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(Domestic Health, Sept 11, 2012)
It’s a fraught question, but unless we move beyond caricatured “death panels” and deal with grim realities thoughtfully and responsibly, we’re all in trouble.
How do you envision death with dignity? I like to think of being at home in the comforting and supportive environment of family and friends. But the odds are that neither you nor I will leave this world as we might wish — unless policymakers change course.
End-of-life care is perhaps one of the...
read more(Domestic Health, 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, the politicians listened to lobbyists, policy wonks, academics, health theorists, regulators, and occasionally to each other. But they failed to listen to the people...
read more(Domestic Health, 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 and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), the private and public sectors can now turn to implementation, along with natural and needed shaping and modification of the underlying policy along the...
read more(Global Health, 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 of ice cream — it seems our elected leaders must disagree at every turn. But one issue that has so far repulsed the partisan pressures of the times was highlighted in...
read moreLargely 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 panels.” When challenged in court, everyone debated the individual mandate. After last month’s Supreme Court decision, the conversation has now switched to Medicaid. During all of this, however, we have largely ignored what is perhaps the most...
read more(Global Health, 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 massive earthquake shook Haiti, more than 200,000 people died and nearly $8 billion worth of damage was done. Homes, businesses, schools and hospitals crumbled, all in a country already experiencing...
(Domestic Health, 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 to YOU, and just you. It means your individual health interventions — prevention, diagnosis and treatment — are custom-tailored specifically for you. Our...
read moreFar too many U.S. teens leave high school unprepared for college — not to mention the job market
posted on July 3, 2012
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 applauded.
Unfortunately, for many of those students, that diploma represents a false promise.
Recent data from the ACT, Inc. shows that only 25 percent of high school students who take the test are college-ready in all...
read moreThe 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.
Posted on June 19, 2012
As I visit health programs in far off corners of the world and right here at home, the most impressive part of any hospital or clinic is the health workers themselves — the hands behind the health care that is provided to mothers and newborns, to children and the elderly, to teens and adults to prevent and treat illness....
read moreThe 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
posted on May 22, 2012
In ancient history, eating was for survival. Food was tough to come by and we consumed what we needed. Food was a necessity. In today’s America, it is an addiction.
Much of the conventional wisdom about obesity, including what your doctor has probably told you, is wrong. My fellow doctors, for the...
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