Health Expert Craig Stoltz shares health management news and commentary at HealthCentral.com. HealthCentral.com is one of the top health destinations on the Web, with more than 35 condition-specific, wellness and general health Web properties. http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/80046/index http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/80046/rss self application/xml en-us 15 120 19 http://www.healthcentral.com/images/hc_logo_sm.gif http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/80046/index http://www.healthcentral.com/healthcare08/c/80046/38399/healthcare Mon, 25 Aug 2008 10:28:50 -0400 Craig Stoltz It's the time in the political season to make way too much of the impact a vice president can have on the presidential contest.   So I hope you don't mind if I extend that amusing parlor sport into the arena of healthcare reform and consider how how Joe Biden's original proposal for healthcare reform compares to Barack Obama's.   If nothing else, it's a good way to parse a few of the issues likely to be magnified when Obama and... http://www.healthcentral.com/healthcare08/c/80046/38399/healthcare http://www.healthcentral.com/healthcare08/c/80046/35381/500-question Mon, 28 Jul 2008 22:00:32 -0400 Craig Stoltz There's some peculiar numerology going in the presidential candidates' health reform plans.   John McCain proposes that every American receive a $2,500 tax credit ($5,000 for families) to help them afford health insurance bought in the private market.   Barack Obama says his healthcare plan will save the average American family $2,500 per year.   I mean, what are the chances?   I suspect both campaigns are shrewd... http://www.healthcentral.com/healthcare08/c/80046/35381/500-question http://www.healthcentral.com/healthcare08/c/80046/34685/converge Tue, 22 Jul 2008 07:08:26 -0400 Craig Stoltz You don't need excellent hearing to know the presidential candidates are turning up the volume on the rhetoric machines.   Judged on soundbites describing the other candidate's health care plans, John McCain will deregulate the health insurance industry entirely, freeing mendacious insurers to offer expensive insurance only to the healthiest while casting others into the streets. And Obama will lead a full-scale government takeover of... http://www.healthcentral.com/healthcare08/c/80046/34685/converge http://www.healthcentral.com/healthcare08/c/80046/32723/politically Thu, 03 Jul 2008 08:27:50 -0400 Craig Stoltz One of the fun parlor games of Election '08 is to look at Internet data and figure out what they mean.   The answer may be "nothing," of course.   But let's play along and look at the latest Hitwise data on popular search terms.   HitWise, a company that tracks Internet traffic, counted the search words that sent people to John McCain or Barack Obama's websites. [Here's a press release about the findings on the... http://www.healthcentral.com/healthcare08/c/80046/32723/politically http://www.healthcentral.com/healthcare08/c/80046/30800/electronic Fri, 13 Jun 2008 10:18:00 -0400 Craig Stoltz Over half of Americans think the next U.S. President should support. . .access to electronic medical records.   Compared to gas prices, the economy and the war in Iraq, this is, needless to say, a fairly minor issue. Even within the issue of health care reform, access to EMRs, as digital medical records are known, it's small potatoes.   Yet a survey released by Kaiser-Permanente at the Information Therapy Conference in Washington... http://www.healthcentral.com/healthcare08/c/80046/30800/electronic http://www.healthcentral.com/healthcare08/c/80046/30003/percent-obama Thu, 05 Jun 2008 10:45:33 -0400 Craig Stoltz No, those aren't polling numbers from American Samoa.   Those are the worst-case computed results of each candidate's risk of having a heart attack over the next 10 years, using a popular heart-health assessment tool known as the Framingham Risk Score. This data was first surfaced by the brilliant folks at The Wall Street Journal Health Blog.   The Journal reports:   "According to the most recent data in his medical record,... http://www.healthcentral.com/healthcare08/c/80046/30003/percent-obama http://www.healthcentral.com/healthcare08/c/80046/29625/invinceable Mon, 02 Jun 2008 09:06:02 -0400 Craig Stoltz Do young people decline to get insurance because they can't imagine they'll get sick or injured?   A new report from the Commonwealth Fund questions that assumption--and sets the table for interesting discussions about healthcare reform as the general eletion (remains) poised to begin.   So why don't high school and college grads have insurance?   Short answer, according to the report: It's too expensive; their coverage... http://www.healthcentral.com/healthcare08/c/80046/29625/invinceable http://www.healthcentral.com/healthcare08/c/80046/29020/doctors Tue, 27 May 2008 10:17:17 -0400 Craig Stoltz With the general election between a single Democrat and Republican about to begin, the American Medical Association has taken a good look at insurance mandates--you know, the issue of whether people should be required to buy health insurance.   GOP presumptive nominee John McCain opposes mandates. The Democrats' virtually-presumptive nominee Barack Obama supports mandates on children but not adults.   So if indeed it comes down to... http://www.healthcentral.com/healthcare08/c/80046/29020/doctors http://www.healthcentral.com/healthcare08/c/80046/28249/candidates Mon, 19 May 2008 11:29:52 -0400 Craig Stoltz The Washington Post has published a spectacular piece of journalism about the childhood obesity crisis. No one intersted in public or personal healthcare issues should miss it. No parent should be left behind without reading it.   The multi-day feature includes explainers about the biology of childhood obesity, a timeline showing how we got into this mess, interviews with obese kids and their parents, the outcomes of public and private... http://www.healthcentral.com/healthcare08/c/80046/28249/candidates http://www.healthcentral.com/healthcare08/c/80046/27929/plausible Thu, 15 May 2008 08:06:31 -0400 Craig Stoltz With the general election about to begin, one issue certain to divide the Democrat nominee and Republican John McCain is "universal" healthcare. The Democrat will support it. McCain will not. The divisive matters: Cost, complexity and the role of private and public entities.   All of which are addressed in a new report on universal healthcare from the Commonwealth Fund.   The report, "Building Blocks for Reform: Achieving Universal... http://www.healthcentral.com/healthcare08/c/80046/27929/plausible