IT SEEMS LIKE a pretty simple question: Have we reached the point where COVID-19 has become less lethal than the flu? But if you ask a group of public health/infectious […]
Health Care
Posted inHealth
Medicaid waiver makes money available for housing, nutrition
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT on Wednesday approved a five-year, $67 billion agreement with the state of Massachusetts that will govern how the state administers its Medicaid program. Gov. Charlie Baker said […]
Posted inHealth Care
Mass General Brigham cost containment plan approved
A FAIRLY MUTED Health Policy Commission on Tuesday unanimously accepted a first-of-its kind cost containment plan put forward by Mass General Brigham, ending a nine-month process to rein in spending […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
Nurses need more than a wellness program
IMAGINE YOU ARE a nurse at a Massachusetts hospital. Your 12-hour shift just turned into a 14-hour shift against your will. You’ve barely had time to hydrate, or even use […]
Posted inOpinion
The health of our health care workers needs attention
MOST PEOPLE want to help during a medical emergency. But not everyone has the ability to calm their breathing, steel their nerves, set aside their emotions, and focus on the […]
Posted inHealth Care
Mass General Brigham ups cost reduction target to $127.8m
MASS GENERAL BRIGHAM, after months of consultation with the Health Policy Commission, submitted a second plan for reducing costs that is very similar to its initial plan but with higher […]
Posted inPolitics
Ballot question would shift profits from insurers to dentists
WHY ARE MASSACHUSETTS dentists and orthodontists spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a campaign to change the rules governing dental insurance? Evan Horowitz, executive director of the Center for […]
Posted inThe Download
Demand picking up a bit for new Omicron booster shots
Now that the federal government has authorized Omicron-specific COVID-19 vaccines, some Massachusetts residents are running to get them – but far from the furious rush that accompanied the initial vaccines. […]
Posted inHealth
Demand picking up a bit for new Omicron booster shots
NOW THAT THE federal government has authorized Omicron-specific COVID-19 vaccines, some Massachusetts residents are running to get them – but far from the furious rush that accompanied the initial vaccines. […]
Posted inHealth, Health Care, State House News Service
Biden pushes cancer moonshot at JFK Library
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE SIXTY YEARS after President John F. Kennedy challenged the nation to collectively get behind the goal of putting a man on the moon by the end […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
Is state aid really helping the neediest hospitals?
AS LEGISLATORS ponder whether to resurrect a $350 million “relief” fund for Massachusetts hospitals, we suggest that they first step up the state’s informational capacity to better assure that they […]
Posted inHealth, State Government
Baker returns public health bill unsigned
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Monday refused to sign a bill overhauling the state’s public health system, instead returning it to the Legislature with an amendment. The intention of the bill […]
Posted inThe Download
MNA chief: No shortage of nurses in state
The president of the Massachusetts Nurses Association says there is no shortage of nurses in the state, just a shortage of nurses willing to work under existing staffing conditions. Hospitals […]
Posted inHealth Care
MNA chief: No shortage of nurses in state
THE PRESIDENT of the Massachusetts Nurses Association says there is no shortage of nurses in the state, just a shortage of nurses willing to work under existing staffing conditions. Hospitals […]
Posted inOpinion
Legislature misses opportunity with nursing home reform
MUCH HAS BEEN WRITTEN about the legalization of sports betting in the Commonwealth. The introduction of this much-debated and formerly illegal pastime is a tribute to the power of the […]
Posted inHealth Care
Lawmakers reach agreement on Soldiers’ Home governance
LEGISLATIVE NEGOTIATORS have come to an agreement on how to overhaul the governance of the state’s two Soldiers’ Homes in Holyoke and Chelsea. A bill released Wednesday evening lays out […]
Posted inHealth, State Government
With time short, lawmakers seek to reshape local public health
THE LEGISLATURE is poised to dramatically reshape Massachusetts’ local public health landscape, after the COVID-19 pandemic spotlighted just how inadequate it is. “I’ve been doing this work for almost 25 […]
Posted inOpinion
Period poverty is a reproductive justice issue
IT ISN’T JUST abortion: period poverty is a reproductive justice issue. In the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, people are looking to state legislatures to further […]
Posted inOpinion
5 observations at the end of the HPC’s Altman years
THE ”ALTMAN YEARS” came to an end at the last meeting of the Health Policy Commission when chairman Stuart Altman, a professor at Brandeis, stepped down after 10 years at […]
Posted inOpinion
Your gas stove is dangerous to your health
THERE ARE ABOUT 43 million gas stoves in the United States. We don’t typically think of them as harmful to our children, communities, and environment, but a growing body of […]
Posted inHealth Care
Altman leaving Health Policy Commission
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Wednesday appointed retired health care executive Deborah Devaux as chair of the Health Policy Commission, replacing Stuart Altman, who has chaired the agency since its creation […]
Posted inOpinion
This latest insurer ‘surprise’ is galling
IT’S SIMPLE; we pay our health insurance premiums and expect that in return our coverage will serve our best interests. And yet, year after year it seems, we find new […]
Posted inOpinion
Children’s affiliation — and expansion — make a lot of sense
IN A recent opinion piece in Commonwealth, Paul Hattis expressed support for the proposed affiliation between Boston Children’s Hospital and Franciscan Children’s. At a time when behavioral health is in crisis, […]
Posted inHealth Care
SJC lets dental insurance question proceed to ballot
THE NOVEMBER BALLOT is coming into focus as the Supreme Judicial Court on Wednesday ruled that a question regulating dental insurance can proceed to the ballot. The ballot question would […]