The positive stories about the ACA are starting to outnumber the negative ones. It’s about time. Two years ago, it wasn’t easy to find a positive story about the Affordable Care Act (ACA), derisively called Obamacare by its critics. It wasn’t that there wasn’t plenty of good news to share, but the media loves a bad-news story. But now, with […]

A conversation with the co-founder of Lady Parts Justice on feminism, grassroots activism and using humor to drive serious change. In the run-up to V to Shining V 2015, I’m re-posting this interview from 2014, updated with details about this year’s events. Lizz Winstead is a woman with a mission. If you’re lucky enough to talk with her one-on-one, there’s […]

This isn’t the first time Michigan’s Genesys Regional Medical Center has let religious doctrine override medical standards. Jessica Mann couldn’t be happier about the impending arrival of her third child in October. But having any more children could put her health at risk — in fact, carrying this child to term is downright dangerous, because the 33-year-old Mann has brain […]

Make some noise, make some change and have a rockin’ good time with Lady Parts Justice! It probably comes as no surprise that women’s rights are under attack, unless you’ve been living like an inhabitant of the Dark Ages, which America’s anti-women politicians clearly are. Women have always had to fight for their rights, and they always will unless people […]

Chris already did an excellent job highlighting the significant shortcomings of Sunday’s Detroit News editorial, which essentially asserts that the sky is falling and we’d all better run away from Michigan’s Medicaid expansion program, the Healthy Michigan Plan. If you haven’t read Chris’ piece, you should. But there’s a sobering omission I had to weigh in on, something that’s left […]

The deal is done, but no word yet on the fate of reproductive health and other care standards Catholic-run hospitals are allowed to ignore. As reported in Crain’s Detroit Business on Monday, Crittenton Hospital in Rochester is now officially part of Ascension Health Michigan. Ascension Health is the largest nonprofit health system in the U.S. — and a Catholic-affiliated health […]

Students starting the new school year have one less thing to worry about thanks to the Affordable Care Act. With the announcement this week that Western Michigan University (WMU) will no longer offer student health insurance, there were probably more than a few students wondering, “Now what?” Fortunately, the Affordable Care Act has the answer. Thanks to the ACA (aka […]

… make a donation to Eclectablog and feel good about yourself. Yeah, I know, it’s a cheap way to get your attention. But now that you’re here, I’ll cut right to the chase. You are a reader of Eclectablog, maybe every day or just every once in a while. But the point is, you are here. You’re reading these words, […]

While anti-choice activists try to fight the truth with misinformation, it’s imperative to defend the facts. This post is not about abortion. It’s about people’s health and lives. I’m not shying away from the fact that abortion is a legal healthcare service, and that it accounts for 3 percent of the services Planned Parenthood provides. No one is denying that […]

The healthcare provider is under attack. Let’s rally the troops. Imagine someone who always looked out for you was getting beat up by the school bully, or was getting smeared by an enemy at work who was telling vicious lies about them. You’d leap to their defense, right? After all, if they’ve been there for you — no matter what […]

Less than 30 percent of older adults who need hearing aids actually get them. Rep. Dingell is determined to change that. This week, let’s do more than celebrate 50 years of Medicare, one of the most successful social programs in this country’s history. Let’s also talk about how we can improve Medicare over the next 50 years. That’s the message […]