Health care reform just took a dramatic and unexpected turn.
Only a few weeks ago it seemed that the Congress was about to complete action on a fundamental overhaul of health care financing and delivery in America, and send this legislation to President Obama, so that he could sign and complete his top domestic policy priority [...]

There are two weeks left in 2009, and there will be lots of holiday interruptions – so the huge efforts to get agreement on a formula for national health reform, and push it through the Congress will surely go over into the New Year.
Each day seems to bring additional twists and turns to the tale [...]

This week we have had a disquieting reminder of one of the challenges we face in overhauling health care in America – the public are deeply distrustful of “experts.”
The US Preventive Services Task Force – an appointed body of leading clinicians and scientists – issued a new recommendation of when women ought to have mammograms. [...]

Last week, President Obama spoke to a joint session of Congress about health reform, and polling afterwards has shown an upturn in support for him and for his recommendations for overhauling health care in America.
Today, Senator Max Baucus, the chair of the Senate Finance Committee, unveiled his long-awaited proposal. I continue to believe the [...]

Today the news is filled with stories about the passing of Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts from an incurable brain tumor.
During his almost fifty years in the Congress, Senator Kennedy has been a dominant leader in so many areas of our national life – health and health care, education, civil rights, and on and [...]

Several people have asked me in the past few days for my perspective on what’s happening to health reform in Washington.

For what it’s worth, here goes –

The Charlotte Chamber of Commerce holds a summit each year at which they focus on pressing matters affecting their area. This year’s focus is health care in North Carolina.
The folks who have planned this year’s meeting could not have chosen a more timely topic about which they can assist and educate the business community.
I [...]

Yesterday at the White House a group of representatives from various sectors of the health care industry met with President Obama to offer their long-term support for health care reform. Hospitals and physicians were there, as well as the health insurance, pharmaceutical industries and organized labor.
The meeting was noteworthy in that it keeps this [...]

As a new strain of swine flu appears in the United States, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention once again takes the lead.
The CDC, based in Atlanta, is uniquely qualified to deal with potential public health crises – whether infectious diseases or other challenges. Its epidemiologists and laboratory scientists work in close [...]

I had an engaging conversation about health reform yesterday with Frank Stasio, host of the program “The State of Things” on our local NPR station WUNC. You can hear the interview, “Prescription for Health Care,” on the Web.
Mr. Stasio was well informed, and asked important questions ranging from how the wheels of reform [...]