Dan Callahan

It began with a little black spot on Dan Callahan’s lower lip. He didn’t think it was anything to worry about. His doctor thought it was cancer.
The doctor was right.
It was neurotropic melanoma, a very rare — and very…

Protesters demand health reform at a rally outside Blue Cross headquarters in Los Angles last month.

Nothing about health care reform has inspired more overheated rhetoric than the so-called public option.
Opponents say it would unleash a government juggernaut against which no…

Otto von Bismarck: Not socialist.

Forget all this nonsense about socialized health care. The first head of state to propose a national health system was at the other end of the political spectrum. His name: Otto von Bismarck.

The system established by…

This helps explain why we need health care reform in this country.

From the blog, womenstake.org:

“Nope, we won’t take her.” This is what insurance companies in Florida said when asked whether they would provide insurance coverage to a hypothetical applicant who had…

If there were a way to save $207.4 million, avoid 30,000 unnecessary hospitalizations and more than 2,000 premature deaths, we’d jump at it, right?
That’s what Missouri would gain if its health system performed as well as the systems in Vermont,…

President Barack Obama speaks after last week's historic Senate health reform vote.

Forget all the angry shouting about socialized medicine and government take-overs. Health care reform is really all about markets, competition and choice.
That’s probably not what you’ve heard. But as…

To hear some people tell it, the number of people without health insurance in the United States is vastly overstated.
There are the illegal immigrants, the argument goes, and then there are those who can afford to buy insurance but don’t…

Robin Beaton's insurance company cancelled her breast cancer surgery because she didn't disclose she'd been treated for acne.

Health insurance companies launched an 11th-hour assault Monday on a compromise health care reform bill in the Senate. In a new report and a…

For a guy who focused so relentlessly on health care as a candidate, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has been remarkably quiet of late.
At a time when health care dominates the national debate, Mr. Nixon is one of just six Democratic…

Mom always said to be careful what we wished for, lest we actually get it. The warning is apt now that the health care reform debate in Congress seems headed into the home stretch, or maybe just the back stretch.

Several big…

Matson

Poverty is on the rise in Missouri. Over the past nine years, the state’s poverty rate has grown at more than double the national average.
The change has disproportionately affected whites. Poverty remains significantly higher among African-Americans. But the poverty rate grew fastest…

Tim Blacke

When doctors found a tumor in Tim Blacke’s brain, health insurance was the last thing he worried about. That was his first mistake.
For nearly two decades, he’d worked for internationally known evangelical minister Josh McDowell. During that time, Mr.…

Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont.

America needs a strong shot of health care reform, but Sen. Max Baucus’ two-aspirin-and-call-me-the-morning measure won’t get the job done.
Mr. Baucus, D-Mont., who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, dithered for months trying to craft a compromise with…

In 1999, it cost about $5,800 to buy employer-provided family health insurance coverage. If premiums had increased at the same rate as inflation, that same policy today would cost $7,239.

Instead, it costs $13,375. That’s an increase of 131 percent — more than…

No Missouri politician can afford to appear soft on drug use. But what if the drug use includes people seeking relief from colds and allergies?
Last week, Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster vowed to support a misguided proposal that would make…

Critics are questioning whether health care reform will force middle-class families out of the insurance plans that currently cover them. The better question is whether the insurance plans that currently cover them —  or, more precisely, the price of that…

State Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Glendale, plays with his 5-year-old son Stephen, who has autism.

Children with autism deserve care that helps them lead the fullest, most productive lives. That shouldn’t be a political issue. It shouldn’t even be a controversial issue.
But…

Thousands of angry protesters turned out at town hall meetings in Hillsboro, Cape Girardeau and across the country this week. They had come to pledge their unstinting support for the world’s 37th best-performing health care system.
The protesters vowed to protect a…

We often hear about the uninsured, but sometimes we don’t know who they are. I’ve seen them described as wealthy people or young people who choose not to buy insurance, illegal immigrants or people who are offered insurance through their…

The health care debate is going to hit reach the boiling point over the next few weeks.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said Democrats will get health care reform with or without Republicans on board, Dow Jones Newswires reports.   From the…