It’s not just about health insurance. It’s about reimagining the way we deliver care. If I could only tell you one thing I saw at TEDMED 2014, it would be this: Health reform goes far deeper than the Affordable Care Act (ACA). That isn’t news to me, but it was gratifying to see some of the leading minds in health […]

1980 was the first year I was able to vote in a presidential election and, with chest puffed out, off I went to the polls to vote for Jimmy Carter on November 4, 1980. It began a long, sad slide for me personally as the country was electing Republicans at a record pace, and I seemingly was voting for people […]

If voting didn’t matter, Republicans wouldn’t try to stop you from doing it There’s no need to pretend America is perfect, or that decades of bad policy have been completely reversed in six years. The drift of America into endless with war justified by Bush-era doctrines continues unabated without any debate by Congress while any economic gains are being gobbled […]

Bills would require insurers to offer the abortion rider women must purchase separately to have coverage under state law. If Michigan is going to force women to buy a separate abortion insurance rider in case they’re ever raped or must have an abortion to protect their health — or simply to exercise their constitutional right to choose — the least […]

Republicans like Paul Ryan and Terri Lynn Land are still running on the promise of taking away health insurance from more than 24 million Americans who have health insurance through the Affordable Care Act, at least 10 million of whom did not have coverage before the law went into effect. They’re sticking with this message, even though repeal is less […]

The conservative group Independent Women’s Voice announced yesterday that Terri Lynn Land has signed their “Pledge to Repeal Obamacare”. The pledge reads: The Repeal Pledge (Candidate Version) I pledge, if elected, to vote for all bills which seek to REPEAL the health care bill, HR 3590, signed into law on March 23, 2010.* To that end, I would now and […]

As America commemorated the 200th anniversary of the British burning down the White House during the War of 1812 last weekend, a scholar of that war offered a message for Americans who are alive today. Since he gave that message on C-SPAN II on a weekend afternoon during football season, I’m clearly the only person who received it. Thus it […]

Back when Michigan legislators were debating whether to expand Medicaid in our state through the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”), Rick Snyder expressed his concern that our state didn’t “have enough capacity to put essentially 400,000 more people into a medical home model with a primary care environment, as opposed to having them simply go to an ER”. That’s the sort […]

Why denying health insurance to 4 million Americans is smart — but deadly — politics for the GOP This past weekend, “In just a year Obamacare goes from top Congress issue to barely mentioned” by The Washington Post‘s Colby Itkowitz topped Reddit’s muy popular r/politics page. Itkowitz’s analysis was based on mentions by members of Congress: It was last September […]

At Netroots Nation 2014, I explained why I think Obamacare is a winning issue for Democrats — and what we can do to help. It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare. And I’m a firm believer that Obamacare is a winning issue for Democrats. To make the case for […]

How the Obamacare made the cost of indifference too high This is the story of one person who doesn’t need to die. This is the story of one person who doesn’t need to die because a study has found that when you hear about one little starving girl with huge, wet eyes, you are most likely to help[i]. Add another […]