Overview As the cost of healthcare rises, the government is pouring money into the current health insurance system to find a way to counteract this rise, and lower costs for patients. Progressive Democrats propose expanding upon the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and implementing a single payer system. The key issue with a single payer system … Continue reading
Category Archives: Healthcare
Breaking Down the Single Payer System
Overview Late June, legislation that would transform California’s health care system to a single-payer system was brought to a halt by Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, despite approval in the state Senate and loud public support. Single-payer health insurance eliminates the numerous private and government health insurers and replaces them with a single public organization that … Continue reading
Policy Pitfalls – The Wrong Pocket Problem
A source of frustration for policy makers is that effective policy and feasible policy do not always neatly intersect. Of course the political climate determines the reforms that receive serious attention, but some proposals fail even without ideological opposition. One roadblock for evidence-backed proposals that policy makers must navigate is the “wrong pocket problem”. The … Continue reading
Extending the Age of Antibiotics
In May 2015, it was discovered that a patient in the U.S. had contracted a strain of bacteria that was resistant to the strongest of antibiotics, a characteristic known as antimicrobial resistance (AMR). This condition can result in previously harmless and treatable infections becoming deadly “superbugs.” Reactions to this announcement ranged from paranoid to nonchalant, … Continue reading
ACA Made Easy: Individual Shared Responsibility
Since the Individual Mandate statute of the Affordable Care Act was enacted in January 2014, every American is accountable for an Individual Shared Responsibility* payment every year. Meaning, if you do not have health insurance, you will face penalties. While you may not see an actual summons, or pay a fine, the federal government enforces … Continue reading
A Case for the Public Health Emergency Fund
In August 2015, a physician in Brazil noticed that a patient’s microcephaly did not display the characteristics associated with normal causes of the disease. As additional cases were presented to the physician, the Zika virus was eventually identified as the cause. Today, this disease is dangerously close to becoming an epidemic in the United States. … Continue reading
Why the Founding Fathers Would Dislike “Obamacare”
Among the many popular topics of the 2016 presidential campaigns, healthcare remains a timeless defining issue sparking vivid debate on both sides of the political spectrum. In the 2016 presidential campaign, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) – commonly referred to as “Obamacare” – has become the privileged scapegoat. However, beyond the political contention, an aspect … Continue reading
