On January 15th, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in McCullen v. Coakley, a case challenging the Massachusetts Buffer Zone Law.
Congress Must Heed the President’s Historic Call for Paid Leave, Fair Pay and a Stronger Health Care System
President Obama’s State of the Union address was a compelling call for a more fair and family friendly nation.
Fighting Back: The Women’s Health Protection Act
The Women’s Health Protection Act would support women’s ability to make personal health care decisions unhindered by callous and unnecessary state regulations.
A New Direction for Women’s Health and Reproductive Rights in Virginia
Voters in Virginia faced a clear choice when it came to women’s health and reproductive rights in the Virginia governor’s race.
How Do I Get to Healthy?
What if, instead of plugging in your destination address, you could ask for directions to get to healthy?
We Must Honor the Affordable Care Act’s Commitment to Women
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) includes key provisions of paramount importance to women…
Our Bodies, Our Lives, Our Decisions: Albuquerque Communities Respect Decisions About Abortion
“Mija, I think that a woman should make her own decision about abortion for herself. It’s her body and no one is in her shoes to decide for her.” These are the words of my father, a proud immigrant from Michoacán, Mexico, a domestic worker, a brother to five sisters and a father to three daughters.
Taking Bold Action to Lift Abortion Coverage Bans: States and Cities Lead the Way
Nestled in the Appalachian mountains, Charleston, West Virginia wouldn’t at first glance seem to have much in common with Cerritos College, a predominantly Latino community college with its campus in Los Angeles…
Welcome to the Health Insurance Marketplace!
Get the details on health care coverage and the new Affordable Care Act marketplaces.
Realizing the Value of Health IT: Jumpstarting Efforts to Reduce Health Disparities
Health disparities and health information technology (IT). Those two issues aren’t linked very often, but they should be, and National Health IT Week presents a great opportunity to talk about why. Health information technology is a valuable tool we can use to reduce disparities for millions of Americans and improve the quality of health care.
Youth Activism for Sex Education
As educators, advocates, and allies of sexual health, we often ask ourselves why we are still having conversations about the implementation and support of comprehensive sexuality education for young people across the nation.
“Meaningful Use” of Health IT: What the FACA?!
What happens when you put a couple of dozen doctors, technology vendors, consumer advocates, researchers, public health officials, state legislators and others in a room and ask them to agree on exactly what it means to ‘meaningfully use’ electronic health records? Not as many fights as you’d think. And thanks to the Federal Advisory Committees Act [1] – which created the FACAs responsible for creating the first draft of Meaningful Use criteria – we know!
An Opportunity to Reduce Health Disparities that We Cannot Afford to Waste
One of America’s greatest assets is its incredible diversity. Today, one in five people in this country age five and older speak a language other than English at home. The U.S. Hispanic population has reached 50.5 million, accounting for more than half of the population increase since 2000.
A Day to Remember, A March That Must Continue
On August 28, 1963, hundreds of thousands of men and women came together in Washington, D.C., for the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Fifty years later, the march continues.
One Step Closer to Equity for Peace Corps Volunteers
Here’s a fact that may surprise you: Women who work for the Peace Corps at its headquarters in Washington, D.C. and women who volunteer for the Peace Corps and serve overseas receive different health care coverage from the federal government.
Following Governor Perry’s Lead
Over the course of several months, the North Carolina House of Representatives has launched a series of attacks on a woman’s right to choose, passing several bills that seek to limit access to abortion.
Moving Forward on Health IT
Delay access to health information you need now? Pause efforts to ensure that an emergency room can get your medical data from your doctor immediately, if the need arises? Patients and consumers say no.
Amplifying the Voices of Patients
Big changes are taking place in our health care system — and it’s about time. While some innovations have been occurring in limited areas around the country, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is making bigger, bolder transformation of the health care system more of a reality.
Keeping “Wellness” from Turning into Discrimination
Today, I had the honor of testifying before the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on a topic of critical importance to our nation’s workers: employer wellness programs.
Why Health IT is Truly the Cat’s Meow
Those of us who work in the health IT world spend our days analyzing policies, creating advocacy strategies, and talking about meaningful use criteria, quality improvement, and care coordination till we’re blue in the face. But how does that play out when we leave the office? More often than not, we bring our work home.
