Tag Archives: health care

A federal court in Florida has dismissed Lambda Legal’s lawsuit brought on behalf of a lesbian couple that was kept apart by a Miami hospital after one of the women suffered a brain aneurysm during an R Family cruise. She died alone even though her partner provided the hospital with documents proving she was legally entitled to make healthcare decisions. …

On Friday, Arizona’s governor signed a bill revoking health benefits from the unmarried partners of state employees under the guise of “cost cutting.” Lambda Legal fumes: State legislators for months had taken aim at the equal benefits plan approved last year by former Governor Janet Napolitano, now Department of Homeland Security Secretary. On Friday, current Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed …

Later today President Obama will name Dr. Regina Benjamin as the nation’s Surgeon General. Benjamin has a reputation as a champion of the poor and uninsured. That was likely a factor in Obama’s decision as he continues press for health care reform. A decade ago, the New York Times called her “angel in a white coat,” a country doctor who …

The American Medical Association (AMA) says they plan to oppose Barack Obama’s health care reform plan to create a public health insurance system. In comments submitted to the Senate Finance Committee, the American Medical Association said: “The A.M.A. does not believe that creating a public health insurance option for non-disabled individuals under age 65 is the best way to expand …

This is an interesting development. The nation’s health insurers offered Tuesday to stop basing people’s premiums on their health and extend coverage to all Americans regardless of pre-existing conditions — provided that everyone gets insurance. The suggestion from Karen Ignagni, president of America’s Health Insurance Plans, came at a Senate hearing and in a Newsmaker session with USA TODAY. It …

Another blow to the unregulated supplements industry – the FDA has revealed that dozens of top selling “natural” weight loss supplements are actually full of dangerously high doses of prescription laxatives and diuretics. The names of the weight-loss supplements say it all: 7 Day Herbal Slim, 2 Day Diet, and even 24 Hours Diet. Those are just three of dozens …

Yesterday a bill granting health benefits for the domestic partners of state employees was approved by the Colorado state Senate, although the bill must voted on one more time before it can move to the state House. The measure (Senate Bill 88) would add domestic partners to the list of dependents eligible for coverage. Same-sex partners who have been in …

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) is likely to be chosen as Secretary of Health and Human Services – provided she doesn’t pull a Daschle. Should she be nominated, Ms. Sebelius would bring eight years of experience as her state’s insurance commissioner as well as six years as a governor running a state Medicaid program. But with President Obama about to …

A 35 year old HIV-positive female prisoner has filed a federal lawsuit because her doctor refused to perform surgery on her gall bladder. Melody Rose’s case is supported by gay equality advocates Lambda Legal and the AIDS Resource Centre of Wisconsin (ARCW). The lawsuit was filed today in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. Ms Rose …

Three federal lawsuits have been filed to block Dubya’s parting shot at health care, which allows providers to withhold treatment in situations where they personally object to the care requested. In three lawsuits filed in U.S. District Court in Connecticut, the states and groups sought an immediate court order preventing the regulation from going into effect Tuesday and a permanent …

If you suspect that your local barrista is not giving you the decaf you ordered, test strips are now available. Whether accidentally or on purpose, for some, this unexpected addition of caffeine could be a serious health threat–at least serious enough to warrant caution. Those who have high blood pressure or a heart condition should probably be avoiding caffeine. However, …

Surprising nobody, new data reveals that health costs and other benefits are wreaking havoc on NYC’s budget. Average salaries for NYC employees went up 33% since 2000 (very comparable to the 29% inflation rate since then), but the cost of employee benefits soared 186%. Overall compensation cost has risen 66% in just eight years. The NY Post points out that …

Rite Aid Pharmacy, Grand Central Terminal There’s a woman in line ahead of me who has just handed over a huge sheaf of prescriptions. She is a middle-aged business woman wearing a navy suit. She has a Blackberry clipped to her messenger-style bag. The two clerks seem to know her and they immediately pick up their pace and begin darting …

Last week our ignoble leader issued a set of rules that would protect health care providers who refuse to provide treatment or medication based on personal objections. The Bush administration yesterday granted sweeping new protections to health workers who refuse to provide care that violates their personal beliefs, setting off an intense battle over opponents’ plans to try to repeal …

Not only does using terms of endearment when speaking to seniors piss them off, studies show it damages their health. Professionals call it elderspeak, the sweetly belittling form of address that has always rankled older people: the doctor who talks to their child rather than to them about their health; the store clerk who assumes that an older person does …

In a unanimous ruling, the California Supreme Court has ruled that doctors cannot withhold care from gay people because they are personally opposed to homosexuality. Justice Joyce Kennard wrote that two Christian fertility doctors who refused to artificially inseminate a lesbian have neither a free speech right nor a religious exemption from the state’s law, which “imposes on business establishments …

President Bush has nominated an anti-gay religious whack-job to be U.S. Surgeon General. Dr. James Holsinger, the man to be put in charge of the health of all Americans, runs a little side project with his wife called Hope Springs Community Church in Lexington, Kentucky, where in addition to helping those with alcohol and drug problems, he ministers to people …

Thursday, March 29th, please join me at noon for the 20th anniversary ACT-UP march on Wall Street to demand universal health care, single-payer insurance and drug price controls. Marchers will assemble at 11:30am at the Federal Building, at the corner of Broadway & Worth. Other bloggers, please spread the word. Let’s get the gay blogosphere well represented at this important …