Will Results of Presidential Elections Chart a New Course for the Nation’s Health Care System

Will Results of Presidential Elections Chart a New Course for the Nation’s Health Care System
With the presidential election just months away, voters are homing in on what Senators John McCain and Barack Obama are saying about the issues that impact voters’ lives. Key among their concerns is health care. In fact, the Kaiser Foundation recently reported that, “when it comes to the relative importance of different issues in deciding their vote, health care was one of the top five issues chosen by voters in three of the last four presidential elections” and is likely to be an important factor in this election as well. During the primary season, likely voters ranked health care third in order of importance behind the economy and the war in Iraq.
In the midst of clear evidence that health care matters to the electorate, how do the candidates of the two major parties propose to repair what many consider to be a “broken” health care system. Both Senators McCain and Obama propose expanding the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which is designed to provide low-cost health insurance for children and families. In addition to assuring the children are covered, what else are the candidates putting on the table?
The Obama PlanSenator Obama proposes a national health program that will allow individuals and small businesses to buy affordable health care similar to that available to federal employees. Subsidies would be available to help with the cost of premiums for those that need assistance. Moreover, there are plans to make available a National Health Insurance Exchange to reform the private insurance market. The premise is that any American could enroll in private plans that would be required to provide comprehensive benefits, to issue every applicant a policy, and to charge fair and stable premiums. In addition to SCHIP, Senator Obama proposes to expand Medicaid and require employers to make “meaningful” contributions to the health coverage of their employees. His plan also places great emphasis on reducing costs and moving toward a public health model. For details on Senator Obama’s proposed health plan, visit his website.
The McCain PlanSenator McCain’s plan has a basic premise to provide affordable health care without a mandate, thereby reducing regulations and government intervention and increasing individual responsibility. The Senator thinks that there should be an expansion of community health centers; tax incentives for low-income Americans to be able to afford health care coverage; expansion of health care online; reform of medical malpractice; and more availability of health savings accounts. Senator McCain advocates for employers to continue to provide health care coverage to employees or increase salaries so that they might purchase individual coverage. In addition, his proposal calls for federal subsidies for high-risk health insurance pools to help those who cannot obtain private coverage because of pre-existing medical conditions or lack of any previous health coverage. For details on Senator McCain’s proposed health plan, visit his website.
Health care is indeed a high priority issue for voters and candidates alike. The issue clearly becomes how to balance costs yet at the same time provide quality, affordable health care to all. If you are interested in comparing the candidates’ proposals, take a look at the following side-by-side summary by the Kaiser Family Foundation: www.health08.org
E-Policy will report in upcoming issues on changes being made to the U.S. health care system and, most importantly, on changes that impact the field of laboratory medicine.
As a Section 501(c)(3) organization, ASCP does not endorse any candidate in any race on the national, state or local front. Although this article focuses on the health care policies of the nominees by the two major parties, it is important to note that many third-party candidates also have positions on health care issues, and their websites can be consulted for further details.

Diabetes research news

Scientists Reprogram Adult Cells' Function
Advance Stirs Up Debate on Embryos

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By Rob SteinWashington Post Staff Writer Thursday, August 28, 2008; Page A01
Scientists have transformed one type of fully developed adult cell directly into another inside a living animal, a startling advance that could lead to cures for a variety of illnesses and sidestep the political and ethical quagmires
associated with embryonic stem cell research.
Through a series of painstaking experiments involving mice, the Harvard biologists pinpointed three crucial molecular switches that, when flipped, completely convert a common cell in the pancreas into the more precious insulin-producing ones that diabetics need to survive.
The experiments, detailed online yesterday in the journal Nature, raise the prospect that patients suffering from not only diabetes but also heart disease, strokes and many other ailments could eventually have some of their cells reprogrammed to cure their afflictions without the need for drugs, transplants or other therapies.
"It's kind of an extreme makeover of a cell," said Douglas A. Melton, co-director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, who led the research. "The goal is to create cells that are missing or defective in people. It's very exciting."
The work was hailed as a welcome development even by critics of research involving embryonic stem cells, which can be coaxed to become any tissue in the body but are highly controversial because they are obtained by destroying embryos.
"I see no moral problem in this basic technique," said Richard Doerflinger of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, a leading opponent of embryonic stems cell research. "This is a 'win-win' situation for medicine and ethics."
Researchers in the field, who have become accustomed to rapid advances, said they, too, were surprised by the advance.
"I'm stunned," said Robert Lanza, chief scientific officer of Advanced Cell Technology in Worcester, Mass., a developer of stem cell therapies. "It introduces a whole new paradigm for treating disease."
Melton and other researchers cautioned that many years of research lay ahead to prove whether the development would translate into cures.
"It's an important proof of concept," said Lawrence Goldstein, a stem cell researcher at the University of California at San Diego. "But these things always look easier on the blackboard than when you have to do them in actual patients."
Although the experiment involved mice, Melton and other researchers were optimistic that the approach would work in people.

