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Protecting emergency care system

The Pennsylvania General Assembly is considering how to address the issue of balance billing. Emergency physicians applaud them for doing so as no Pennsylvanian should worry about insurance at a time of crisis. However, the most recent attempt to address balance billing, HB 1862, would decimate emergency physicians’ ability to effectively care for all Pennsylvanians and devastate already-stressed Pennsylvania hospitals. Under federal law, emergency physicians care for all patients without regard to insurance. HB 1862 mandates that an out-of-network emergency physician accept a ...

Four tips to help manage flu season

You know the signs. The thunderous cough. The pounding headache. The full-body fatigue. It’s the flu. Last fall and winter, influenza sickened roughly 40 million Americans and killed 60,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This year’s flu season is nearly upon us. Here are four tips to stay healthy. 1. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. People should get the flu vaccine early. Every year, this shot prevents up to 6.7 million flu cases, 87,000 hospitalizations, and 10,000 deaths. The vaccine also helps makes the flu less severe for those ...

Joyce needs to stop his ‘whining’

Rep. John Joyce’s Oct. 15 article (“Time to move on from ’16 election) is one exercise in gaslighting after another. He fails to mention key facts, distorts others and misdirects on the rest. He states that Democrats have been “tirelessly scheming to remove (President Donald Trump) from office” since 2016. He fails to mention that Republicans controlled the House and the Senate until this year, and Special Counsel Mueller was appointed by a Republican. Until this year, the Democratic Party wasn’t in charge of anything. His party was. And still, the Cabinet, advisors and key ...

Time to move on from ’16 election

Nearly three years ago, more than 6 million Pennsylvanians went to the polls to exercise their right to have a voice in our American government. The people of our commonwealth, for the first time since 1988, duly elected a Republican to serve as president of the United States. Unfortunately, too many people in our country have sought to cancel our votes. Since the moment that Donald Trump was declared the winner of the 2016 election, Democrats have been tirelessly scheming to remove him from office. Recently, they have dropped their facade and now readily embrace their role in ...

Lawmakers put costs ahead of patients

The Senate Finance Committee just advanced a sweeping Medicare overhaul. Unfortunately, the bill does little to help America’s sickest patients; it jeopardizes physicians’ ability to provide timely, quality care to tens of millions of Americans. Congress would be wise to reject it. The proposal impacts Medicare “Part B,” which covers doctor’s visits, outpatient procedures, and most medicines administered by injection or IV drip. Currently, roughly 50 million seniors and 10 million Americans with disabilities benefit from Part B. Currently, physicians and hospitals ...

Independent colleges aid economy

Pennsylvania has a rich history of higher education, including some of the best independent nonprofit colleges and universities in the nation. Apart from their mission as centers of learning — preparing students for their careers and for the world — these institutions are economic generators and community anchors. A new report produced by a nationally recognized economic consulting firm uses substantiated data and best practice methodologies to measure these impacts on the statewide economy and on local communities —in both qualitative and quantitative terms. The ...