health

Pelosi did it. Health reform passed the house 220-215 late saturday. Whatever my personal disagreements with her I have to grudgingly admit she's a decent speaker, her arm twisting in this situation is exceptional. Thank god for Harry Reid. 

Nice round up of why it's the worst bill ever here.

I received a copy of this request -- from UHCAN Ohio to promote government healthcare reform -- we must communicate our opposition!!!!

Request for Proposals for Targeted Media in Southwest Ohio UHCAN Ohio and the Ohio Consumers for Health Coverage is engaged in a campaign to inform the public about the importance of federal health care reform and reduce the fear that is being created by opponents of health care reform who are spreading misinformation. We are looking for a media/communications consultant who can secure for us earned media opportunities to spread a positive message on health care reform and inform the public on the many areas that are rife with confusion. Our target market is the eight counties of Adams, Brown, Butler, Clermont, Clinton, Hamilton, Highland and Warren. We desire to mount a media campaign over the next three months that will cross print, broadcast, cable, and internet media. We are looking for opportunities to reach a broad swath of the public and of interest groups, such as business or religious constituencies. The pace of federal health care reform efforts has dramatically accelerated since early June 2009. If meaningful health care reform is to happen two needs must be met:(1)   Voters need to remain positive about reform, even as contentious debate arises over details of reform (such as the public health insurance option and the financing of reform) and as opponents of reform undermine public support with fear mongering.(2)   Federal legislators need to hear from voters that they want to see federal action on health care this year and that they care about affordability, quality, and health care security for all Americans. For voters to remain positive about health care reform, they need to receive positive messages and reliable information that reinforces the benefits they will derive from health care reform.  Meeting the Need for Clear Messages that Reduce the Fear Being Engendered by the Opponents of Health Care Reform.  People get most of their information from broadcast, cable and internet media, as well as people (family, friends, co-workers and others) who repeat to them what they heard in the mass media. The opponents of health care reform are spending millions of dollars on persuading the public that health care reform will result in a “government takeover” and “get in between them and their doctor.” The proponents of health care reform need to find ways to gain earned media to let people know that health care reform will protect and improve their choices.  We are looking for a PR consultant local to Southwest Ohio who will secure opportunities in Southwest Ohio across media types for UHCAN Ohio and Ohio Consumers for Health Coverage staff and partners to discuss health care reform.  We need a PR consultant to secure for us these opportunities:1.      Appearances on radio talk shows2.      Appearances on “drive time” radio programs3.      Appearances on broadcast and cable TV4.      Articles in daily and weekly newspapers targeted at the general public5.      Articles in specialty newspapers, such as those targeted at religious communities or the business community6.      Connections made through social networking sites including the blogosphere Time Frame:·         This will be a three month contract taking place between August and October.  Contractor Responsibilities:·         Contractor will pitch stories and potential interviewees to the media. Contractor will identify blogs that discuss health care (among other topics) that have a readership in Southwest Ohio and refer Client to those blogs.  Client will be responsible for furnishing the person(s) to be interviewed, and for developing messaging around health care reform. Client works with a communications organization in Columbus, and has some outside technical assistance from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation on messaging. Client primarily needs a consultant who has local connections and can secure media exposure.  Please submit a brief proposal to UHCAN Ohio stating(1)   Your history of securing media for small groups and not-for-profit groups(2)   Your history of handling communications that are part of a campaign(3)   Your history of working with health care professional or advocacy groups(4)   The plan you would undertake to secure significant earned media coverage in the next three months in Southwest Ohio on health care reform (including how you track media hits)(5)   Your fee. Ohio Consumers for Health Coverage is a consumer-based coalition seeking fundamental health care reform benefitting consumers. It is staffed by UHCAN Ohio. Information about UHCAN Ohio and OCHC can be found at their web sites:www.uhcanohio.orgwww.ohioconsumersforhealth.org Proposals should be submitted no later than 5 PM

Should the news site label its columnists and editors as "doctors" when they don't have medical degrees?

Peter Lipson, an internist who specializes in the prevention and treatment of illness, doesn't remember exactly when he first began criticizing health-related articles at the Huffington Post, but his agitation has reached its apogee over the past few weeks. During that time the health section -- placed within the larger "Living" tab -- has published articles claiming possible links between vaccinations and autism, a piece on colon cleansing and detox, and a swine flu article stating that Americans should "stay home as much as possible," "avoid public places unnecessarily," and "get some surgical face masks and wear one when you need to be in public places, even if you feel a little foolish and until others have caught on."

