Nation Topics - Health | The Nation

The author comments on the State of the Union address delivered by U.S. President George W. Bush. Bush did not mention the government's defense pact with the Shiite leaders who will dominate Iraq. While Bush paid tribute to civil right leader Coretta Scott King, antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan was tossed out. Bush addressed issues like healthcare, education and gas prices. He thinks we have too much insurance, so he offered to privatize healthcare. Bush didn't mention that he has not funded his own education programs and is cutting education spending. He remains in denial about global warming.

The article looks at the issue of employees' rights in the United States. The author reviews how increased healthcare, housing, and gasoline costs are negatively impacting American families. The concept of employee unionization is discussed. It is the author's view that unions can help preserve middle class jobs while making the economy more competitive.

The article presents the author's views on healthcare in the United States. According to the author, healthcare providers and drug companies have manipulated the medical care system beyond comprehension in order to maximize profits and shareholder confidence. It is suggested that the existing Medicare program is capable of fixing the healthcare system in the U.S. The author introduce two proposals aimed at fixing Medicare.

The article presents Representative Bob Filner's views on improving veterans healthcare in the United States. Statistics related to the number of veteran patients in the U.S. are reviewed. Various policy changes implemented at the Department of Veterans Affairs are reviewed. The Assured Funding for Veterans' Healthcare Act of 2005 is discussed.

The article looks at a budget reconciliation bill written by Republicans in the United States that will lead, the author contends, to more tax cuts for rich people. The budget allows states to impose premiums and increase co-payments on low-income Medicaid recipients. Congress could have saved billions by reducing the amount that Medicaid pays for pharmaceutical drugs. The budget also cuts child support enforcement, foster care programs, and student loan programs. The author references the book "Off Center," by Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson.

This section offers observations on U.S. political parties. While more Democrats appear to be finding their voice on Iraq and core economic issues, the Democratic Leadership Council issued a memo telling Democrats to behave more like Republicans, claiming that Americans remain moderate to conservative. Yet they ignored data showing that Americans support universal healthcare, a higher minimum wage, re-evaluation of America's trade policy and an exit strategy for U.S. troops in Iraq. Senator Russell Feingold has forged a bipartisan coalition of senators to demand that the President George W. Bush administration revise the law to better protect civil liberties.

Looks at the reaction of Christian conservatives to the potential release of a vaccine that protects against the sexually transmitted disease known as human papilloma virus (HPV). Development of the vaccine by pharmaceutical companies Merck & Co. Inc. and GlaxoSmithKline PLC; Comments regarding the vaccine from Bridget Maher of the Family Research Council, who states that giving young women an HPV vaccine could been seen as a license for them to engage in sexual activity.

Offers a look at the role of antidepressant drugs in homicides perpetrated by teenagers. Case of Jeff Weise, a teenager who killed ten others at the Red Lake Indian reservation in Minnesota, and who was on the drug Prozac; Presence of the antidepressant Luvox at the Columbine High School shooting in Colorado; Use of Prozac by Joseph Wesbecker who killed nine in Kentucky; Lawsuit against pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, manufacturer of Prozac, in the Wesbecker incident; Criticism of the clinical testing of Prozac; Connection between psychiatrists and pharmaceutical companies; Research into the likely link between Prozac and violent acts.

This article comments on issues related to U.S. politics. Permanent Minority: New Mexico Democratic Governor Bill Richardson called George W. Bush "gracious" for his willingness to negotiate over the massive cuts he has proposed in Medicaid, the nation's premier healthcare program for the poor. Toward the Majority: Montana's new Democratic Governor Brian Schweitzer likened Bush's efforts to sell governors on his Medicaid and Social Security plans to a livestock auctioneer with poor quality studs who fails to tempt buyers. He saw a lot of nose-crinkles among the govs, as if they detected a foul odor: "I didn't see a lot of buyers in the room," he said.

The article looks at the cost of medical care, and its impact on a patient's personal finances. Since 2000, Harvard associate medical professors Steffie Woolhandler and David Himmelstein, along with Harvard law professor Elizabeth Warren and Ohio University sociology and anthropology professor Deborah Thorne, have been compiling data on bankruptcies in the United States. Their study, published on February 2 by the medical policy journal Health Affairs, found that between 1981 and 2001, medical-related bankruptcies increased by 2,200 percent, an astonishing explosion in a relatively short period of time. In addition, the study uncovered surprising information about the affected population. While poor, uninsured Americans have long been the most obvious victims of a defective healthcare system, it's the middle class that suffers most in this case, accounting for about 90 percent of all medical bankruptcies, says Warren. Whatever happens politically, the fate of medical debtors will also be shaped by several cases now winding through the courts. But even modest measures to protect medical debtors face an increasingly unforgiving environment. And the bankruptcy reform pending in Congress could hurl many more middle-class Americans into lifelong debt.