by Michael Goldfarb* Europeans live longer; shake their heads over US attitudes toward universal healthcare. In America, the healthcare debate is about to come to a boil. President Barack Obama has put pressure on both houses of Congress to pass versions of his flagship domestic legislative program prior to their August recess. Opponents were filling [...]
by Alan Mascarenhas* Australia’s health system offers cradle-to-grave healthcare for “all citizens, covering most or all of the costs for physician consultations as well as specialists’ fees and X-rays and pathology tests. Treatment in public hospitals is free!” Here’s a damning statistics: Australia spends 8.7% of GDP on healthcare and covers everyone, irrespective of their [...]
by Eustaquio Abay II, M.D.* I am a registered Republican, contributed to Republican political campaigns. I wept when Pres. John F. Kennedy and his brother, Robert, were assassinated. I am an active neurosurgeon in Kansas and am seriously concerned about healthcare for my family, my employees and my fellow Americans. Much rhetoric has been hurled [...]
by Rep. Mazie Hirono, D-HI* Aloha—The US Congress has been grappling with how to provide all our citizens with access to affordable, quality healthcare since the time of Pres. Harry Truman. H.R. 3962 represents a critical milestone in the effort to reform our healthcare system. I will be voting for the bill. For those who [...]
by Kathleen E. McLaughlin As their wife and mother lay dying, emaciated and contorted with pain from the final stages of her terminal colon cancer, the Yang family’s last hope arrived in a shiny gold box sent from 1,500 miles away. They had seen the Chinese herbal medicine advertised on television, with promises to ease [...]
by Kathleen E. McLaughlin While the healthcare reform battle rages in Washington, China has been quietly revamping its own massive healthcare system with decidedly mixed results. The price at a Beijing hospital explains a lot about what is wrong with China’s healthcare system: an appendectomy by a leading surgeon available to any Chinese citizen for [...]
by Kathleen E. McLaughlin* As the United States is once again mired in a debate about healthcare reform, across the Pacific the world’s largest socialist country is trying to piece together some semblance of universal healthcare for its 1.3 billion citizens. China’s healthcare system was once a model of low-cost, efficient delivery that served hundreds [...]
by Rawlein G. Soberano, Ph.D. If Canadians are looking to the US for the care they need, they’ll be disappointed because Americans, ironically, are increasingly looking north for a viable healthcare model. There’s no question that American healthcare, a mixture of private insurance and public programs, is a mess. Over the last 5 years, health insurance [...]
by Kevin Dahill* Our nation is in the midst of a profoundly important discussion about the healthcare system. The often contentious debates at public forums around the country demonstrate how deeply personal the prospect of healthcare reform is to many Americans. But while change may be frightening, it is necessary. If the rancor and distortions [...]
by Connie Schultz* So many Americans believe only the people who scare them. A thoughtful debate over healthcare reform has devolved into scenes of screaming protests by mostly red-faced senior citizens looking frightened and enraged. Their terror is stoked by cynical political operatives who know that, when it comes to stirring up the masses, nothing [...]
