Looking to Save Money, More Places Decide to Stop Fluoridating the Water
By LIZETTE ALVAREZ
MIAMI — A growing number of communities are choosing to stop adding fluoride to their water systems, even though the federal government and federal health officials maintain their full support for a measure they say provides a 25 percent reduction in tooth decay nationwide.
Last week, Pinellas County, on Florida’s west coast, voted to stop adding fluoride to its public water supply after starting the program seven years ago. The county joins about 200 jurisdictions from Georgia to Alaska that have chosen to end the practice in the last four years, motivated both by tight budgets and by skepticism about its benefits.
Killing Medicaid the California Way
By BRUCE C. VLADECK and STEPHEN I. VLADECK
VIRTUALLY all of the debate over the health care legislation enacted last year has focused on the constitutionality of the individual mandate, the requirement that, by 2014, nearly all Americans either purchase health insurance or pay a fine if they fail to do so. The Supreme Court now seems likely to decide the fate of the mandate, perhaps as early as June.
But last week the court also heard oral arguments in another case that could, indirectly, have a far greater impact on whether the act can meet the goal of expanding health care access by broadening eligibility for Medicaid, by 2014, to 15 million people.
Health Law To Be Revised By Ending A Program
By ROBERT PEAR
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration announced Friday that it was scrapping a long-term care insurance program created by the new health care law because it was too costly and would not work.
Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, said she had concluded that premiums would be so high that few healthy people would sign up. The program, which was intended for people with chronic illnesses or severe disabilities, was known as Community Living Assistance Services and Supports, or Class.
Tackling Infant Mortality Rates Among Blacks
By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS
PITTSBURGH — Amanda Ralph is the kind of woman whose babies are prone to die. She is young and poor and dropped out of school after the ninth grade.
But there is also an undeniable link between Ms. Ralph’s race — she is black — and whether her baby will survive: nationally, black babies are more than twice as likely as white babies to die before the age of 1. Here in Pittsburgh, the rate is five times.
Free clinic plagued by red tape
California has failed to adopt regulations allowing out-of-state professionals to take part in a four-day health clinic Oct. 20, despite a law passed after crowds overwhelmed facilities last year.
By Anna Gorman, Los Angeles Times
October 12, 2011
latimes.com
Blue Shield to return $283 million in excess profits to policyholders
Californians will get $283 million in credits. Under Obama's health program, other insurers could follow.
By Duke Helfand and W.J. Hennigan, Los Angeles TimesOctober 14, 2011
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-excess-profits-20111014,0,491167,print.story
October 12, 2011 - Road to Reform
Why the 'Moneyball' Approach Isn't a Home Run for Health Care
by Dan Diamond, California Healthline Contributing Editor
A decade ago, the Oakland Athletics were the toast of baseball. Despite a decrepit stadium and tiny payroll, the A's won just as many games as other Major League Baseball teams that could -- and did -- spend six times more money acquiring players.
The A's secret: Using data to uncover the real, undervalued drivers that would make for a winning season. And the architect of that revolutionary approach: Billy Beane, who remains the team's general manager.
The 2003 book "Moneyball" made Beane a star -- and gave statistical savants a platform to call for "data-driven insights" across U.S. industries. And what sector could benefit more from an objective approach than health care, where subjective evaluations often cloud clinical judgment?
Read more: http://www.californiahealthline.org/road-to-reform/2011/why-the-moneyball-approach-isnt-a-home-run-for-health-care.aspx?p=1#ixzz1arDRGhy9
http://www.californiahealthline.org/road-to-reform/2011/why-the-moneyball-approach-isnt-a-home-run-for-health-care.aspx?p=1
Five myths about `American exceptionalism’
Posted Oct. 15, 2011, at 5:04 a.m.
Over the last two centuries, prominent Americans have described the United States as an “empire of liberty,” a “shining city on a hill,” the “last best hope of Earth,” the “leader of the free world,” and the “indispensable nation.” These enduring tropes explain why all presidential candidates feel compelled to offer ritualistic paeans to America’s greatness and why President Barack Obama landed in hot water — most recently, from Mitt Romney — for saying that while he believed in “American exceptionalism,” it was no different from “British exceptionalism,” “Greek exceptionalism,” or any other country’s brand of patriotic chest-thumping.
Most statements of “American exceptionalism” presume that America’s values, political system, and history are unique and worthy of universal admiration. They also imply that the United States is both destined and entitled to play a distinct and positive role on the world stage.
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