We must rise to the moment COVID demands. In our new op-ed @ChristopherLCai and I make the case for bold legislation by Rep. Pramila Jayapal and Bernie Sanders to insure all Americans. kevinmd.com/blog/2020/04/r… Kevin Pho, M.D. Physicians for a National Health Program

Millions of the workers losing their jobs are losing their health care, too. We need #MedicareForAll now.

Check out my first post for @HealthJustMon about why the recent pandemic-era bumps in ACA insurance enrollment show just how sorely #MedicareForAll is needed in the U.S.

Take a listen to the first episode of The Nocturnists Stories from a Pandemic: Part II that I helped produce with life, Emily Silverman, MD, & Molly Rose-Williams. I learned so much about the power of storytelling from this unbelievable group. Excited for our upcoming season 🎉🎧

"We know that insurance coverage both improves survival & reduces racial disparities in outcomes, not only for cancer but also for other medical conditions – chronic & acute. It’s time to assure that all Americans have high-quality insurance." My latest post up on @HealthJustMon.

“Ultra-expensive” drugs = drugs w/avg annual per beneficiary spending in excess of the annual US per capita GDP ($62,996 in 2018). Not only is the # of these drugs is skyrocketing, but their therapeutic benefit isn't always well demonstrated. The US needs #DrugPriceReform now.

After a month on the hospital wards, two lessons stick out most: 1) Life-saving meds should be affordable to patients. 2) Insurance barriers shouldn't dictate who has access to long-term services.

Too many Medicare beneficiaries lack dental coverage. As Dr America ✊🏽 recently said, "Your teeth are not luxury items." It's time to fight for a Medicare program that recognizes oral health is part of overall health. #MedicareForAll More on HJM: bit.ly/3ymYE7x

The U.S. is an outlier among high-income countries when it comes to health care: 1) we spend more 2) our outcomes are worse We're also the only high-income country that doesn't provide universal coverage. More on HJM: bit.ly/3ArcpCH

Medicare Advantage (aka privatized Medicare) is booming. What's the problem? As Bob Herman writes, spending is soaring. bit.ly/3g3SKB9 But beyond spending, access to care is severely limited thru narrow networks. More on @HealthJustMon: bit.ly/3AOEzaU

“…Delta’s new premium surcharge has the potential to backfire. It is likely to price some employees out of coverage entirely, cutting off their access to family physicians and other primary care providers who can be trusted sources of information about the vaccine’s benefits.”

“The sick individualism at the heart of American healthcare insists that we ensure as many people as possible are responsible for their own healthcare costs; that’s how we end up with cancer patients going bankrupt and people skipping expensive prescriptions.”

Abortions performed by trained providers are safer than child birth. When the U.S. legalized abortion in 1973, the number of abortion-related deaths dropped drastically. Texas' new law prohibiting most abortions is a threat to health.

59% of those in the Medicaid "coverage gap" are people of color. They are uninsured with incomes below poverty, and have no affordable coverage options because they live in states that have not expanded Medicaid under the ACA. kff.org/policy-watch/t…

“There is no shortage of innovative ideas to tie cancer drug price to value.”

*NEW Tyan et al study: >10% of oncologists now work in Private Equity owned clinics. This is not an anomaly! PE-backed health care is now truly cradle to grave in the US. In our commentary, Isabel Ostrer, FJ Crosson & I discuss: bit.ly/3VovocK #medtwitter *THREAD: (1/n)

Isabel Ostrer Dr. Glaucomflecken Yale School of Medicine Yale Internal Medicine JAMA Dr K., MD, MS, FASCO 🌎🇺🇸🇪🇺🇺🇦🌏 Michael Leapman @simon_p_kim Kevin Tyan @Mirandalamm @ysingh_hopkins Jane Zhu Daniel Polsky What to do? We need to stop incentivizing buy-outs with tax loopholes, FFS billing schema; increase federal scrutiny of mergers, acquisitions; enhance our understanding of the impact of PE ownership (greater transparency, urgent research) bit.ly/3VovocK

#SecKerry restore PEPFAR from deadly cuts, demand big increase in #budget from #WhiteHouse to #endAIDS thndr.it/1f7zXMR