Home >> United States & Canada Social Security & Health The High Cost of Health Care Reform
Prof. Peter Morici - 11/20/2009
Americans are rightfully dissatisfied with the high cost of health care and the rough treatment they receive from private insurers, but the reforms Democrats in Congress are cooking up will only make things worse How Obama Could Win Big on Health Care
Prof. Peter Morici - 9/1/2009
Health care reform is in trouble but with adjustments, President Obama could win big. With several bills moving through the House, the elements of his preferred approach are clear. Universal Coverage and Community Ratings—everyone plays and pays what they can, and insurers can’t charge higher premiums for preexisting conditions or cancel policyholders. Among the 46 million uninsured, many buy policies only when they anticipate major expenses, making coverage unaffordable for others seeking permanent insurance. Those reforms would fix that. Blue Dogs, Health Care and the Devil
Prof. Peter Morici - 8/21/2009
If Daniel Webster were alive, the Blue Dogs in the House of Representatives would do well to seek his counsel. On health care, these conservative-leaning lawmakers are caught between the public trust and the devil. Health Care Reform and the Divine Right of Kings
Prof. Peter Morici - 8/19/2009
President Obama and congressional Democrats have failed to convince the American people their reforms will improve the national health care system. The President’s Health Care Pitch
Prof. Peter Morici - 7/27/2009
On health care and other critical issues, President Obama continues to purposefully confuse the debate. He presents choices as either his way or the failed ways of the past—no other solutions are possible. That is silly. Health Care and President Obama’s Sinking Approval Ratings
Prof. Peter Morici - 7/27/2009
President Obama’s approval ratings are falling, and on critical issues like health care, those are falling below 50 percent. Simply, the president has not been honest with Americans and is getting caught at it by the Congressional Budget Office. Health Care Reform and My Expensive Education in Economics
Prof. Peter Morici - 7/27/2009
America’s health care system is broken, but President Obama inspires little confidence with his fix. Health care absorbs 18 percent of GDP—about 50 percent more than in other wealthy countries. Prices are too high and are a terrible burden on jobs creation. Health care: America can learn lessons from abroad
Prof. Peter Morici - 6/4/2009
American health care is broken. At 16 percent, the United States spends a much larger share of GDP on health care than Western European economies. Yet the United States has about 45 million uninsured, while its peers do not. Fixing Health Care
Prof. Peter Morici - 5/19/2009
American health care is broken. At 16 percent, the United States spends a much larger share of GDP on health care than Western European economies. Yet the United States has about 45 million uninsured, while its peers do not. America misses yet another boat
Ursula Siebert - 9/29/2008
America is falling behind in the global race for new patents and pharmaceuticals based on stem cell research. The brain drain from America to countries with more liberal legislation is growing in leaps and bounds. On Cholesterol Related Premature Death of South Asian Immigrants in America
Prakash Bom - 8/3/2008
Average south Asian immigrants who have come to America are middle class of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Maldives and Sri Lanka whose whole infant life for generations have been nourished with the fatty water-buffalo-milk products. The water-buffalo-milk is high in LDL (low-density-lipid) cholesterol, which causes cardiovascular disease, and heavy in lactose or milk sugar that cause diabetes. Classification of Social Attitudes to Health
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 7/2/2008
Somatic societies place emphasis on bodily health and performance. They regard mental functions as secondary or derivative (the outcomes of corporeal processes, "healthy mind in a healthy body"). Preparing Unipolar Children for a Nonpolar World
Jennifer L. Jackson - 6/15/2008
America is still preparing our children for life in a unipolar world, and as described by Richard Haass[1] and Fareed Zakaria[2] in separate essays which appeared in a recent issue of Foreign Affairs, we are living in an emerging nonpolar world. The ability of the United States to adjust, survive, and prosper in this new world order will depend upon successful preparation of the next generation for the evolution of the international power structure already happening. How to Get Universal Health Care
Joel S. Hirschhorn - 5/3/2008
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama say they believe in giving Americans universal health care. I don’t believe them. Anyone who takes the time to understand universal health care should conclude that only a simple single payer system will reform the current outrageous system that benefits the insurance and pharmaceutical industries. On the Streets of Albuquerque
Jeremy Reynalds, Ph.D. - 1/11/2008
