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Health Care

Health Reform Question of the Week: When will protections for those of us with pre-existing conditions kick in?

November 18, 2010
Question: I currently have a pre-existing condition. When will insurance companies be prohibited from denying coverage and charging exorbitant premiums to people with pre-existing conditions? Answer: An end to insurance company discrimination against adults with pre-existing conditions will be...

Show Me the Mandate

November 12, 2010
Despite millions of dollars being poured into anti-health reform advertisements and mailings, the poll did not find a mandate for action one way or another. The poll also found that several key provisions of the Affordable Care Act remain very popular, even among those who support repeal of all or parts of the law.
Say Ahhh's picture

U.S. Medical Culture Must Transform, says AAMC President

November 11, 2010
Darrell G. Kirch, M.D., President of the Association of American Medical Colleges, called for American medical schools to lead a transformation of American medicine, during a speech given at the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine convention, Thursday, Nov. 11, 2010 in Marco Island, Florida. “This...
Dora Calott Wang's picture

Get the FACTS on Fast Food

November 8, 2010
Today, the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity at Yale University released Fast Food FACTS , a comprehensive study of fast-food nutrition and marketing to youths. There are a couple of findings that are particularly striking to me—as a mom, as a doctor and as someone who’s working to improve...

Question of the Week: Will I have to pay taxes on my family's health insurance?

November 4, 2010
Health Reform Question of the Week: I have heard that beginning in January 2011, I will have to pay taxes on my family’s health insurance, which I now obtain tax-free through my employer. My family and I are proud to pay our fair share of taxes, but our budget is already tight and we have little...

Give Pundits a Time Out!

November 4, 2010
Political pundits are spinning away in the wake of the elections, making guesses about what the election results say about the will of the voters. But it's too critical a time for our country to let the paid pundits have the last word. Moms (and dads!) know more than any political pundit about what...
Kristin's picture

The Ballot Box and Health

November 2, 2010
The 18th biannual Institute of Politics survey is out. It reports that Millenials (18-29 year olds) are significantly less enthusiastic about the electoral process now than they were just nine months ago. Only 35 percent of students report that they will definitely express themselves when 100...

ELECTION 2010: Governor Schwarzenegger's Legacy--Successful “welfare to work” program to ineffective “work to welfare program”

October 28, 2010
The lives of low-income working mothers and children are hanging in the balance with California Governor’s economically irresponsible and morally reprehensible line-item veto to eliminate the Stage 3 child care program . Despite having a bi-partisan “hand shake deal” that would have protected child...

Really, IRS? Agency doesn't recognize breastfeeding as form of preventive medicine

October 28, 2010
In my year-plus of writing for the Scope blog at Stanford's School of Medicine, and in my numerous years of covering medical and health issues before that, few things have enraged me as much as something I encountered in yesterday's New York Times . But David Kocieniewski, if you're reading, it's...

Insurers View Pregnancy as Pre-Existing Condition

October 24, 2010
An investigation conducted by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce confirmed that major insurers consider pregnancy to be a pre-existing condition that would result in an automatic denial of coverage, and that insurers typically exclude maternity coverage from the plans they offer individuals who are not pregnant.
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