Archive for the ‘Health Care Reform’ Category

Public Option Debate

The big health care reform news of the day as reported by CNN, NY Times, News & Observer, Washington Post, L.A. Times and Wall Street Journal is whether or not to remove the public option from the health care reform package.
The debate over the public option has completely overshadowed the real issue: Our current health [...]

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Comparing the Plans

With more than a dozen different proposals for health care reform, the debate gets confusing. Senators and representatives have submitted their own bills, along with the Senate Health Committee, the Senate Finance Committee, the House Tri-Committee, the President… where does each bill stand on the issues?
This Web site by the Kaiser Family Foundation allows you [...]

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Cutting Through the Clutter

We post numerous articles about health care reform in the news feed section of this blog daily. Now, we want to help you cut through the clutter by selecting a few articles that we find helpful to better understand health care reform.  You can stay up-to-date on the discussion without devoting hours to reading. Here [...]

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A Fundamental Right?

A reader recently posted a thought-provoking comment – one that I believe many of you may have considered.  The question: “Is healthcare a fundamental right??
The answer, I think, is that we must view basic health care in a similar way that we see defense and public safety in this country. We have collectively decided as [...]

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The Front Door

If you’re looking for a sure sign of the need for health care reform, you should take a visit to an Emergency Department.  It has become the de facto “front door” to our health care system for millions of patients who turn to hospitals to provide routine medical care not because they want to, but [...]

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Healthy Debate?

On Sunday, The News & Observer published an opinion piece discussing what various leaders are saying about health care reform.  Dr. Atkinson was praised for taking a stand and for pointing out that there are many deeply entrenched special interest groups that are polarizing the conversation, prompting the News & Observer to question if it [...]

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President Obama Talks Reform in Raleigh

I had the chance to attend President Obama’s town hall meeting on health care reform in Raleigh this afternoon.  It was a delight to have the President here in our backyard.  WakeMed’s Senior Vice President Judy O’Neal was even fortunate enough to sit on stage and get a “President’s eye” view of the crowd.  Afterwards, [...]

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It’s Unanimous- Health Care Reform Must Happen

North Carolina health care industry leaders met last week in Raleigh to discuss health care reform. Participating in the Health Care Policy Forum were:

Jack Bailey, GlaxoSmithKline
Bob Greczyn, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina
Bob Seligson, North Carolina Medical Society
Hugh Tilson, North Carolina Hospital Association

It was reassuring to hear all of the panelists agree that health [...]

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An Acronym for Health Care Reform

In health care we have an acronym for everything. I’m sure you have heard HIPAA, EMR, ICU, etc.  I’ve created an acronym of my own – ACQ or Access, Cost and Quality.  In my mind, these are the three fundamental issues that have to be addressed when working to reform today’s national health care system [...]

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A Reality Check on Health Care Reform

This post from Washington Post blogger Ezra Klein is a must read.
Klein cuts through the sometimes overly-dramatic rhetoric that we hear on TV about health care reform and reveals a cogent analysis about where things stand. And where things stand, he argues, is entirely predictable. But he also points out that health care reform is [...]

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