Lipson is a blogger for ScienceBlogs, run by Seed Media Group, and has been writing a series of critical pieces attempting to debunk the claims in many of these articles. He isn't the only one; several of the other science bloggers under the same domain have been piling on as well, and recently two of them have gone after the credibility of "Dr." Patricia Fitzgerald, a " licensed acupuncturist, certified clinical nutritionist, and a homeopath," who has received a "Master’s Degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine and a Doctorate in Homeopathic Medicine." She also -- to the science bloggers' disdain -- happens to be the Huffington Post's "wellness" editor (an email sent to the website requesting comment for this piece was not returned).

"Part of it is a misrepresentation of qualifications," Lipson told me in a phone conversation. "They started putting the word 'Dr' in front of everyone's name -- more or less for anyone who has a doctorate in something or other -- and Patricia Fitzgerald claims to have a doctorate in homeopathy, whatever that is. Homeopathy is a completely discredited fantasy. When you give that kind of credibility -- I mean first you invite them to a well-known mainstream outlet, you let them call themselves a doctor when they're not really qualified, and then you let them interview other people and present them as professionals -- it just layers on and layers on."

It would be different if they admitted up front that these stories were all editorial in nature, the internist said, and presented them as such. He compared the method of fact checking in the health section of HuffPo to that of the Gray Lady. "They need to exercise some kind of journalistic integrity," Lipson said. "When you read the New York Times, whether you agree with what they do or not -- people can argue about the quality having gone down -- but when you read the editorial pages and you read the news, you know there's some editing going on. You know they don't just say, 'write whatever you want and we'll throw our name above it.' They have real editors."

As a point of reference, Fitzgerald recently wrote a post about actress and former Playboy model Jenny McCarthy and her book, Healing and Preventing Autism. "Jenny McCarthy and thousands of concerned parents, doctors, and health advocates aren't just waiting for an official cure," Fitzgerald wrote. "They're finding answers, and getting results." (italics in the original) The article states that McCarthy promotes "biomedical intervention" and the actress claims that "thousands of children have improved with this type of therapy."

Inevitably, the article does touch upon McCarthy's claims about possible dangers from the "excessive" use of vaccines. Fitzgerald writes at the end of this section, "The autism-vaccine link is being studied because there are actual concerns that warrant these studies. Some studies support the use of certain vaccines, while other studies do not. Often there are conflicts of interest within studies. It can make anybody's head spin trying to sort through these studies."

Given that the vaccine-autism links are widely rejected by the scientific and medical community, this "two-sideism," as Lipson calls it, is infuriating. "It is irresponsible and it's immoral," he said. "They're allowed to write whatever they want -- I make that clear. But they should show some editorial fortitude that there are some lines that you shouldn't cross. It's an idealogical problem."

Simon Owens is a media journalist and social media consultant. Email him at simon.bloggasm@gmail.com or read more of his writing at his blog

Forty-seven million uninsured. An HMO withholding approval to save a dying young woman. One in six dollars spent in America going to health care (1) (notes below), which is 4.3 times more what America spends on national defense (1). Despite that, one in four Americans saying health care is a serious national problem in 2008 (2). Not less than 81% of Americans "dissatisfied" with health care in America (3). The specter of socialism looming as 64% of Americans recently polled say it is the federal government's responsibility to make sure all Americans have health care coverage (3).

Let's not exaggerate the problem. The number of uninsured grew from 12 millon in 1989 to where it stands today mostly because of legal and illegal immigration (4), making the uninsured a one-time problem. We all know how Michael Moore gets hysterical. His last movie made much of the fact that Cuba's health care system has a lower infant mortality rate than America's, but undeniably America still leads the world in health care, with the finest hospitals, doctors, professionals, and innovations in the practice of medicine.

Yet it is clear that something must be done. If the trend keeps up, the middle class will have to make extraordinarily difficult kitchen table decisions: cut back on health insurance or food or education. Some large American companies increasingly feel at a disadvantage. They feel they have to pay for their employees' health care, when their foreign competitors do not. Obama supports "single-payer," which is a soft way of talking about socialized medicine (5). An Obama presidency coupled with a Democratic congress would likely mean the end of free market health care in America.

In these shaky times, the political tide in 2008 is dredging up a leftist economic policy. The tide is strongest in health care. Our goal must be to ride this wave to the extent we must, while steering the country into the safe cove of market economics. The free market will not stay free without a fight.

