Joshua Holland’s anti–single payer screed (“Medicare for All Isn’t the Solution for Universal Health Care”) is so riddled with misinformation and outright errors that it makes one wonder whether The Nation has laid off its fact-checkers. Just one example: In arguing the impossibility of a health-care transformation in a high-spending nation, Holland claims that Switzerland’s health expenditures
A new study shows the dramatic impact of rising cost of health care on national family budgets. The study by the Commonwealth Fund found that the average American family spends 10.1 percent of its income just on health insurance premiums and deductibles, up from 6.5 percent a decade ago. The average annual total premium for family coverage is now $17,322.
Lingering uncertainty about the fate of the Affordable Care Act has spurred the California legislature to consider adoption of a statewide single-payer health care system. Sometimes described as Medicare for all, single-payer is a system in which a public agency handles health care financing while the delivery of care remains largely in private hands. Discussions of
Backed by Graça Machel and her fellow Elders, the Tanzanian government is introducing healthcare reforms that could revitalise its economic prospects. Lucy Lamble investigates LL Lucy Lamble TD Dr Tedros Adhanom RY Robert Yates UM Ummy Mwalimu GM Graça Machel MR Mary Robinson FC Fiona Chalunda TA Without health, people have nothing. Do we want our fellow citizens to die because they are
Treating HIV-infected children briefly in infancy may lower the need for life-long therapy. Image source: National Institutes of Health (NIH) A 9-year-old child from South Africa has been living with HIV in drug-free remission for 8.5 years, scientists announced at the ninth International AIDS Society conference, held in Paris, France. Researchers report that this is
GENEVA, Switzerland, Monday July 24, 2017 – The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the spread of an HIV strain resistant to some of the most widely used medicines could undermine progress in the treatment and prevention of HIV infection in the Caribbean and elsewhere if early and effective action is not taken. According to
If digital health communities are epicenters of innovation, why aren’t we collaborating across communities? Innovation is becoming increasingly dependent on the infrastructure established by health systems. Sharing best practices seems like an obvious way for health systems to improve how they leverage and incorporate digital innovation into their clinical practice but, by and large, it isn’t happening. Instead,
The underdevelopment of connections in the brain after age 30 may be a predictor of future mental health problems. Scientists from Canada reveal that the underdevelopment of the brain network involved in inhibition after the age of 30 years may be connected with psychological problems. Drs. Raluca Petrican and Cheryl Grady, both at the Rotman
It is common practice to give caffeine to babies born prematurely in order to prevent or overcome problems with breathing. Now, a new study shows that the short-term benefits to lung function persist into mid-childhood. The study, which is shortly to be published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, reports on 142
Recent research suggests that iron may have a protective effect against heart disease. These promising findings could pave the way for new treatments. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death among people in the United States, responsible for approximately 610,000 deaths each year. A team of researchers from Imperial College London and University College London,
