HealthCareForAmericaNow

NEWS

Insured patients using ER for primary care - San Francisco Chronicle

Hospital emergency departments, typically the medical providers of last resort, are becoming the only option for insured as well as uninsured people who are unable to get care elsewhere, leading to a record rise in emergency room visits over the past decade, a federal government report found.

The FDA's Black Box - Forbes

A new anesthesia drug was supposed to be the gem in Schering-Plough's $14 billion purchase of rival Organon. Schering CEO Fred Hassan told analysts he expected the medicine, used to quickly reverse other drugs that cause paralysis, to "transform anesthesia." A panel advising U.S. regulators gave the drug, called sugammadex, a unanimous thumbs-up. European regulators approved it.

Most Americans Think Healthcare System Needs to Be Overhauled, Survey Finds - Philanthropy News Digest

Americans are dissatisfied with their healthcare system and a large majority of them think it should be fundamentally changed or completely rebuilt, a new survey from the Commonwealth Fund finds.

To Be Old, Frail And Evicted: Patients At Risk - Wall Street Journal

As Nursing Homes Shift Focus To Short-Term Rehab Care, Families Must Look Elsewhere

Md. Infant Deaths High: Black Babies 3 Times As Likely to Die As Whites - The Baltimore Sun

Infant mortality remains very high in Maryland, especially for African-American infants, who are three times as likely to die as white infants, state health figures show.

Aging Population Makes for More Visits to the Doctor's Office - USA Today

The aging of the U.S. population is translating into many more visits to doctors' offices and hospitals, a reality that is taxing weak spots in the health care system, a government report said Wednesday.

3 Hospitals Accused of Using Homeless for Fraud - Los Angeles Times

On a Sunday afternoon two years ago, five homeless people being dropped off on Los Angeles' skid row by an ambulance caught the attention of police officers.

Ohio Exec Gets 15 Years in Prison for $1.9B Fraud - Associated Press

A former executive at a health care finance company was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in prison for his role in a $1.9 billion corporate fraud case that federal prosecutors compared to the Enron or WorldCom scandals.

OPINION

‘Health Care Is an Issue for Libertarians’ and Conservatives - The Heritage Foundation

While we are all too aware, and saddened by the fact, that far too many Republicans who call them selves conservatives have voted with health care lobbyists to protect established health care interests, it is simply not true that “neither major part wants major change in the current system.”

Sick and getting sicker….not to mention more expensive - Stand up for Health Care

Over and over, we hear that we can’t cover the uninsured because it’s just too expensive. But, what costs more than covering the uninsured? Not covering them. According to a study mentioned in The New York Times, millions of Americans with easily treatable, common conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure are not getting care because they are uninsured. In fact, the study found that around one-third of uninsured Americans have been diagnosed with a chronic illness.