It was a cold January afternoon in Albuquerque as I came out of the post office. I was just about to get in my car as a man who was, I suspect, much younger than he looked approached me and with obvious difficulty slurred out the words, “Can you give me 50 cents to catch the bus to get home?” Vaccine or Viagra: The Debate Continues
Bhuwan Thapaliya - 11/17/2007
Budgets are finite but the health care demands are almost infinite in the developing nations. From this truism springs one of the characteristics of the developing world- that the developing nations are crawling way behind in life saving medical cares too. Benzene in Soft Drinks: A Question of Standards
Ross E. Getman, Esq. - 6/12/2006
In Australia and New Zealand, of the 68 samples tested, 38 beverage products contained trace levels of benzene. The levels detected ranged from 1 to 40 ppb. The Food Standards Agency of Australia and New Zealand explains: "The major sources of benzene exposure via air are tobacco smoke, automobile service stations, exhaust from motor vehicles (benzene is present at 1-2% in most petrol blends), and industrial emissions." U.S. High Schools: Benzene in Soda Revisited
Ross E. Getman, Esq. - 4/8/2006
The Global Politician first broke the news about the need for testing for benzene in soft drinks on September 22, 2005. I represent an industry whistleblower and wrote "Caustic Soda: Need to Test for Benzene." The US, UK, Germany, Canada, Australia and China are now among the countries testing. The European Commission has demanded reports from member states on the risks posed to consumers from benzene contamination of soft drinks before deciding whether legislation is required to crackdown on the problem. More testing is needed by additional countries in hot climates, however, given the effect of heat and light on benzene levels. Free Booze For The Homeless
Jeremy Reynalds, Ph.D. - 1/10/2006
Giving homeless alcoholics a regular supply of booze may improve their health and their behavior, a recent study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal proclaims. Nonsense! By giving them the alcohol, the study organizers think they're keeping them out of trouble, but what they're doing is prolonging the most important step in recovery. That's when an alcoholic bottoms out and realizes his or her life is a wreck. Let's Get Mald!
Sue Vogan - 12/4/2005
Three people, who have shared ideas for months, are on a three-way call, discussing various ways they might help fight Lyme disease, the persecution of Lyme literate physicians, and, of course getting better treatment, earlier diagnosis, and the Yale fraud, too. Then, the conversation turns even more serious, suffering children. But, what could they do for children who were suffering with Lyme disease? They had just heard that Dr. Charles Jones, a renowned Lyme literate pediatrician who treats Lyme disease openly, was on the verge of losing his license. Now where would children go? Lighthearte... The Life Cycle of Science
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 12/4/2005
"There was a time when the newspapers said that only twelve men understood the theory of relativity. I do not believe that there ever was such a time... On the other hand, I think it is safe to say that no one understands quantum mechanics... Do not keep saying to yourself, if you can possibly avoid it, 'But how can it be like that?', because you will get 'down the drain' into a blind alley from which nobody has yet escaped. Nobody knows how it can be like that." Avian Flu As A Global Threat
Amit Pyakurel - 11/29/2005
The people around the globe have not yet forgotten the frighteningly fateful episode of Spanish flu in 1918, which claimed lives of around 40-million people worldwide. The pandemic had caused such a massive death toll without letting people to know the actual occurrence of the disease, which was later believed to have spread from the stem of bird. The virus was overtly contagious and deadly that it didn't gave enough time for the treatment until the patient died bewildered of what they have actually contracted. On Dis-ease
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 11/9/2005
Threatened by yet another bird flu pandemic, we are well-advised to study the very concept of disease. Typhoid Mary
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 9/29/2005
Mary Mallon was a "healthy carrier" of an infectious disease, the first ever reported and observed in the New World. But, since then, and throughout the first two decades of the 20th century, more than 100 people were added annually to the rolls of "healthy carriers" of typhoid in New-York alone. Personality of Politicians and Acquired Situational Narcissism
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 7/20/2005
The Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) is a systemic, all-pervasive condition, very much like pregnancy: either you have it or you don't. Once you have it, you have it day and night, it is an inseparable part of the personality, a recurrent set of behavior patterns. Lyme Disease (Part III): You Are Not Alone; Lyme Organizations
Michele Paiva - 7/15/2005
