ScoopDaily Email Alerts /
Want to write for Scoop? Apply Now
Measuring Health Care Reform's Generational Impact
Call it health karma: when you’re healthy, you’ll pay for the sick; when you’re sick, the healthy will repay the favor. This reciprocity is the basis of President Obama’s recent crusade to offer government-sponsored health insurance. Encouraging the 46+ million uninsured to buy into a less expensive public option, Obama is asking the government to safe-guard health care for the next generations of Americans.
This way, the President argues, even those who can’t afford it will receive subsidies to cover the cost. The new public option would give private enterprise a run for its money, thereby increasing competition among providers. Plus, with more people buying insurance, it would be less expensive all around, and more generations─young and old─would be covered.
Sounds like an offer that can’t be refused, right?
Still, the idea dubbed “tax on the healthy” by Michael Cannon of the Cato Institute, includes mandates such as forcing to pay, but only …
Popularity: 1% [?]
The Science of Ethics in Lifting the Ban on Stem Cell Research
On March 9th, President Barack Obama took a break from the economy and focused his energy on science. By signing the Presidential Memorandum on Scientific Integrity, Obama increased the freedoms granted to the national science community, and with the Executive Order on Stem Cell Research, he brought an end to the ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.
At last, scientists, doctors and researchers alike have been freed from the constraints placed on them over the last eight years under the Bush administration.
Americans, however, cannot help but question if President Obama is in the right for abolishing the ban on stem cell research. Once again sparking the science-versus-ideology issue, Obama defended his decision, saying that “our government has forced what I believe is a false choice between sound science and moral values.”
Obama believes the newfound freedom in scientific research …
Popularity: 1% [?]
Dr. Gupta, Paging Dr. Gupta
Looks like a White House Call from President Barack Obama. No, Mr. Obama does not need a check-up for job jitters; he is considering CNN’s chief medical correspondent and “House Call” host Dr. Sanjay Gupta the post of US Surgeon General.
According to sources close to the White House, Dr. Gupta has accepted the offer. However, speculation has been abuzz for several weeks, and still no call has been made. After several high-profile Cabinet withdrawals, the Obama Administration may be delayed by further vetting of Gupta or other candidates to ensure their credentials (and taxes) are intact.
But the spotlight remains on Dr. Sanjay Gupta. His resume is weighty: Gupta is currently assistant professor of neurosurgery at Emory University School of Medicine, associate chief of the neurosurgery department at Atlanta, GA’s Grady Memorial Hospital, and a CNN correspondent.
A graduate of the University of Michigan, Gupta is a best-selling author, an Emmy Award recipient, a …
Popularity: 1% [?]
Even Oscar Had To
The glamour has lost its glimmer in light of the recent economic crisis. The economy has gotten so bad that the Oscars had to tone down its night to shine, but don’t worry: the celebrities still had bountiful swag bags.
But in all seriousness, the ratings for the award show went up by about 4 million, because this year, more people watched the event at home. The dire economic situation has gotten people to pinch their pockets even more tightly. For example, listening to a trivia quiz on the radio, there was a question: historically in a recession, sales of what increase? The answer: cook books. This response may seem a tad comical, but it’s true: the recession has affected all aspects of life, including dining. People are losing jobs left and right, prices of just about everything are rising, and college tuition, especially for the California public universities, is increasing. …
Popularity: 1% [?]
Next Health Care “Czar” for HHS
Not paying taxes seems to be a common thread linking politicians -– or at least the ones President Obama has been choosing to be part of his cabinet. The latest exposed victim was former South Dakota Senator Thomas Daschle. Due to his not accurately reporting or paying income taxes, Daschle withdrew his nomination as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services on February 3, 2009. Now that the media-dubbed “health care czar” Daschle is out of the limelight, the question is: who will fill the spot?
Enter Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius. President Obama, who is now focusing attention to health care, has found a contender in Governor Sebelius to fill the position of Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, according to The New York Times. Before her term as Governor, Sebelius ran the Medicaid program in Kansas as the insurance commissioner in the state, giving …
Popularity: unranked [?]
