Category Archives: Public Health

Quora Query: What Will it Take for the United States to Acquire Universal Healthcare?

There are two sets of answers to this query: Political and operational/organizational. Let me address each in its turn. The Political Issues: There is, to my analysis, nothing special about the United States and its people that make a rational … Continue reading

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Quora Query: Is the UK NHS the Best Healthcare System in Europe?

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How, indeed. Perhaps the first principle in answering this query is to point out, briefly, how healthcare systems are judged and ranked. This is done in multiple ways: Ease of access; waiting times; quality of each encounter, this itself is … Continue reading

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Quora Query: Why do you believe that people who abuse the healthcare system in the US should be enabled, through not telling them, in no uncertain terms, that their non-emergency issues are just that…non-emergencies?

There are several fine answers to this query – see, particularly, the one by former Nurse Mara Obelcz on Quora. And just as there are several answers to your question, there are several – many – reasons that people come … Continue reading

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Quora Query: What can you do if you rack up a huge ER bill, make too much money for assistance, and can’t afford to pay it off in the max 24 months? The lady at hospital said I can pay whatever I can afford but when I called, they said no.

Firstly, I’m sorry you have to deal with this. In a rationale and humane society, healthcare is a right. It is funded from general taxes so you would NEVER worry about this. But we live in a neoliberal America – … Continue reading

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Response to Robert Gebelhoff Editorial – Progressives can’t be trusted with Medicare-for-all

Gentle Reader – Mr. Gebelhoff, an assistant editor and opinions contributor for the Washington Post, published the above-cited piece today, 3 January, 2019. I detail the URL for the piece below, and then detail a brief criticism laying out why … Continue reading

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A Taste of What We Need To Do: Is “Medicare For All” Enough?

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Gentle Reader – Here are a couple of pieces I wrote rapidly and placed on Twitter recently. I have begun work on a book, directed at my fellow citizens, to discuss these issues. read and comment please! The first part … Continue reading

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It Matters: The Individual Mandate

It appears that, barring some action by the Courts, the Republican Tax “Reform” will become law. While there is much to criticize about this bill, including the massive transfer of wealth from the middle and working class to the rich, … Continue reading

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A Poor Neighborhood In Chicago Looks To Cuba To Fight Infant Mortality

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By Miles Bryan, WBEZ JANUARY 10, 2018 REPUBLISH THIS STORY Dr. Kathy Tossas-Milligan (left), an epidemiologist with the University of Illinois at Chicago, interviews Yolanda Flowers as part of a pilot project to study the high infant mortality rate in … Continue reading

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The Continuation of Hope

My last column noted the amazing work performed by Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF, Doctors without Borders), detailing the Jahun, Nigeria Project. The picture was a sweeping one, the 30,000 foot view of that project. You might ask – you should … Continue reading

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Report from Abroad – Jahun, Nigeria – Part 1

Notes from the Southern Heartland 19 November, 2017   In the introduction to this Column, in July, I mentioned that I would travel with Médecins sans Frontières (MSF, Doctors without Borders) to Africa in early October; that time has arrived. … Continue reading

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