universal health

> A California osteopath has lost his license to practice in California after 'Dateline' caught him propositioning an underage boy. Release

> Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital isn't happy at all that Dr. V. John Bagnato has sued. Now the hospital is fighting back. Release

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Angering those who don't support its backbone--a doubled tobacco tax--Maryland lawmakers are going ahead with their proposal to cover more of the state's roughly 780,000 uninsured. The plan, which would double the state's tobacco tax to $2, would cover low income workers and subsidize small business coverage. The idea would be to bring far more poor residents into coverage plans, …

It's hard to keep count these days of how many states are planning universal health initiatives. One of the latest is New Jersey, which, in its case, would eventually require all residents to carry health insurance. State officials predict that the plan's first year costs could hit $1.7 billion, a number that might not get past the legislature, but should, given the costs of caring for the uninsured inefficiently, proponents say. After all, they note, the state already pays almost $600 …

The State of the Union address is just a day away, and healthcare has emerged as a central issue that President Bush will focus on in his speech. In a radio address on Saturday, Bush revealed his plan to control healthcare costs by tax breaks to help low-income people buy insurance and a tax boost for employees whose health coverage costs more than average. Supporters are applauding the president's plan, saying that it will bring coverage to almost 50 million uninsured Americans. Others, …

Two years after the odd couple of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich teamed up to tout electronic health records, more unusual groupings are forming in Washington. The Business Roundtable, representing major corporations, is getting together with organized labor--namely the Service Employees International Union--to launch "Divided We Fail," a campaign to push for broad-based-and unspecified-healthcare reform.

Tomorrow, America's …

It's 2007, and universal healthcare is in the air. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) has called for the federal government to follow Massachusetts' example and extend healthcare to all Americans. Kennedy recently assumed the role of chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which deals with a number of health-related issues. In his first day on the job, Kennedy called in …

A new survey published in Consumer Reports magazine, 78 percent of the physicians surveyed say their patients have asked for drugs advertised on TV. More importantly, however, is the fact that 67 percent admit to prescribing the drug after patients ask for it. The report underscores the impact direct-to-consumer advertising can have on both patients and physicians. Consumer Reports urges patients to ignore the ads. Some doctors think that DTC drug advertising does have some …

At a federal and state level, policymakers are beginning to agree on some bare bones requirements for universal healthcare access. Massachusetts' plan is an early trendsetter, though there's plenty of opportunity for other …

Though he says he'll give everyone full details in January, to date Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell has been a bit coy when it comes to his proposal for providing universal healthcare in the state. However, a picture of Rendell's plans is beginning to emerge. In an effort to cover 1 million uninsured state residents, it appears that Rendell will develop a program based on a previous …

In January, Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell is planning to release a healthcare plan designed to pull off a really nice trick. Rendell claims it will expand healthcare for the uninsured while simultaneously cutting back costs. The governor hasn't revealed much detail on the plan, other than that it was intended to provide coverage to the state's roughly one million uninsured, while cutting provider costs. Cost-cutting measures he has in mind include infection control measures, changing …