Editor’s Note: Tim Jost wrote 3 posts analyzing the House health reform bill HR 3962. The first looks at financing reforms, the second post delves into the public option, health insurance exchanges, and more. A new 4th post analyzes what changed in the bill the House approved Saturday night.
In this final post, I will explore the [...]

In 2001, the U.S. Surgeon General issued a warning that this country was facing an “obesity epidemic.” Since that time, there have been public policy responses from all levels of government. Yesterday Health Affairs released three studies about municipal responses, one from Los Angeles and two from New York.
• Zoning For Health? The Year-Old Ban On [...]

Several recent stories have reminded us that perhaps the most looming health crisis is not the political debate about health reform but the pandemic swine flu H1N1. The dreaded phone call has not come from a pollster or the local political party urging you to call your representative, but from a summer camp or overseas program [...]

Medical spending on conditions associated with obesity has doubled in the past decade and is estimated to have reached an annual rate of $147 billion in 2008, say researchers in a new study published July 27 on the Health Affairs Web site. The study was presented at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s “Weight of [...]

At an 11:00 AM press conference on Monday, July 27, Eric Finkelstein of RTI International will discuss the findings from a new study on medical spending on obesity that will be published this morning on the Health Affairs Web site. Finkelstein will be joined by Thomas Frieden, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Bill [...]

Federal support for graduate medical education (GME) training positions has been capped for more than a decade and it is no secret that the country’s teaching hospitals are restive. They want “more cap.” A number of bills have been introduced in the House and Senate proposing an increase in the Medicare funded GME cap by [...]

The appointment of Dr. Thomas Frieden as the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is a triumph for public health and the American people. A passionate and well-informed professional, Frieden has been unusually successful as New York City’s Public Health Commissioner. In that role, with the strong backing of Mayor [...]

As the first H1N1 or so-called swine flu cases were diagnosed in Mexico, health officials all over the United States leapt into action. This is the test that they have been preparing for.
As the disease spread, public health professionals have been actively tracking the cases, working around the clock to analyze lab specimens, offering treatment to [...]

Like the United States, China is grappling with a serious obesity epidemic, with nearly 25 percent of its adults considered overweight or obese, according to a study out today in Health Affairs. The rate of overweight adults in the country is predicted to double by 2028 without interventions to stem the growth rate. An increasingly Westernized [...]

The last week of February 2008 marked the first anniversary of the death of Deamonte Driver, the twelve-year-old-boy from Prince Georges’ County, Maryland who died from a tooth infection that spread to his brain. His death was another sorry statistic in the litany of sorry statistics about the disparities in health and access to health insurance [...]

Comparing health systems, the growth of U.S. health spending, and proposals to fix Medicare physician payment topped the January-February 2008 most-read list for the Health Affairs Blog. Sign up for email or RSS feed alerts to stay on top of new postings. Additional commenting always welcome.

U.S. Worst At Beating Death From Treatable Illness
by Jane Hiebert-White
HEALTH [...]

On Thursday, February 28, 2008, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) will launch a non-partisan commission to identify and recommend practical solutions that address the many non-medical influences on health and improve opportunities for more Americans to make healthier choices.

In March 2008, the Washington, D.C., City Council will decide whether to give final approval to The Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act, which would grant at least some “paid sick leave to all workers in the city,” the Washington Post recently reported. The article notes that “San Francisco is the only U.S. city with [...]

Recent days have brought a flurry of coverage of community-based MRSA outbreaks. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus has been a problem of long standing in the hospital setting. However, recent outbreaks in schools, and the lack of a clear explanation from officialdom for the up-tick, have clearly given new legs to what health care and public health [...]

In the latest edition of Health Affairs and at the journal’s recent Washington briefing, “caring for the vulnerable” was the major agenda. It was a bittersweet occasion. Health Affairs deserves much credit for challenging us on how well we care for the vulnerable.
However. “Caring for the vulnerable” is an important mission, like the heroic efforts [...]

A new report, released August 29 by Florida Health Care Association (FHCA) and funded by The John A. Hartford Foundation, offers ten recommendations for improving how frail and elderly people are cared for during major disasters, such as hurricanes, so as to prevent needless deaths. LuMarie Polivka-West, in an introductory letter to the report–Caring for Vulnerable Elders [...]

On the second anniversary of the disastrous Hurricane Katrina, it is fitting to look at issues of risk and preparedness. Today, Health Affairs Blog is hosting the blog carnival “Cavalcade Of Risk” which was started by Hank Stern of InsureBlog.
Preparing For Disaster
In a report in this morning’s St. Augustine Record, Associated Press reporter Ron Fournier [...]

No–health systems today are still not prepared to handle the risk of a Katrina-level disaster, says one Gulf-area health care provider in an interview published today on Health Affairs’ Web site [2-week free access]. Other news stories today, the second anniversary of the Katrina hurricane, also highlight the long road ahead on the health care front. [...]

Editor’s Note: Health Affairs’deputy editor Parmeeth Atwal spoke recently with Ashok Alexander, director of Avahan, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s HIV prevention initiative in India. Health Affairs devoted its current July/August issue to “Global Health Financing” with support from the Gates Foundation.
The Numbers
Atwal: The World Health Organization (WHO) and Indian health officials have disagreed [...]

The rising prevalence of obesity is said to be threatening to drown the health care system under a wave of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. So some policymakers have suggested taxing foods high in saturated fats as a way to steer consumers clear of snacks that are bad for them and perhaps offset coming health care [...]