Health Care Weekly Columns

11/23/2003

A Medicare Showdown The House passed a deeply flawed Medicare prescription drug bill by a vote of 220-215 at 6:00am, November 22. Votes in the House usually last 15 minutes plus a traditional two minute cushion. But because the leadership did not have the votes to prevail, this vote was held open for a record two-hours-and-51-minutes as bribes and special deals were offered to convince members to vote yes.  Read More...

08/31/2003

Safe and Legal Drug Re-Importation The American consumer is innovative. Forced to pay higher and higher prices for new medications, we look for other ways. Some corporations that have promised their retirees drug coverage as well as some senior groups suggest government should increase taxes on every one to pay part of the drug costs of seniors. Some suggest pushing generic drugs (patent rights having expired) where there is more competition among the pharmaceutical companies. There are many other possibilities to lower the higher price Americans pay. However, in the meantime millions of Americans are going to Canada to purchase their prescription drugs. Congress is now trying to decide whether government should make it totally legal and implement safety precautions.   Read More...

06/29/2003

Medicare Mess The House of Representatives voted to add a prescription drug benefit to Medicare on June 27. This vote, which would be the largest expansion of our entitlement programs since 1965, is among the most significant in the time I�ve been in Congress. The bill, H.R. 1, will now go before a House-Senate conference committee before it comes back for a final vote. I, for one, am concerned about the increased debt and unfunded liability.   Read More...

11/10/2002

The Next Congress The November 5th election results have significant implications for the legislation and policy that will be implemented over the next two years. The election was historic, in terms of the unusual gains in both the House and Senate, for the president's party in a non-presidential election. Historically, these "mid-term" elections lead to losses for the president's party. In fact, the last time the president's party gained in a first mid-term election was 1934 under Franklin Roosevelt.   Read More...

03/17/2002

Cutting Dependency Too many Americans are becoming too dependent on government. By the next election, a majority of Americans will be dependent on the federal government for their health care, education, income, or retirement. Some suggest that as many as 60 percent of households receive more than $10,000 a year from government in the form of retirement, health care, welfare, and other benefits. At the same time the number of taxpayers paying for these benefits is rapidly shrinking. How can any free nation survive when a majority of its citizens, now dependent on government services, no longer have the incentive to restrain the growth of government?  Read More...

09/02/2001

Dangerous Medicine Government has taken an increasing role in health care since the creation of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965, and now pays for more than half of all health care. This gives it enormous power in the market for health care, because nearly every institution needs Medicare and Medicaid patients to remain viable. In recent years, however, government has begun to use its market power to squeeze hospitals, doctors, nursing homes and other health care providers. This is threatening institutions that are vital to our communities and will eventually reduce the quality of health care if it continues.  Read More...

07/22/2001

Putting Patients First The House of Representatives will soon debate two bills to protect patients rights. For nearly six years, we�ve worked on legislation to correct flaws in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). Passed in 1974, ERISA preempts state law to shield employers and HMOs from large lawsuits. It needs to be changed to prevent unfair treatment of patients by a few health care providers.  Read More...

10/22/2000

Responsibility and Health Care At a recent health care forum I moderated in Jackson, most agreed we have the best health care system in the world. Speakers at the forum included Tom Johnson of Albion College, Doctor Charles Veer of Hillsdale, Charles Johnson of Foote Hospital, Mark Marich of the Public Forum Institute, and Charles Kuntzleman, Chairman of the Governor's Council on Physical Fitness.  Read More...

06/18/2000

The Problem with U.S. Health Care Over the next few months one of the major debates in Congress will be over health care. For example, the House of Representatives is expected to vote on a new prescription drug benefit during the week of June 19.  Read More...

05/21/2000

Medicare and Prescription Drugs Medicare only has a very limited prescription drug benefit and, like Social Security, it's becoming more and more financially troubled.  Read More...

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