February 2009 Archives

There's a theory circulating among liberals that they won the election, taking the White House and improving majorities in Congress, so it is time now to take off the gloves, end the silly politeness about bipartisan collaboration and simply govern from the left. In other words, confiscate all the guns, enact national health insurance and raise taxes on the rich in an effort to shrink both the deficit and ...
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By Jim Jaffe, Health Care Editor For a new administration committed to fixing America's health system by only paying for medicine we know works, Medicare's decision to pay for off-label chemotherapy drugs, well described by the New York Times presents a challenging opportunity.  Reversing this policy could send a powerful and positive message. The new rule commits the government to paying for anti-cancer drugs that the Food and Drug Administration ...
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Barack Obama was elected in large measure because when the financial crisis became public just before the first scheduled presidential debate, voters appreciated that rather than the normal fight or flight response expected in a crisis and exhibited by his rival, John McCain, Obama's response was calm and reasonable.  Right now much of the Washington political circles are in full fight or flight mode -- or the political variant, the ...
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Health reformers would like to push America toward evidence-based medicine where doctors typically treated ailments in the optimal way, based on prior successes.  But the prescriptions they offer often fail to meet this standard of proof.An example is the widely held belief that paying primary care physicians more would somehow make our health system more efficient and, ultimately, even save money.  But how? We know that specialists are taking an ...
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These days everyone loves Barack Obama, right?  Well actually no.  Even though Obama's job approval and personal popularity ratings are very high for an incoming president, some people hold a negative view, and many commentators in newspapers and blogs are offering advice to the new president that crosses the line into criticism.  From both the right and the left, there are thoughtful people who disagree with the new "post ideological" ...
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