HealthCommentaryMike Magee What a difference a year, and a global pandemic, can make. In this self-enforced pause, there is a great deal of self-reflection going on. Back in 2019, Michael Bloomberg, looking for support in New Hampshire declared about Medicare-for-all proposals, “I think we could never afford that. We are talking about trillions of dollars… […]
Mike Magee As the weeks and months of the Covid-19 pandemic pass by, it is increasingly obvious that it is both an economic and a public health crisis. These two major forces appear on the surface to be opposing each other. But the reality is that solutions for both could be harmonized by movement toward […]
Mike Magee At a Code Blue presentation last week, questions centered on next steps in health reform – all the way vs. incremental, and not whether, but when and how fast. Health care reform in America has become a cultural issue. Health care as fundamental to building a nation and its culture from scrap was […]
MIKE MAGEE MD As the number of Democratic contenders for the Presidency begins to dwindle, the “Medicare-for-all” debate continues to simmer. It was only ten months ago that former candidate Kamala Harris’s vocal support drew fire from not one, but two billionaire political rivals. Michael Bloomberg, looking for support in New Hampshire declared, “I think we could never […]
Mike Magee As the debate over health reform wages on, it is increasingly apparent that the real underlying issue we are grappling with is the role of “good government.” Without it, as one philosopher suggested nearly four centuries ago, life is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” Canada had relatively smooth sailing from the time […]
Mike Magee The latest recorded U.S. birth rate dropped for the second year in a row, down 3% from the prior year. In 2017, there were just under 4 million births, 500,000 fewer than in 2007. Even though there has been a 7% increase in women 20 to 39, women are delaying child birth. Over the […]
Mike Magee In a Washington Post interview this week, Rep. Donna Shalala, former head of HHS and now a member of Congress from Florida, suggested that democratic reformers focus on universal coverage by whatever means possible. In her view, this includes opening up voluntary access to Medicare (50+), Medicaid (more liberal entry standards), employer based insurance […]
