July 22, 2023 — The administrative burden of healthcare is something that everyone experiences, but it hits people with social and economic disadvantages especially hard. Thus, paperwork and insurance tricks become tools for promoting health disparity that often escape notice. The Administrative Burden of American Healthcare A recent research brief from Health Affairs tells us that as much as […]
June 22, 2023 — It can be tedious. But the truth is that persistent pursuit of access to obesity care does indeed bring incremental progress. The latest case study came this week in Connecticut, with Governor Ned Lamont signing a bill into law to provide better access to obesity care under the state’s Medicaid program. Years of Effort This […]
October 25, 2022 — The world works in mysterious ways. Five years ago, a group of us that included ConscienHealth’s Ted Kyle went to Harrisburg to testify in favor of Pennsylvania taking a step toward less disparity in obesity care. Specifically, we were supporting a bill that State Representative Donna Oberlander (R-Clarion) was sponsoring to encourage coverage of obesity […]
April 5, 2022 — We are close to reaching a million deaths from COVID in the U.S. Worldwide, the number passed six million a month ago and that number is a gross underestimate. So there can be no doubt that the pandemic has had a terrible effect on health everywhere. But in the midst of this tragedy, we can […]
October 16, 2021 — A decade ago, Medicaid expansion was supposed to be a real winner for better access to care. It was a sweet deal for states adopting it. Yet our polarized politics have meant that even now, after a decade, some states are still dragging their feet. That leaves two million people from 12 states in limbo […]
March 29, 2019 — Are you ready for vegetables by prescription? That’s what nutrition policy wonks are pushing with a new publication in PLOS Medicine. Yujin Lee, a postdoctoral fellow and lead author, sums up their bold claims: We found that encouraging people to eat healthy foods in Medicare and Medicaid – healthy food prescriptions – could be as […]
April 15, 2017 — This chick hasn’t hatched. But the conversation is encouraging. Yesterday, Maine State Senator Nate Libby presented a bill in committee to reduce obesity and chronic disease rates in Maine by providing better obesity care. LD 1162: “An Act To Reduce the Incidence of Obesity and Chronic Disease in Maine” Specifically, Libby’s bill would provide better access […]
December 7, 2015 — With the news that Mississippi will start paying for bariatric surgery in its Medicaid program, it seems that a shift in thinking about obesity may be taking hold there. The state’s Medicaid director, David Dzielak, recently explained, “We are pursuing all clinical options to reduce the co-morbidities associated with obesity.” He wrote in the public notice of this […]
April 13, 2013 — Here’s a hint of change in the air. This week prominent Democrats and Republicans alike heaped praise on an Obama health policy nominee. Marilyn Tavenner, nominated by President Obama to head the powerful Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), sailed through a hearing before the Senate Finance Committee. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor traveled […]
