Glenside, PA — President Obama came to suburban Philadelphia Monday to rally for healthcare reform.  In a speech designed to fire up the crowd of 2,000 at Arcadia University, Obama gave a campaign-like address to garner support for his most recent proposal for health reform and to encourage the public to call on their legislators for an immediate up/down vote.
The details of the plan had been previously discussed and published in great detail.  That wasn’t the purpose of this visit.  This town-hall/rock concert atmosphere was intended to get Obama back …

Given a choice, Americans would place their trust in physicians to reform health care.  The results of a Gallup poll were released today in which people were asked whether they were confident or not confident in the healthcare recommendations of eight groups of potential influencers including: President Obama; Democratic and Republican lawmakers; physicians; hospitals; pharmaceutical and insurance executives; and university professors.
The poll taken on March 2-3 was also done last June and the results are mostly the same.  Physicians are most trusted (although seemingly least influential) to fix the health care …

The American Cancer Society has revised its recommendations regarding prostate cancer screening.  The new guidelines call for the patient to make an informed decision on whether to proceed with treatment.  This comes just a few months after experts recommended against regular mammograms for women.
According to the ACS, “men with no symptoms of prostate cancer who are in relatively good health and can expect to live at least 10 more years have the opportunity to make an informed decision with their doctor about screening after learning about the uncertainties, risks, and …

President Obama is determined to get health reform legislation passed and has incorporated into his plan four Republican-generated ideas from last week’s Health Summit.  In a letter sent to Congressional leaders, the president outlined items related to fraud, malpractice, reimbursements, and health savings accounts.  Obama will hit the road next week to garner support for his proposal.  He is scheduled for appearances in Philadelphia and St. Louis.

J. James Rohack, MD, president of the AMA, said “As we reach the final stage of health system reform, the AMA is pleased that …

From the AMA:
UPDATE:  Last night, the U.S. Senate voted yet again to delay the 21 percent Medicare physician payment cut for one month, postponing it until April 1. The Senate should use this time to permanently repeal the flawed Medicare physician payment formula that puts access to care for seniors and military families at risk.
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate’s failure to act before today’s 21 percent Medicare physician payment cut has put seniors at grave risk of reduced access to health care and choice of physician.
“The Senate had over a year …

“I don’t know that these gaps can be bridged.”  That quote by President Obama succinctly sums up the political theatre production of the Health Reform Summit, which yesterday played live for a nationally televised audience.
The Summit was billed as a bi-partisan effort to resuscitate health reform legislation.  But it was more cynically anticipated to be a show produced by the Obama administration to force passage of a Democratic-produced bill temporarily stalled by Republicans.  Basically, political theatre.
In his opening remarks at The Summit, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Ten.) listed several ideas vital …

You’re going to hear a lot this week about health reform as President Obama today released his plan in preparation for Thursday’s televised bi-partisan meeting, which is the administration’s effort to get reform back on track.  There’s not much new in Obama’s version of a bill, much of which takes proposals from the House version’s column A and combines it with the Senate’s column B.  Most of the ideas are centered around reeling in the insurance industry and paying for an additional 30 million or so uninsured.  There’s no mention …

Where you live can affect your health.  And now that theory has been documented and the results are online to view at CountyHealthRankings.org.
Researchers at The University of Wisconsin and the Robert Wood Foundation compared every county within each state.  The report is divided into two main categories.  First, they measured two types of health outcomes: how long people live (mortality) and how healthy people feel while alive (morbidity).  Mortality was defined as the number of premature deaths (before age 75).  For morbidity, they used the measures of health-related quality of life …

President Obama announced plans to host a live, televised meeting with Republican and Democratic congressional leaders to discuss and revive health care reform.  In an interview with Katie Couric aired prior to the Super Bowl, Obama said of the proposed summit, “I want to come back [after the President's Weekend break] and have a large meeting, Republicans and Democrats, to go through, systematically, all the best ideas that are out there and move it forward.”
The Obama administration realizes that the opportunity to reform health care is slipping away.  The proposed …

CHICAGO – The American Medical Association announced today its new Web site registry supported by the National Disaster Life Support (NDLS) that can easily coordinate the deployment of physicians who are willing to volunteer with federal and private sector response organizations in Haiti. Web site can be accessed and physicians can sign up at www.ama-assn.org/go/haiti-volunteer.
“While hospitals in Haiti have reported a decrease in emergency patients and hospitalizations since a week ago, the need for continued medical assistance is still significant,” said AMA President J. James Rohack, M.D. “As a result, the need …