The pandemic has thrown the shortcomings and inequities of America’s health care system into sharp relief. These include the extreme vulnerability of the elderly in nursing homes; the poor health status of impoverished and minority communities; regulatory obstacles to deploying telemedicine; and, a lack of basic medical equipment and surge capacity in hospitals. There’s never…
Publications
Originally published June 15, 2020, and most recently updated July 9, 2020. As the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread across the globe, no country has been hit harder than the United States. America leads the world in Covid-19 deaths and confirmed cases. Unemployment has reached levels not seen since the Great Depression, and national output…
Introduction The coronavirus pandemic has not deterred President Trump and Republicans from trying to kill the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which would strip millions of Americans of health care coverage at the worst possible time. However, Medicaid -- significantly strengthened in the ACA -- will be a lifeline for the country during this crisis. The…
Press
We can contain the spread of COVID-19 — but the federal government must step up before it’s too late
States and localities are proceeding with “opening” their economies despite the fact that most states have not met the re-opening criteria put forward by the White House. In order to head off spikes in cases, states and localities will need aggressive testing, contact tracing, and isolation programs. Testing is only as good as what you do with that…
Fears about the novel coronavirus, the economic meltdown, and prolonged self-isolation are taking an emotional toll on Americans. Calls to the federal mental health crisis hotline are 900 percent greater than this time last year. In normal times, one in five American adults deals with mental health issues. Anxiety is the most common mental disorder; 6.8 million people in the…
Covid-19 is hitting the United States harder than any other country in the world. Roughly 41,000 Americans have died from the novel coronavirus and more than 50,000 Americans have been hospitalized. Some experts estimate millions more could be hospitalized before the disease runs its course. Each Covid-19-related hospitalization costs between $30,000-$72,000 per person. However, it…
Blog
The Trump administration’s hospital price transparency rule, upheld by a district court judge this week, will require hospitals to post publicly the rates they negotiate with insurers beginning in January. President Trump called it a “BIG VICTORY for patients — Federal court UPHOLDS hospital price transparency. Patients deserve to know the price of care BEFORE they enter the…
Back in December, Congress failed to reach an agreement on “surprise billing” legislation. A surprise bill is when patients get an out-of-network bill from a provider at an in-network facility. Lawmakers couldn’t decide if an arbitration model — where billing disagreements would be sent to a third-party review board — or if a benchmark model — where…
Community Health Centers (CHCs) have an important role to play in SARS-CoV-2 response. CHCs are community-based and organizations that provide primary care, mental health care and even dental care to populations with limited access to health care. Both House and Senate members are pushing leadership (Senate, House) to include increased funding for CHCs in the next relief package.…