Socialism does not work. I speak as an ex-socialist. It took me years to shake off the blinders and see the light. Socialism could only work if human beings were infinitely flexible, so that if you could imagine it theoretically, it could work in real life. That's where socialism's problem starts. Human nature is not something we can change, as I eventually came to realize. People like to buy and sell what they want. People want to take risks. They want to own a tiny little bit of the world and have it as their own. People want to control their own destiny, and not be told what to do in every aspect of their lives. People want wealth, even just a little wealth, but socialism does not deliver the goods. Socialism has been tried. It has failed. Most dramatically, East Berliners voted with their feet, turning the monicker of "democratic socialism" into a bad joke. With the sole exception of the starvation state of North Korea, every former socialist country in the world now looks to China as their model. The China model, love it or hate it, has nothing to do with state ownership of private property. It has at its core the private ownership of property, and the freedom to buy and sell as you please. Socialism's inevitable failures are costly. Over 100 million lie dead from communist rule. There is no faster way to stifle innovation and destroy the quality of people's lives than to rip people's freedom away from them. The government must let people live their own lives. Socialism slices away human freedom, and so is unacceptable.

The experience of Britain's National Health System, with a country of rotting teeth, antiquated care, and long lines, and of Canada's national system, with the long waits for basic care and Canadians hopping the border for simple medical procedures, tells us more than we need to know.

Socialized medicine, or "single payer," would wreak an untold disaster upon the health and quality of life of Americans. Our country has led the way forward against disease, disability, and injury. Smallpox and polio are all but wiped out. The art of medicine has advanced to an unbelievable degree, with much thanks to Americans. Great institutions of American health care are renowned throughout the world: names like Sloan-Kettering, Mayo, and Johns Hopkins. Socialized medicine will take decisions out of doctors' hands, and prevent them from innovating and providing the best care. Socialism would take the art out of medicine and turn clinics and hospitals into factories. The quality of health care in America depends on patients, doctors, and nurses all being free to be at their best. Expanding government will increase taxes, hurt the economy, and take the freedom out of health care.

Take a look at the list of the Nobel Laureates in Medicine and you will see that there is one country that has dominated that famous prize, especially since World War II, and that country has a free market medical system. Of course, it is the United States of America (6). If we allow socialism to take root in America, there is no telling what damage will eventually be done to medicine and the American way of life. Even if we cast out socialized medicine after only a few years, those years will be lost, and whatever is lost will have to be rebuilt. Our institutions are so valuable and vulnerable, we can't risk throwing it all away for the pipe dream of socialism.

Our health care problem today is a case of market failure. Disease and injury being what they are, people will always need health care, and they won't be in a position to bargain much over the price. The markets for health insurance and health care have broken down. Health care costs have spiraled out of control, and are heading north. The price of health care has grown disproportionately to the quality of care. We must find a way forward to uphold our free market system, resolve this market failure, and keep America great.

This blog will focus exclusively on health care policy. It will argue for a market-oriented approach to health care reform. Free market basics will be stressed like being able to choose whatever doctor you would like no matter what your insurance is, and being able to get health insurance for your family at a decent price. Common sense also matters. Health insurance companies are private companies. They need to have the incentive to minimize costs while maximizing the health and well-being of their insurance customers.

The pressure to adopt socialized medicine is already large, and will grow larger. Obama has hinged his campaign on a promise he can't keep: he says will make our health care system perfect. Americans just might be desperate enough to believe he has a miracle under his sleeve. The trouble is, people don't understand why he is wrong. The voters don't understand the most basic principles of economics: scarcity, and the law of supply and demand. 

McCain must have a savvy response to the health care crisis. The first part of the response is that Republicans care about health care, deeply want all Americans to have access to good health care, and will work hard to achieve that. This is emotional, and comes out of human compassion. The second part of the response is a smart, market-oriented policy to get us there. That's where this blog comes in.

Thank you to TheNextRight.com for the opportunity to start this blog. I am taking the name of Xenophon here to honor that figure who is associated with a long and successful struggle to survive against great odds.

(1) http://www.nchc.org/facts/coverage.shtml

(2) http://www.health08.org/polls.cfm

(3) http://www.gallup.com/poll/4708/Healthcare-System.aspx

(4) http://www.cis.org/articles/2005/back1405.html

(5) http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/08/19/obama-touts-single-payer-system/

(6) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize_in_Physiology_or_Medicine