Category: Health Care
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Things Are Not Always As Intuitive As They May Seem
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Sometimes, public policy proposals can be counterintuitive. Virginia law authorizes health insurance companies to charge smokers up to 50% greater than the premium that would otherwise be effective. The 2022 General Assembly passed legislation that would have repealed this authorization. The bills, HB 675 (Hope, D-Arlington) and SB 422 (Edwards, D-Roanoke), passed…
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Pill-Popping Nurse Gets Three Years in Prison
by Kerry Dougherty If there’s a special ring in hell for those who prey on children — and I hope there is — there should also be a place reserved for those who hurt the elderly. Consider the monstrous acts of Janeen Bailey, a 57-year-old LPN with 25 years of nursing experience who stole painkillers…
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Virginia’s COVID Performance Rates a D
by James A. Bacon Virginia performed worse than 35 other states during the COVID-19 recession, based on an analysis that encompasses mortality rates, economic performance and educational performance. The Commonwealth fared better than average in health outcomes, worse than average in economic performance, and near the bottom in school closures. The overall ranking: D. Nationally,…
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CMS Finally Withdraws Dangerous Waivers of Nursing Home Patient Safety Regulations
by James C. Sherlock I published a series of articles last year on the dreadful conditions in some of Virginia’s nursing homes as reported by Medicare. Two key observations were that: bad nursing homes were traceable to specific chain operators; and the Virginia Department of Health had admitted it was desperately short of inspectors. Those…
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The Relentless Push for Child Gender Transition
by James C. Sherlock On the odd chance you missed it, the Biden administration announced a flurry of new measures today, designated the Transgender Day of Visibility. (I need to keep up.) The Washington Post reported on the festivities. What that story did not report is the celebration’s most important “feature.” HHS today announced Biden administration support…
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The Mental Anguish Veto
by James A. Bacon As the debate over de-platforming former Vice President Mike Pence plays out in the pages of the University of Virginia student newspaper, a recent column illuminates, albeit unwitting, the complex interplay between mental illness, sexual orientation, fragility, and intolerance toward views people find uncomfortable. Mental illness is rampant in American society…
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What Virginia Can Do to Temper Inflation
by James A. Bacon Governor Glenn Youngkin has proposed using $437 million in unanticipated transportation revenues, much of it generated by the wholesale tax on gasoline, to give Virginians a three-month break on the 26-cent retail gasoline tax. During his campaign, Youngkin ran on a platform of addressing Virginia’s high cost of living and reversing…
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When COVID Hysteria Meets Safetyism
by James A. Bacon The percentage of Northern Virginia’s adult population grappling with anxiety and depression more than tripled during the COVID-19 epidemic — from 8% to 28% — according to data published by the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia. The percentage peaked at 39% in February 2020, affecting 755,000 individuals, but abated to 545,000…
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A Narrative About Virginia’s Rural Hospitals that Obscures the Facts
by James C. Sherlock Becker’s Healthcare, a widely read medical news organization, published a story on Friday, “892 hospitals at risk of closure, state by state.” Rural hospitals were the topic. It cited as its source a report from a non-profit named The Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform (CHQPR), which presents itself as…
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Primary Care Shortages in Virginia and an HEZ solution
by James C. Sherlock I have written here and in newspapers across the state with a recommendation that Virginia emulate Maryland in the establishment of Health Enterprise Zones (HEZs) to bring primary care to Virginia communities that lack sufficient access to treat people before their conditions require hospitalization. Here I will provide data on Virginia…
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The State Budget: The House Reductions to Cover Tax Cuts
Budget is policy. A budget reflects what an organization chooses to spend its money on. The differences between the versions of the 2022-2024 biennial budget passed by the House and Senate this year are starker than they have been in recent memory. There are major philosophical and policy differences that the conferees will need to…
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New York Governor Removes Mask Requirement for School Kids – Virginia Mask Advocates Confused
by James C. Sherlock Headline: “New York City says it will end the school mask mandate and indoor vaccination requirements.” And “New York indoor school mask mandate to be lifted this week.” Progressive Virginians have been stabbed in the back. Et tu, New York? So, imagine you have filed a law suit against Governor Youngkin…
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Patient Safety and You
by James C. Sherlock In my career in private industry, I worked for a time with the testing and implementation of a hospital operational management system. My work there was shaped in considerable part by the 2000 report of the National Academy of Sciences, To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System. I came…
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Everybody Wins – Nurse Practitioners for Underserved Communities
by James C. Sherlock The University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing has instituted a terrific program thanks to a wealthy alum who gave $125 million to recruit and train nurse practitioners to practice in underserved communities. The Leonard A. Louder Community Care Nurse Practitioner Fellows program will be tuition-free and students who still need help…
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Nineteen Millionth Nervous Breakdown
by James A. Bacon Two dozen students occupied the central lobby of James Madison University’s Alumnae Hall for 90 minutes last week. The group issued a list of demands, the most notable of which was increased funding and staff for the Counseling Center. Protest leaders read from some 50 testimonies submitted by students, reports the…