health insurance
A Grave Prognosis for the Affordable Care Act
Shambolic “repeal and replace” attempts are no longer needed to render a grave prognosis for the Affordable Care Act, the law that provides medical coverage for 45 million Americans. The most virulent threats are proliferating in the judicial system. More
It Shouldn’t Be This Easy to Lose Health Insurance
Why do Americans even have to “remember†to get health insurance every year? We don’t ask citizens to remember to enroll with the fire department every year, or to remember to sign up for electricity service or water. More
The Insulin Wars
Insurance companies and drug manufacturers have come upon an ingenious business plan: They could farm out their dirty work to the doctors and the patients. When there’s an E. coli outbreak that causes illness and death, we rightly expect our regulatory bodies to step in. The outbreak of insulin greed is no different. More
A Tax Plan that’s a Medical Emergency
Three members of the U.S. Congress are physicians. But they seem to share a collective amnesia about the Hippocratic Oath. The bill being proposed by Republicans is about taxes, but the toll on our health could be worse than the toll on our wallets. More
How We Treat Our Fellow Americans
The blossoming truth of “No Apparent Distress†is that a segment of American society has been casually cast aside, left to scavenge on the meager scraps of volunteer health services, and failing that, left to die. Some politicians might call this “choice.†A more medically accurate term would be abandonment. More
Healthcare’s Biggest Conflict of Interest
The doctor-patient relationship is a one-on-one interaction, and so conflicts of interest are concrete and directly personal. Medical decisions can be swayed by money, even unconsciously, regardless of whether it’s from insurance companies or from industry. But the most basic conflict of interest is that health care access is tied to health insurance. Presence or absence or extent of health insurance is the most powerful influence on how doctors care for patients. More
POTUS 2017 TV Interview
Is there a difference between calling an insurance company about a prior authorization and calling a Senator about legislation? Danielle talks about why doctors and nurses need to stand up politically for their patients. More
Interview on WKPCC radio
Should doctors and nurses be politically active? Is there a conflict of interest? Is it okay for medical professionals to discuss politics with their patients? Listen to a discussion of the ethical issues of medical activism. More
Interview on WBYU Radio about Healthcare Reform
Are doctors and nurses ethically obligated to stand up against a law if they think it will harm their patients? Danielle talks to Julie Rose about the formation of HouseCallsCampaign, a grassroots effort to encourage medical professionals to call Congress and give their medical opinions. More
#HouseCallsCampaign
Asking all nurses, doctors, and medical professionals to call their senators and let them know how the proposed healthcare legislation will affect their patients. #HouseCallsCampaign More
Time for the Medical Profession to Stand Up
Advocating for patients is as much a part of medical care as the medical care itself. Should that advocacy, however, extend beyond the doctor’s office, when politics has palpable effects on patients’ health? Most doctors see an intrinsic distinction between calling an insurance company and calling a senator. But in terms of our patients’ health, there is a moral argument that they are equivalent More
Gaps in Coverage from GOP’s Health Plan Can be Deadly
When patients get “lost to follow-upâ€â€”for whatever reason—their health status plummets. Often times the damage wrought by gaps in care and inconsistent access is permanent. When was the last time that a president of the United States deliberately put so many Americans in harm’s way? More
Adventures in ‘Prior Authorization’
“Dear Doctor. We are writing to inform you that a prior authorization is required for the medication you prescribed.†That’s usually where I stop reading. More
A Tale of Two Phone Calls
There’s a lot we can learn from animals in many facets of life — Lord knows, a nice massage behind the ears could do a lot of us some good — but I am consistently impressed by how much smoother veterinary medicine runs. More