If you have Lyme or just suspect you might, or if you just would like more information on Lyme and related tick-born infections; you have an invaluable resource in that there are Lyme organizations as close as your computer or telephone. Lyme Disease (Part II): Empower Yourself
Michele Paiva - 7/11/2005
Before understanding Lyme as we know it today, one must understand the history of this disease. Named in 1977 as "Lyme Disease”, it was called Lyme Arthritis, after Allen Steere, who reportedly misdiagnosed a youth who had symptoms which were concurrent with what we know now is Lyme Disease. Lyme Disease (Part I): The Disease That Attacks Us All Every Day
Michele Paiva - 7/10/2005
Recently I had a small tick on me, what is known as a deer tick. I visited a health board specifically geared to Lyme disease, because I feared I may have contracted the disease. Knock on wood, so far, it appears through symptoms and testing, that I did not contract Lyme Disease. The Sickly State of Public Hospitals
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 6/16/2005
Hospitals are caught in the crossfire of a worldwide debate. Should healthcare be completely privatized - or should a segment of it be left in public hands? As the debate infects countries adhering to the "social model of capitalism" (e.g., Scandinavia and France) and spreads to countries in transition in Central and Eastern Europe - it is worthwhile to study the experience of the bellwether in privatized health care: the USA. Wexler's proposal exposes Democrats' Social Security problem
Ross Kaminsky - 5/20/2005
Despite the constant reminders that President Bush's Social Security reform plans are not polling well, the Democrats realize that their do-nothing position is untenable in the long run. Americans know there is a problem with the system; Tom Daschle can attest to how poorly obstructionism works as a political strategy. Means-testing of Social Security: Double-Edged Sword
Ross Kaminsky - 5/5/2005
Following President Bush's proposal to means test Social Security, our moderate local newspaper announced "Bush to seek adjusted benefits" while the more liberal paper fretted about "Cuts in Social Security". While initial media reaction was predictable, further analysis shows that means testing is far from a clear winner, either economically or politically, for either political Party. OECD: US Pensions Reach Poor Better Than Others, Except Ireland and New Zealand
Angelique van Engelen - 5/3/2005
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development issued a report Monday that pointed out that even though the US proposals will yield a system that reaches the poor in a more redistributive way than many other countries, the average pay outs of the government pensions are rather low at around 51% of a retiree's previously earned salary as compared to over 70% in other OECD countries. American and Global AIDS and HIV Statistics and Information
Supatra Chowdhury - 4/2/2005
It's been over twenty years since the HIV epidemic began. Yet, HIV constantly increases and is already a worldwide health problem. While notable success is arising in some areas, threatening trends are happening in others. What is the current status of the epidemic and how is our battle going? Eugenics and the Future of the Human Species
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 3/29/2005
"It is clear that modern medicine has created a serious dilemma ... In the past, there were many children who never survived - they succumbed to various diseases ... But in a sense modern medicine has put natural selection out of commission. Something that has helped one individual over a serious illness can in the long run contribute to weakening the resistance of the whole human race to certain diseases. If we pay absolutely no attention to what is called hereditary hygiene, we could find ourselves facing a degeneration of the human race. Mankind's hereditary potential for resisting serious ... Why Liberals Should Support Social Security Reform
Ross Kaminsky - 3/23/2005
There are compelling reasons for liberals and Democrats to support serious reform of the system, but they are often mixed in with technical discussion which does not appeal to people whose policy choices are not primarily based on efficiency or economics. So, for anyone who opposes reform (or anyone who speaks to someone who does) here is a discussion of some of the important arguments in plain language that might make cause liberals and Democrats to consider the many benefits of reforming the Social Security System. Social Security: The Paper Cut
Susan Goya - 2/26/2005
As Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said, Social Security is a symbol of America's best values. "It promises all Americans that if they work hard and play by the rules, they can retire and live in dignity. Social Security is not a handout. It is a benefit that senior citizens earn by working and paying into the system." [1] Social Security was enacted to prevent the tragedy of destitute seniors after the 1929 stock market crash from ever happening again. The program has effectively reduced poverty for senior citizens from nearly 50 percent to about 12 percent [2]. |
