In a recent episode of Last Week Tonight, John Oliver takes on the kidney dialysis industry, particularly DaVita, the for-profit company that controls a large piece of the kidney dialysis business in...
Diane Archer
AHCA and the Medicare Trust Fund
The solvency of the Medicare (Part A Hospital Insurance) Trust Fund turns in large part on Congress. Democratic leaders extended its life when they passed the Affordable Care Act and imposed...
One in three FDA-approved drugs have safety risks
A new JAMA study finds that one in three novel therapeutics approved by the FDA between 2001 and 2010 have safety risks detected only after they were approved. The study authors make a compelling...
New FDA chief has ties to the pharmaceutical industry
The nation’s new head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Dr. Scott Gottlieb, is a 44-year-old physician, cancer survivor, and a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute...
Pre-hospice care allows people to stay in their homes
An article in Kaiser Health News describes the value of pre-hospice care for people with a multitude of health conditions who would otherwise be spending the last years of their lives going in and...
House votes to deny millions health insurance
The House of Representatives voted last week to kill many provisions of the ACA and replace them with the Affordable Health Care Act (AHCA), a bill that would deny millions of Americans, including...
Why doesn’t the federal government ensure reasonable...
The U.S. invests more than $32 billion each year in drug and biomedical research. This major public investment in drug research empowers the government to make drugs affordable under the Bayh-Dole...
Lowering health care costs, drug prices, top policy priorities
A new Kaiser Family Foundation health tracking poll shows continuing strong bi-partisan support for Congressional action to to rein in the cost of health care and the price of drugs. More than six...
Medicare covers alcohol screenings and counseling
Older adults are too often binge drinkers, which can lead to memory loss, difficulty balancing and unstable moods. If you or someone you love is drinking too much, Medicare can help. Medicare...
Help for people getting long-term care
It’s not clear when Congress will enact legislation that helps ensure everyone in America gets the long-term care services and supports they need. Certainly, not during this administration...