-dollar price tag of over $2 trillion, policies that fail to address out-of-control cost escalation and a federal debt that is projected to grow from $12.3 to $21…

Met the new Girl Scouts CEO

About to Tape a CNN Interview

Everyday Life in Somalia

Helping in Haiti

East Africa – The Children’s Famine

As I write this, East Africa is in turmoil. Roughly 12 millions people, almost 5 million of which are children, along the Horn of Africa are experiencing the worst drought in sixty years. Tens of thousands have already died and millions more are at risk, especially children, who are dying at such a rate this…

TN SCORE Summit Recap

Hosted at beautiful David Lipscomb University in Nashville, the Summit gathered together over 500 stakeholders from around the South for two days of panel discussions, breakout sessions, networking, and informal conversations all based on improving rural education and communities. Session topics included using technology to improve student achievement, strategies for improving high school graduation and…

SCORE is used as Case Study in National Report

03.26.10 Tennessee SCORE is a case study in a new Policy Innovators in Education (PIE) Network report, “The Race to Reform: How Education Reform Advocates are Leveraging Race to the Top,” which tells the stories of state advocacy groups with an “outsized” impact on public education policy. The report opens with a description of SCORE and the collaborative…