David Karaffa | Real health-care reform

Contributors

The current proposals that are presently getting attention in Washington for health-care reform are really proposals for a government health-care take over and an expansion of an already growing problem. Real health-care reform should be much different. First, it is important to understand that physicians are not permitted to negotiate their rates with patients that…

Wendy C. Wolf | Preventing breast cancer through health-care reform

Contributors

One simple test could end up saving thousands of women’s lives. Yet, for those without health insurance, the test comes too late. According to the American Cancer Society, this year alone an estimated 40,170 women will lose their lives to breast cancer. Meanwhile, it is estimated that 4,000 breast cancer deaths could be prevented just…

Webb joins group of senators calling for transparency in health-care debate

Contributors

Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) joined a group of eight Democratic senators today in calling for greater transparency and public engagement as the health-care debate moves to the Senate floor. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), Mary Landrieu (D-La.), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), and Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) also signed a letter…

Webb, Warner join effort to push redesign of Medicare

Chris Graham

Sens. Jim Webb and Mark Warner this week joined 26 of their Senate colleagues in sending a letter to the White House emphasizing that the Medicare program be redesigned to incentivize quality and value, rather than quantity, of provider services. Virginia and a number of other states have been identified as “high efficiency areas” for…

Remarks on health-care reform by Vice President Joe Biden

Contributors

To the National Association of Insurance Commissioners Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center National Harbor, Md. THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very, very much. It’s so nice to be able to speak to an important person in New Hampshire and not have to ask for his vote. (Laughter.) I’ve spent many years in New…

Willie J. Parker | Women Need Health Care Reform, Stat!

Contributors

Despite the shouting and name-calling at the town-hall meetings, I remain hopeful about health-care reform. I have no other choice. As an obstetrician-gynecologist, I spent years learning how to keep women healthy. Too often, I find myself telling patients with easily treatable conditions that I can’t help them – they don’t have the money to…

Larry Struck | Fix health care by learning from other countries

Contributors

Picture yourself with a serious health problem and no medical care. This is not difficult to imagine for anyone without health insurance or with substandard coverage. Fortunately, my partner Debra, and I were in excellent health when we departed the U.S. aboard our sailboat for a multi-year sabbatical. We left corporate and government jobs which…

Jill Hanken | Will Congress take up a health-care solution?

Contributors

As we recognize “Cover the Uninsured Week,” we can note the ever-increasing number of Americans who don’t have health insurance as well as those who can’t afford the spiraling costs of health insurance premiums and required out-of-pocket expenses. The average health insurance premiums for family coverage have skyrocketed 90 percent since 2000, leaving millions of…