Health Policy: the Trump Era

Physician and policy commentary on health care under the Trump administration, covering regulation, reform efforts, and the political decisions shaping American medicine.

A single-payer system is the American way

Margalit Gur-Arie

Health Policy

August 7, 2017

As is customary for every administration in recent history, the Trump administration chose to impale itself on the national spear known as health care in America. The consequences so far are precisely as I expected, but one intriguing phenomenon is surprisingly beginning to emerge. People are starting to talk about single payer. People who are not avowed socialists, people who benefit handsomely from the health care status quo seem to …

The obsession with diagnosing President Trump

Dr. Saurabh Jha

Physician

July 7, 2017

When I first read about neurosyphilis in medical school, I became convinced that Mrs. Thatcher, who I detested intensely because it was fashionable detesting her, had general paralysis of the insane. The condition, marked by episodic bouts of temporary insanity, which indicated that the spirochetes were feasting on expensive real estate in the brain, seemed a plausible explanation why she had introduced the poll tax.

A little bit of medical knowledge …

Why many patients are afraid to come to the clinic

Elisabeth Poorman, MD

Physician

March 22, 2017

The young woman sat in the corner of my exam room, facing away from me as I asked her questions. Her answers were short. “I’m from El Salvador.” Why did she come? “Because of the violence.” Her voice was flat. Her hands trembled. I knew she had suffered terribly and I needed to ask her how.

Slowly, quietly, she recounted the gang violence she had fled in El Salvador. The assault …

The CBO scores the Republican health plan. What does it mean?

Robert Laszewski

Health Policy

March 14, 2017

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimated that 14 million of people would lose coverage in 2018, 21 million in 2020, and 24 million in 2026 if the House Republican plan is allowed to significantly amend the Affordable Health Care Act (Obamacare).

In my last post, I called the House Republican bill “mind-boggling” for the negative impact I believe it would have on the number of those uninsured and …

Little is gained by arguing that President Trump has a psychiatric disorder

Steven Reidbord, MD

Conditions and Diseases

February 27, 2017

On January 31, 2017, the Psychology Today editorial staff published a well-balanced summary of the debate over whether to declare President Trump mentally ill. While the debate focuses on mental health professionals such as psychiatrists and psychologists who are credentialed to make such diagnoses, the question clearly goes further.

Public commentary following this and other articles expresses outrage — not only at the behaviors and policies of Trump himself, but also at any suggestion …

I march for my daughter and son everyday

Nina Shapiro, MD

Physician

February 2, 2017

On January 21, 2017, the day after the 45th President of the United States was inaugurated, hundreds of thousands of women and men marched in thousands of cities across this country and others to stand up for rights of women, men, and countless groups that have been ostracized or are at risk for losing rights, representation, or critical funding. I watched my Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram feeds throughout the day. …

This is what the election taught me about medicine

Nathaniel Fleming

Physician

January 1, 2017

The morning after the recent presidential election, I entered our clinic building feeling as though I was in a daze. Like many people, I had stayed up late following the election results and trying to understand what they meant for our collective future. I could see our country’s divisions fresh in my mind. I could picture the electoral map, with each state colored firmly either “red” or “blue;” I could …

Obama gambled on health care and lost. Will Trump lose too?

Margalit Gur-Arie

Health Policy

January 1, 2017

President Barack Obama, whether wittingly or not, invested his entire political capital in reforming health care in America. He gambled and lost. Not because he had nefarious intentions, but because he left the gory details to a corrupt Congress and a shady cadre of lying and conniving technocrats, ending up with something vastly different from what he campaigned on. From everything I’m reading now, President-elect Donald Trump is about to …

How should the Affordable Care Act be modified?

Anonymous

Health Policy

December 31, 2016

The Affordable Care Act is perhaps the biggest overhaul of the U.S. health care system in many decades. Enacted by President Barack Obama in 2010, it made health care attainable and affordable to millions of Americans. Individuals with pre-existing medical conditions cannot be denied health care coverage; insurance companies have to cover essential health care needs including mental health and preventive services, children can be covered under their parents’ plans …

The potential costs of Tom Price as HHS secretary

Miranda Yaver, PhD

Health Policy

December 27, 2016

President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly vowed to “repeal and replace Obamacare.” A logical question is: With what? The announcement of Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga) as Trump’s nominee for secretary of health and human services provides some answers.

Unlike other Republican critics of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Price, an orthopedic surgeon, has offered many replacement plans of unmatched detail. His Empowering Patients First Act was 242 pages …

We must cross the political divide for the sake of our patients

Taison Bell, MD

Physician

December 9, 2016

I spent the evening of the 2016 presidential election and the morning after on an emotional rollercoaster. It began high and then descended into shock, disbelief and grave concern about the future of our country. Now that we have selected a candidate who intends to take the country in a radically different direction, and I worry about the consequences of reversing the Affordable Care Act, reversing economic assistance programs, and …

Donald Trump keeping the pre-existing conditions protections isn’t new

Robert Laszewski

Health Policy

November 28, 2016

The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, CBS News and other news outlets have led with headlines touting the big news that Donald Trump is willing to keep parts of the Affordable Care Act — notably the pre-existing condition protections and the ability for children up to the age of 26 to stay on their parents policies.

Except this isn’t news.

In May, Trump’s policy advisor told Healthline that …

4 ways to deal with post-election disappointment

Manoj Jain, MD, MPH and Mark W. Muesse, PhD

Physician

November 27, 2016

The pain is silent, subtle and gnawing, like that of being overlooked for a promotion, or being rejected by your dream college. Over 60 million Americans who voted for Hillary Clinton may be groping for a way to overcome such a pain after the stunning loss of their presidential candidate.

For thousands of years, sages have guided us on how to find comfort in a time of pain …

This physician voted for Donald Trump. Here’s why.

Anonymous

Physician

November 16, 2016

I am writing why I as a physician voted for Donald Trump for president. This election has caused such outcry that I hesitate to put my name. I want to also say that I am a female physician. I feel that I need to express why I voted the way that I did.

I am still in an independent practice with one other physician. We are hanging on by a thread, …

Health Policy: the Trump Era

Health Policy: the Trump Era

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