THE US SENATE on Tuesday delayed debate on its version of changes to the Affordable Care Act. No one knows exactly what the future holds for health care, but Gov. […]
Health
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
What your pharmacist can’t tell you
I’VE BEEN AN INDEPENDENT PHARMACIST for 37 years and during that time I have gotten to know many patients. In some cases, I know quite a bit about their families, […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Raise the tobacco sales age to 21
MANY PEOPLE ARE SURPRISED TO LEARN that tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable illness and premature death in Massachusetts and across the country, despite the strides we have […]
Posted inHealth Care
Death of a cancer lab
FEW PLACES HAVE the resources and brain power to match Boston when it comes to biomedical research, including the search for effective ways to treat and prevent cancer. Internationally renowned […]
Posted inMicrophilanthropy
Running away from homelessness
Microphilanthropy is an occasional feature that calls attention to small acts of generosity that people do for the benefit of others and highlights little-known needs that could benefit from generosity, […]
Posted inHealth Care, State House News Service
Health panel finds some common ground
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AFTER SIX MONTHS OF SEEKING WAYS to address the variation in prices charged by Massachusetts medical providers, officials plan to recommend a host of solutions including […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
Mass. = primary care doctor desert
MASSACHUSETTS IS ARGUABLY home to the best hospitals, doctors, and medical research institutions in the world. The best and brightest attend our medical schools and many will subsequently live and […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
Repealing Obamacare won’t fix health care
“ALL BUREAUCRACIES, PUBLIC OR PRIVATE, are the same” is a motto I have lived by for years, and it applies to the health care and health insurance bureaucracies. I purchase […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
Good health goes beyond health care
WITH MORE THAN 1.8 MILLION Massachusetts residents covered by MassHealth at a cost of more than $15 billion, there is no doubt that Massachusetts is committed to ensuring that care […]
Posted inHealth Care, State House News Service
Health panel raises concern on Children’s expansion
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE PROPOSED EXPANSIONS at Boston Children’s Hospital carry a likelihood of increased health care spending in Massachusetts and could potentially drive competing providers out of business, according […]
Posted inHealth Care
Hospital pricing deliberations begin
THE 22 MEMBERS OF THE SPECIAL COMMISSION set up to address unwarranted price variation among the state’s health care providers held their first meeting on Tuesday, with one of the […]
Posted inHealth Care, State House News Service
Mass. health care spending up 3.9%
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE Spending on health care in Massachusetts rose to $57.2 billion in 2015, growing more slowly than in 2014 but for the second straight year outpacing the […]
Posted inDrug Addiction, Politics, State House News Service
Pot campaign bashed for appeal
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A FUNDRAISING APPEAL from the marijuana legalization campaign has drawn the ire of health care professionals and parents of children who died from opioid addiction after […]
Posted inHealth Care
Baker pushes health care competition
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION is showing signs that it wants to get more aggressive about encouraging greater competition between health care providers. Monica Bharel, the commissioner of the Department of Public […]
Posted inDrug Addiction, Opinion
Too many opioid prescriptions get written
CONGRESS HAS HELPED MASSACHUSETTS and the nation take another step forward in the battle against prescription drug abuse. The Comprehensive Recovery and Addiction Act (CARA), a bipartisan effort incorporating several […]
Posted inThe Download
A question of mental illness
“Did they have a magic wand that somehow cured mental illness?’’ That poignant but simple question comes from state Sen. Kenneth Donnelly, a former Lexington firefighter, after the Boston Globe’s […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
Children’s Hospital expansion won’t cut costs
IN 2008, A SEMINAL ARTICLE was published in Health Affairs by Donald M. Berwick, Thomas W. Noland, and John Whittington, entitled “The Triple Aim: Care, Health, And Cost.” Its conclusions […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download
Can Brigham president be a fair NFL referee?
The NFL is a multibillion-dollar enterprise whose very existence depends on warding off any idea that those riches amount to blood money that comes at the expense of its oversized […]
Posted inHealth Care, Politics, State House News Service
Deal would avoid hospital pricing ballot fight
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A DEAL BROKERED by Beacon Hill leaders between labor and the hospital industry to avert a contentious hospital pricing disparity ballot question this fall would reenergize […]
Posted inHealth Care
Commission wraps up health pricing discussions
THE STATE’S HEALTH POLICY COMMISSION on Thursday wrapped up a series of discussions with industry stakeholders on what to do about hospital pricing disparities, but the group seemed to have […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Pass the GMO labeling bill now
MOST PEOPLE CARE what’s in their food. Whether the reason is dietary, religious, moral, or a concern about flavor, we like to know – and many need to know – […]
Posted inDrug Addiction, State House News Service
Lawmakers hear testimony on pot legalization
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE Activists in favor of the legalization of the adult use of marijuana squared off Monday with law enforcement officials and legislators in what one activist called […]
Posted inThe Download
Football heading for trouble
Looking to stop the flow of tears falling into area beers, NECN’s Broadside host Sue O’Connell offered this on-the-bright-side tweet on Sunday night: “Hey #PatriotsNation, the good news is your […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Legislative panel releases opioid abuse bill
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE PATIENTS PRESCRIBED OPIOIDS for the first time would be limited to a seven-day supply and any individual admitted to the emergency room with an apparent drug […]