November 2nd, 2011 by MotherJonesRN in Health Policy, Opinion
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Lillian Wald was a famous nurse activist and writer. She’s my role model. Lillian stood up for the little guy by providing health care to the poor, and she advocated for social justice during the Gilded Age. For those of you who may not know, the Gilded Age was a time of great wealth for a fortunate few in America. You might call these people the original 1%. Wall Street bankers and robber barons were buying politicians and running amok while building vast fortunes off the backs of the working poor. Sound familiar? It’s funny how history has a way of repeating itself.
I believe that Lillian Wald, the founder of public health nursing, would support the Wall Street Occupation if she were alive today. Lillian didn’t wring her hands when someone needed help. She got her hands dirty. I bet she would be encamped with the protesters, caring for the sick and blogging about Occupy Wall Street events. Nurses working the frontlines at the Occupy Wall Street protest rallies report that Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Nurse Ratched's Place*
November 11th, 2009 by Richard Cooper, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
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The Institute of Medicine (IOM) has addressed seven key health care reform questions and offered answers that capture today’s consensus. No surprises, but good clear analyses. But what if the underlying conceptual framework is not an excessive use of services by wrongly incentivized providers but the tragic over-use of services by the poor? Here are seven “what ifs” plus an eighth question.
1. Is health care too expensive?
What if health care is the economy, the major source of jobs and the basis for America’s worker productivity? And what if the problem is an unfair insurance system and inequitable distribution of fiscal responsibility?
2. How much too expensive is it?
What if regional variation is not a manifestation of excessive spending but of income inequality and the intersection of wealth and poverty? And what if differences in price and economic development, rather than waste and inefficiency, differentiate costs among countries? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at PHYSICIANS and HEALTH CARE REFORM Commentaries and Controversies*
