Dr. Jen Gunter
health insurance
To cut isn’t always to cure: knee surgery, health care, and our love affair with the scalpel
An article, just published in the NEJM, caught my attention not only for the study results, but because of what is says in a between-the-lines kind of way about the American health care system. The study looks at arthroscopic surgery for a torn meniscus in people over the age of 45 who also have arthritis … Continue reading
Romney affirms commitment to fetus, but not heart attack victims
The Columbus Dispatch is reporting an interview with Mitt Romney where he once again voiced his belief that a lack of health insurance is just no big deal: “We don’t have a setting across this country where if you don’t have insurance, we just say to you, ‘Tough luck, you’re going to die when you … Continue reading
The Affordable Care Act facilitates State-level abortion restrictions
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) legislation regarding abortion does not take effect until 2014. Under the ACA, insurers who participate in health insurance exchanges will be free to offer plans with abortion services or not. Individual plans can also choose their degree of abortion coverage (life of mother/rape/incest, have broader coverage for genetic anomalies, or … Continue reading
When your oxygen benefits run out
My boys were 8 months old when their oxygen benefits ran out. It’s a bit dystopian in that Total Recall kind of way (the first film where they turn the oxygen off, not the second one). I mean run out of oxygen benefits? What kind of demon dreams this shit up? It’s one thing to … Continue reading
Mitt Romney channels Ebenezer Scrooge on 60 minutes
Last night on 60 minutes Mitt Romney was questioned about health care. When asked if the government had a responsibility to care for the fifty million Americans who don’t have health insurance he replied, “Well, we do provide care for people who don’t have insurance, people — we– if someone has a heart attack, they … Continue reading
The one horror story that’s missing when Canadians talk about health care
I just spent a week in Canada. Most days were spent enjoying the glory that is a Manitoba summer on the sandy shores of lake Winnipeg, the kids playing in the water and building sandcastles while the parents chatted. As often happens, when people find out that I’m a doctor, the conversation turns to medicine. … Continue reading
Does HIPAA protect me from providing my employer with information about using birth control?
Arizona, the new Gilead, is considering bill 2625,a piece of legislation that authorizes employers to exempt contraception from healthcare coverage if it is prescribed for, you know, contraception (using the ever eloquent Limbaugh terminology that would be slut use versus non slut use). This is to allow employers with religious “beliefs” to opt out of … Continue reading
Messing with reproductive health, Texas style
The Texas Women’s Health Program provides uninsured low income women between the ages of 18 and 44 with Pap smears, STD screening, breast exams, and contraception. Under a rule adopted March 14, 2012 WHP providers must certify they do not “perform or affiliate with an entity that performs or promotes elective abortions.” As the Federal … Continue reading
If you believe in universal health care, take this pledge
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has polarized many people (if you are among the 3% that don’t believe me, check out the responses on my post Cancer v. The Constitution). While I am the first to admit the law isn’t perfect (for example, lack of accountability from insurers and providers regarding charges and cost of … Continue reading
The medical caste system of America
I am the mother of three boys, but the parent of two. My three children were born extremely prematurely, but it was just too much for my first son. My surviving boys, Oliver and Victor, weighed 1 lb 11 oz and 1 lb 13 oz respectively. Because being born at 26 weeks (14 weeks early) … Continue reading
