Why are Americans spending twice as much for health care as any other industrialized country, and getting less? The U.S. ranks 17th, using commonly-used indicators of quality, and yet millions are left without health insurance. The government is already paying for the majority of health care, both public and private, supporting insurance corporations whose profits […]
health care
Posted inOur View
Among nations, Americans are not very healthy
The news last week for Americans under 50 was not good. On average, they are in poorer health and more likely to die before 50 than young people in other developed Western European countries, Canada, Japan and Australia. That’s the bleak assessment of the Institute of Medicine, the health arm of the National Academy of […]
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Posted inMaine, sj-web
Feds allow limited cuts to Medicaid, not to level sought by LePage
AUGUSTA, Maine — The federal government will allow Maine to make limited cuts to its Medicaid program, but not to the extent Gov. Paul LePage ’s administration had sought last yearas it looked to close a $20 million budget hole. The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Monday notified state officials that they can cut some low-income […]
Posted inMaine, Nation / World, sj-web
11 GOP governors, including LePage, fight Medicaid expansion
WASHINGTON — Republican governors, including Maine Gov. Paul LePage, are ratcheting up pressure on President Barack Obama to scale back a key provision of his health-care law. In a letter to Obama last week, 11 governors asked for a meeting “as soon as possible” to negotiate for greater control over their Medicaid programs. Among other […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Cost-wary states must decide whether to take the deal for expanded Medicare
WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s health care brinksmanship, with hundreds of billions of dollars and the well-being of millions of people at stake. President Barack Obama’s health care law expands Medicaid, the federal-state health program for low-income people, but cost-wary states must decide whether to take the deal. Turn it down, and governors risk coming off […]
Posted inOp-Eds
Froma Harrop: Lobby group should back off about Medicare
AARP’s shot over the bow on the fiscal cliff talks is most unpleasant. Perhaps you’ve seen the ad on TV. As seniors go about their day, a stern female voice says of Medicare and Social Security, “We earned them.” She goes on, “If Washington tries to cram decisions about the future of these programs into […]
Posted inOur View
A stroll down health care’s memory lane
“The time is at hand this year to bring comprehensive, high quality health care within the reach of every American. I shall propose a sweeping new program that will assure comprehensive health insurance protection to millions of Americans who cannot now obtain it or afford it, with vastly improved protection against catastrophic illnesses.” Barack Obama […]
Posted inLetters
K. Johnson: People have a right to health care
Donald Simoneau of Lafayette is lucky (Sun Journal Nov. 14). His friends are planning a benefit for him to help pay his hospital bills. The jars I see on counters seem to be what passes for health care these days. That is a disgrace. According to the U.S. Census, a Mainer dies every three days […]
Posted inOur View
Maine should decline to build health exchange
We have had the endless debate. We have had the narrow Supreme Court decision and, now, we have had the election. Looks like ObamaCare is here to stay. Maine Gov. Paul LePage is now faced with the decision he hoped to never make — whether to build a health care exchange or leave it up […]
Posted inOp-Eds
Before you vote, give ‘The Lie Factory’ a read
If you have time for just one political article before the election, make it “The Lie Factory,” by historian Jill Lepore in the Sept. 24 New Yorker. It concerns a California firm called Campaigns Inc., which Lepore identifies as the very first political consulting firm, founded in 1933 by Leone Baxter and Clem Whitaker, two […]