All Entries in the "Politics and Health" Category
Government-Backed Group Calls for Universal HIV Testing of Adults
For the first time, a federally convened panel of experts is recommending HIV testing for all adults based on evidence that early detection of the virus could lead to more effective treatment of infection. Nearly 1.2 million Americans are living with HIV and about 5o,000 become newly infected with the virus every year, according to [...]
A census first: Black voter turnout passes whites
WASHINGTON — Making history, America’s blacks voted at higher rates than whites in 2012, lifting Democrat Barack Obama to victory amid voter apathy, particularly among young people, new census data show. Despite increasing population, the number of white voters declined for the first time since 1996. Blacks were the only race or ethnic group to [...]
Medicare Reveals Hospital Charge Information
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration made public on Wednesday previously unpublished hospital charges for the 100 most common inpatient treatments in 2011, saying a similar release of physician data is on the horizon. The massive data file reveals wide variation in charges for these 100 services listed in hospitals’ “chargemasters” – industry jargon for what hospitals [...]
New-Age American Health Care System (Part 1)
I spoke at the Student National Medical Association’s (SNMA) Annual Medical Education Conference in Louisville, KY this past weekend. Accompanying me was former SNMA President Bryant Cameron Webb, MD, JD. We spoke on three main topics: medical education, the practice of medicine, and the underserved. Medical Education Many people believe that there is, or soon [...]
NAACP Voices Concern Over Erroneous CNN Report of Bomber Suspect
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and its CEO and president Benjamin Todd Jealous are voicing their concern over a report of a “Dark Skinned Male” that it deemed irresponsible, reckless, and counterproductive The NAACP expressed concern over yesterday’s erroneous report from CNN reporter John King that a suspect, described as “a [...]
Will national health reform close ethnic and racial disparities?
National health reform is designed to help everyone who lacks medical coverage, but minority groups stand to benefit most — simply because they have the farthest to go. One-third of Hispanics and more than 20 percent of African-Americans nationwide lack health insurance. But the law’s provisions — most of which take effect in January [...]
The Publications Committee Presents the Winter 2012 issue of JSNMA!
The Publications Committee is proud to present to you the Winter 2012 issue of the Journal of the Student National Medical Association. As [...]
More Docs Use EHRs, but Info Still Not Shared
The number of U.S. primary care physicians using electronic medical records increased by 50% in the last 3 years, but most doctors still do not receive timely information from specialists or hospitals, an international survey found. Roughly 69% of U.S. primary care doctors reported using EHRs in 2012 compared with 46% in 2009, the [...]
Editorial: Single-Payer Health Care: President Obama and Health Care Reform
by CHINELO IKPEAMA, MBA Editor-in-Chief, Journal of the Student National Medical Association Crisis of Abundance: Rethinking How We Pay for Health Care by Arnold Kling has peaked my interest in the single-payer health care system. Before reading Kling’s book, I did not know what the single-payer system entailed, but I did know that it had [...]
Medical students lack knowledge of healthcare overhaul
The 2010 Affordable Care Act affects almost every aspect of the U.S. healthcare system, but many future doctors who will be operating under its policies admit they don’t know that much about the law. In a survey of about 850 [...]
