I'm sick of the politics. Patients need health care reform.

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Saturday January 30, 2010 · 2:33 PM PST

2010/01/30 · 14:33

At this point it seems like everyone’s frustrated with health care reform. Liberals feel betrayed about the public option and worry that we’ll see little actual "reform." Conservatives are skeptical about the proposals’ ability to control costs, and worry that expanding public programs without stronger cost controls will leave our country further in debt. Having debated compromises, and compromises of those compromises, many of us are left wondering whether health care reform even matters anymore. Well, as an American, I am disappointed in the broken political process; as a progressive, I worry my core values of justice and equity are being undermined; but as a doctor, I cannot give up on reform.

Dr Fox

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Wednesday November 11, 2009 · 7:43 PM PST

2009/11/11 · 19:43

The fact that Goldman Sachs received the same number of doses of H1N1 vaccine as Lenox Hill hospital has been widely publicized in newspapers and on television. For those already angry with Wall Street for accepting bail out funds and then rewarding executives with excessive compensation, this is more fuel for the flames. But aside from ideological outrage, I'm not sure that the human impact is truly appreciated.

Dr Fox

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Tuesday September 15, 2009 · 10:23 PM PDT

2009/09/15 · 22:23

According to a study published yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine, 63% of doctors support expanding health insurance coverage through both private and public options. NPR reported on this survey with the headline, "poll finds most doctors support public option," and immediately elicited comment from the American Medical Association, since the organization has equivocated on support of the public option in its public statements, while the study explicitly demonstrated support for the public option among AMA members (62%).

Dr Fox

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Sunday August 30, 2009 · 10:44 AM PDT

2009/08/30 · 10:44

I've been tormented about whether to compromise on my support for single payer health insurance. It makes so much sense to me. It's popular among physicians. Six months ago national health insurance seemed popular in national polls. But we keep being told that it's "not on the table" by the six senators in the senate finance committee (whose constituents represent less than 3% of the US population), and it has failed to gain momentum.

Dr Fox

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Sunday August 16, 2009 · 1:56 PM PDT

2009/08/16 · 13:56

Wasn’t it just last year that we heard from political pundits that arugula munching Barack Obama was out of touch with average Americans. Well apparently John Mackey, CEO and co-founder of Whole Foods Market, not only shares President Obama’s concern with the price of arugula but also the price of health care in America. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed piece, he shares an eight point plan for controlling health care costs, some of which is derived from his own experience in providing health insurance for his employees. His plan includes promoting high deductable health insurance plans, deregulating health insurance markets and strengthening the individual market, and solving the problem of 46 millions uninsured Americans through charity. Well sorry, Mr. Mackey, like many of the luxury goods at Whole Foods Market, your health reform ideals are out of touch with the lives of many Americans.

Dr Fox

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Sunday June 28, 2009 · 11:13 AM PDT

2009/06/28 · 11:13

The national debate on health reform has uncovered innumerable "health care horror stories" in whichcancer patients worry more about their bills than their malignancy or where pregnant women are laid off and dropped from their insurance soon before their due date. These stories are tragic, and unconscionable for the richest country in the world, however, as a physician, this is not my typical experience. Instead, what I see every day is patients with private health insurance who cannot afford the copays for their medications, delays in treatment as I grovel for prior authorization with a non-physician utilization reviewer, and patients stuck with huge bills for routine services that they thought they were covered for.

Dr Fox

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Tuesday June 23, 2009 · 10:17 AM PDT

2009/06/23 · 10:17

In an editorial titled, "Prognosis: Debt" Fred <span>Hiatt</span> of the Washington Post expresses concern over the (misleading) 1.6 trillion dollar price tag placed on health care reform by the Congressional Budget Office, but in a way makes a compelling argument for including a public health insurance option in health reform.

Dr Fox

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Saturday June 20, 2009 · 3:10 PM PDT

2009/06/20 · 15:10

Today, in a salon.com article, Robert Reich gave some advice to President Obama on how to achieve universal health care despite the cost concerns that came up this week: make health reform a priority, utilize your popular support and don't compromise! He identifies allies (the 76% of Americans who support a public health insurance option) and opponents (Republicans, the medical-industrial complex, the AMA). And while I certainly support the approach of protecting your allies with a strong plan instead of watering things down to appease opponents, here is my advice to President Obama: you could find much more support among physicians for what you do want to do, if you were to look beyond the AMA.

Dr Fox

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Thursday June 18, 2009 · 10:49 PM PDT

2009/06/18 · 22:49

Finally, the discussion about health care rationing has moved from scare tactic of the those trying to derail health care reform to a rational discussion about priorities.

Dr Fox

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Wednesday May 20, 2009 · 8:44 AM PDT

2009/05/20 · 08:44

Whether deserving or not, President Obama’s name is now synonymous with change. However, associating the US health insurance industry with progressive change is more of a challenge. Which is why it was so surprising last week when AHIP, the industry’s trade group, signed a letter to the President committing to reduce the growth in health care expenditures and seemingly reversing its prior stance of resistance to reformhttp://query.nytimes.com/....

Despite the potential public good that the agreement could provide, it seemed strange to see the for-profit health insurance companies endorsing measures that would explicitly cut into their profits. This would have been a welcomed change from their typical profit maximizing-care minimizing calculus. However, once again, profits have proved to be more powerful than progress.

RSS

I'm sick of the politics. Patients need health care reform.

Trickle Down Vaccination

If you want to know what doctors think, don't ask the AMA

Does the "nothing less than single payer" argument hold up?

The Whole Foods Alternative: Organic Produce (and Health Insurance Reform) for those who can afford

A day in the life of a primary care physician: prior authorizations, denials, & delays in treatment

Stop using the CBO estimate to hate on the public plan!

Memo to President Obama: Look beyond the AMA!

In America, Health Care Rationing is Already Here

The Health Insurance Industry - Change We Can Believe In?