STOP RUSSIAN INVASION OF GEORGIA NOW

KICK Russia out of the Olympics, kick out of G-8
NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FBI accused of hardball tactics in anthrax case

Looking at the envelope I have my doubts about a lone Anthrax killer, we may never know the answer now that he "committed suicide" which may have been caused by the fact that he was mentally ill rather than an admission of guilt. Even paranoid people know when they are being harassed and watched. I am sure they were not subtle at all with white vans all over the neighborhood and TV antennae hanging off of them. Bruce Ivins was he the LONE anthrax deranged scientist that lived a peaceful life in Frederick Maryland and no one noticed that he was delusional paranoid killer? if this is political science what is? I have saved some of his work that is freely available for Science and US Army site and he worked with many colleagues and published many papers, and I also have worked in labs like this and the chances of a colleague and co author not noticing "strange behavior" the likes the FBI is describing is not possible. Also other interesting work that Ivins was linked to is Vibreo Cholera and Legionairre's, the bulk of the work in the Anthrax field supposedly working on the Anthrax vaccine, which I was and still would be opposed to under all circumstances, based on my experience in immunology and biochemistry, however, other scientists have been quoted as saying that the Anthrax powder used in the "bioterrorist act" could not have been made in secret by one person at the Frederick MD. I also have my doubts as the perfect "closure" to this case. As far as I am concerned it is still unsolved, and with the sad suicide of one of the participants in a bioterrorist act already deranged and saw the Feds closing in decided to "spare" his family and co-workers --and for all we know his co-conspirators as well in this bizarre case in the annals of terrorism in the USA.

Cold War redux Che, Hugo and Obama,,hmm

Presumptuous Democrat presidential nominee Barack Obama wasn’t the only disciple of Che Guevara touring Europe last week. While Obama spoke to the adulating proletariat of Berlin, Venezuelan President Huge Chavez was in Moscow asking to buy $1 billion worth of diesel submarines, mobile missile launchers and tanks. He also told Russian leaders that he plans to spend $30 billion on weaponry in the coming years.

Not to be outdone, Chavez’s closest ally, the Republik of Cuba, offered refueling stations for Russian bombers. Cuban dictator Fidel Castro even went so far as to write a missive declaring that he owed the U.S. no explanation for breaking the 1962 treaty to keep Russian arms out of Cuba. The island penitentiary has also invited Russia to reopen the Lourdes signals intelligence facility near Havana, which being just 90 miles off the coast of Florida is “a unique place to gather intelligence on the U.S” according to one Russian official.

In short, a second Cold War is brewing in America’s back yard, and the United States will need the support of South American allies like Colombia. Unfortunately, Leftist politicians like Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi have more in common with socialist thug Hugo Chavez than with capitalist Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. As a result, the Democrat-controlled Congress has spurned Colombia’s attempts to reach a free trade agreement with the United States, despite the positive impact of such a deal on the security of both nations. Perhaps sensing that the U.S. does not realize the gravity of the situation in South America, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has vowed to enhance trade ties between Colombia and his country “so we aren’t left dependent on a single partner.”

Let us know what you think: from the archives of the Patriot Post


QUOTE from Che Guevara
The U.S. is the great enemy of mankind!" raved Ernesto "Che" in 1961
"Against those hyenas there is no option but extermination. We will bring the war to the imperialist enemies' very home, to his places of work and recreation. The imperialist enemy must feel like a hunted animal wherever he moves. Thus we'll destroy him! We must keep our hatred against them [the U.S.] alive and fan it to paroxysms