House# AHCA vote livens up Lown2017 “right care” conference

A great nation deserves a great health care system - and that means universal coverage. Everybody in, nobody out. @ShannonBrownlee #lown2017 — Lown Institute (@lowninstitute) May 5, 2017 The Lown Institute's meeting is taking place as the nation is trying to digest the possible impact of  yesterday's vote in the House of Representatives. The group's …

Are two big #hospital groups better than one? #consolidation

At Wednesday's meeting, the  Massachusetts Health Policy Commission heard a staff report on the proposed merger of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center  In summary, we find that these transactions are anticipated to increase market concentration, solidify BIDCO’s position as the second largest hospital network in the state, and could strengthen BIDCO’s ability to leverage higher …

Single-payer health reform advocates launch new website #HCR #mapoli

The unrelenting supporters of the single-payer approach to health reform  have updated their website. And, it is a quite an update. The old MassCare site was sluggish -- infrequently updated and often lacking links to upcoming events. Check it out here or click below. Also in health reform, check out WBUR's Q & A with David Seltz, …

Books by doctors on health reform and beyond

As a freelancer, I’ve been known to grumble about doctors who write. After all, why should they hog the Pulitzers and the pages of The New Yorker when they have perfectly good day jobs? On the other hand, doctors in print often offer us an alternative to the mass-marketed Dr. Oz or the perky, laminated …

Hold the fried chicken: RedSox workout tips from the Globe

Some of the BoSox players were lifting chicken legs instead of weights last spring, but not Ellsbury and Pedroia.  Jacoby returned from an injury for a great year and Dustin was solid all season. The Globe's Daily Dose offers some advice from their off-season trainers, who counsel them "on the importance of sleep, self-massage to relieve soreness, and what …

New fitness and exercise blog on the Globe web site

The Globe has added another health blog -- this one on fitness: Elizabeth Comeau is the senior health & wellness producer at Boston.com. She will be blogging about her personal fitness journey and using a device called a FitBit to track her weekly goals and progress (see below). Follow her journey and share your own. Read …

Harvard video: The Supercommittee Collapse and America’s Healthcare Future

Harvard School of Public Health Panel

Rounding up the year’s health news

Theirs and ours: You can read Commonhealth's list or listen to it on Radio Boston: Or listen to Carey Goldberg on WBUR MassDevice offers : The top medical device stories of the year, Part I From sweeping regulatory changes promised, but never delivered, by the FDA, to the industry and regulatory backlash against the impending 2.3% …

Occupy Health Care: Boston protesters say Wall Street makes them sick

While health reform may not be at the top of their agenda, some of the Occupy Boston protesters down at Dewey Square had no problem linking the high cost of medical care to their complaints about Wall Street.  Some support Obama’s reforms; others called for a single payer system. But, nearly everyone interviewed had universal health …

New Yorker: How Mitt Romney came around to Massachusetts style health reform

Watching New Yorker writer Ryan Lizza on MSNBC on Wednesday night got us thinking – is this a repeat? Since we recently watched four innings of a rain-delay repeat of a Red Sox game before realizing we had already seen it, we were suspect.  Lizza struggled through his explanation of Health Reform 101 -- we …