Laura Newman
I am a medical journalist and blogger. My stories have appeared in peer-reviewed journals and on the web. In Patient POV, I strive to bring the same rigor to telling stories about patients that I have shown in my previous work, which has featured research scientists and physicians.
Laura can be found on Twitter as @lauranewmanny.
Patient POVI’m on ScienceSeeker
Category Archives: Medicare
Will Patients Win with Transparent Hospital-Bill Mandates?
Tweet If you had a chance to read Steve Brill’s enormous piece on outrageous hospital bills in Time earlier this year, you probably found it an eye-opener. Speaking before Physicians for a National Health Program meeting in New York last … Continue reading
Posted in Medicare
Tagged Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, cost transparency, hospital costs, physician salaries
2 Comments
Top 10 Issues Driving My Vote for Obama
Tweet Obamacare Upcoming Supreme Court appointments Roe v. Wade Same sex marriage Preservation of Medicare and Medicaid Planned Parenthood The Dream Act Climate change Lily Ledbetter Act Saving FEMA This list is hardly exhaustive. Got friends or relatives wavering this … Continue reading
Posted in Medicaid, Medicare, Roe, voting
Tagged ACA, climate change, Obamacare, Supreme Court
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Medicare Case a Win For PatientsWith Chronic, Debilitating Conditions, Disabilities
Tweet Patients on Medicare with chronic conditions and disabilities will no longer have to show improvement to get skilled care and therapy services, according to a proposed settlement of a class action suit, Jimmo v. Sebelius. The settlement clarifies the … Continue reading
Six Outrageous Threats to Labor and The Public’s Health
Tweet When public policy undermines the public’s health, patient empowerment is not really on the table. Patients may be well informed, doctors may share unbiased, good information, but if public policy does not support public health, patient empowerment is … Continue reading
Posted in Medicare, patients, public health
Tagged collective bargaining, privatization, unions
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How Avoidable are Hospital Readmissions for Heart Failure?
Tweet I knew an elderly man who suffered from heart failure. Every few years, he would get to the point where he couldn’t walk very far, his feet swelled, and he had repeated hospitalizations to get stabilized and get his … Continue reading
Underused, Shingles Vaccine Beset with Problems
Tweet If you talk with people who have had shingles, many will tell you that it took a terrible toll on them and that they wish that they could forget about the entire experience. Some can’t. “Freddy” had shingles three … Continue reading
Posted in Medicare
Tagged drug shortage, Medicare Part D, shingles vaccine, underuse, vaccines
8 Comments
My $5,000 Tooth and the Institute of Medicine Dental Report
Tweet What a coincidence! The Institute of Medicine released a report today titled Improving Access to Oral Health Care for Vulnerable and Underserved Populations and I am one step further in my saga of trying to save a tooth! It … Continue reading
Posted in Access to care, dental care, Institute of Medicine, Medicaid, Medicare
Tagged affordable dental care, American Dental Association, California Healthcare Foundation, dental implants, dental insurance, Health Resources Service Adminstration, shared decision making, underserved populations, vulnerable populations
3 Comments
Alzheimer’s Disease Issues – Day 2:
Let’s Keep the Conversation Going
Tweet I spent today at an all day Alzheimer’s meeting, taking notes and tweeting. I am also exhausted. Many of you know that this is my 23rd consecutive day blogging here. There are a lot of pluses to posting every … Continue reading
Posted in Alzheimer's disease, long term care, Medicare
Tagged access to care, Alzheimer's disease, Medicare, retirement
1 Comment
When Colorectal Cancer Screening is Too Much, Too Frequent, or Not Enough
Tweet No other disease advocacy group has built as effective an awareness campaign as the cancer societies. It has helped to build support for prevention, research, and treatments, but I wonder whether excess awareness could be contributing to the overuse … Continue reading