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Byline: Neil McLaughlin Was that a year or what? After a century of struggle, the U.S. finally approves a comprehensive reform of the healthcare system. Backers of the plan say [...]

Byline: NEIL MCLAUGHLIN When Congress passed healthcare reform legislation earlier this year and President Barack Obama signed it into law, we joked around our newsroom that the package amounted to [...]

Byline: NEIL MCLAUGHLIN Notes on the news: * According to news reports, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul of Kentucky told a gathering of the state's Chamber of Commerce last [...]

Byline: NEIL MCLAUGHLIN The proliferation of primary election candidates vowing to repeal the new healthcare reform law makes one's heart soar like an eagle. A pantheon of patriots has arisen [...]

Byline: Neil Mclaughlin Some things never change. The cartoon below was published in Modern Healthcare in 1993. It captures the essence of Rick Scott's take-no-prisoners business style as chief of [...]

Byline: NEIL MCLAUGHLIN You may have seen an Associated Press story last week about longevity in Japan. The lead of the story was that Japanese women are expected to live [...]

Byline: NEIL MCLAUGHLIN More than a century ago, Mark Twain declared that 'there is no native criminal class except Congress. He would have understood instantly why President Barack Obama resorted [...]

Byline: Neil Mclaughlin Notes on the news: It's a sign of the times that someone has built a novel about the failings of the U.S. healthcare system. The recently published [...]

Byline: Neil Mclaughlin Notes on the news: Here's the latest evidence of the boundless capacity of many American politicians to sacrifice the public interest for political gain. As of last [...]

Byline: NEIL MCLAUGHLIN Notes on the news: Let's talk a little about attention. My colleague David May noted last week on this page (April 12, p. 22) that recent data [...]

Byline: NEIL MCLAUGHLIN Notes on the news: * Apparently, the insurance industry is pushing a secret agenda. The effort began in February when Anthem Blue Cross, a unit of WellPoint, [...]

Byline: Neil Mclaughlin That was a rough 100 years. And the past year of debate on healthcare reform seemed like all 100 wrapped into one. In fact, if you look [...]

Byline: Neil McLaughlin In an age in which selfishness and belligerence have been successfully marketed as virtues and compassion and cooperation as vices, it's nice to see that some people [...]

Byline: NEIL MCLAUGHLIN Notes on the news: If there is such thing as a hospital executive who is suffering from unremitting euphoria, let us offer an article in the latest [...]

Byline: NEIL MCLAUGHLIN Notes on the news: Last April, we suggested that the nation might soon embrace what's euphemistically called consumer-driven healthcarenot out of design but by default. At the [...]

Byline: NEIL MCLAUGHLIN Notes on the news: People of a certain age may remember an episode of the 1960s science-fiction TV show "The Outer Limits. In this installment, monstrous aliens [...]

Byline: NEIL MCLAUGHLIN A good illustration of much of what's wrong in American healthcare and politics was precipitated in recent days by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. It issued [...]

Byline: Neil McLaughlin Notes on the news: * It has been a year since the collapse of the nation's financial system, and the nasty effects linger. As finance reporter Melanie [...]

Byline: Neil McLaughlin Notes on the news: ? It's interesting that a few prominent Republicans are endorsing at least some version of healthcare reform despite the prevailing GOP sentiment inside [...]

Byline: Neil Mclaughlin Last week's events, including President Barack Obama's address to Congress, made me think that the U.S. healthcare system is a lot like many uninsured patients. The system [...]

Byline: Neil Mclaughlin Notes on the news: *There has been a lot of unintended humor in the latest healthcare reform debate. One of the bigger knee-slappers, this one promoted mainly [...]

Byline: Neil Mclaughlin From the Dow Jones Newswires, we learn that the financial industry is considering running "Harry and Louise''-style ads to turn public opinion against the Obama administration's proposed [...]

Byline: Neil Mclaughlin Cat's still in the bag ... ... but things could get ugly if it gets out that revenue is prime motivator Last week's massive protests in Iran [...]

Byline: Neil McLaughlin Published reports have said recently that opponents of healthcare reform have seized on "patient rights'' as a theme in their efforts to squelch any legislative initiatives. According [...]

Byline: Neil Mclaughlin There's a theme that runs through a lot of healthcare commentary that goes like this: Americans are fat, lazy, dissipated slobs and that's why they're so sick. [...]

Byline: Neil McLaughlin We have been living in a second Gilded Age in America, in which the accumulation of personal wealth has taken precedence above all other values. One problem [...]

Byline: Neil McLaughlin, managing editor Everything old is new again. As soon as President Barack Obama asked for some sacrifice in the cause of healthcare reform, all the lobbies went [...]

Byline: Neil McLaughlin Over the past year, or at least when gas prices were soaring to $4 a gallon, there was a lot of talk about resources and sustainability. A [...]

Byline: Neil McLaughlin It's emblematic of 2008 that as the year closes, we learn that one of the most respected figures on Wall Street reportedly ran a $50 billion Ponzi [...]

Byline: Neil McLaughlin Notes on the news: Some recent newspaper stories show that in addition to achieving universal or near-universal health coverage, a lot of policymakers are becoming increasingly concerned [...]

Byline: Neil McLaughlin Have you hugged your employees lately? It might save you some money. That question comes to mind because of recent coverage of wellness programs and workplace health. [...]

Byline: Neil McLaughlin That Barack Obama is one optimistic guy. Despite all the conventional wisdom indicating that he wouldn't stand a chance, the junior senator from Illinois entered the presidential [...]

Byline: Neil McLaughlin Notes on the news: The hospital industry hasn't exactly covered itself in fiduciary glory since the inception of Medicare. Over the succeeding decades, providers have creatively gamed [...]

Byline: Neil McLaughlin Notes on the news: A few months ago, this magazine published a cover story on the alarming number of U.S. air ambulance crashes in the first half [...]

Byline: Neil McLaughlin File away the position papers, pull the TV ads and cancel the summits-there will be no national healthcare reform in the near future. It's not that there [...]

Byline: Neil McLaughlin Notes on the news: * One of the most discouraging aspects of the recent wave of financial disasters is the abandonment of corporate stewardship by the titans [...]

Byline: Neil McLaughlin Last week was a good one if you are a student of economic debacles and institutional decline. The shaky condition of housing finance companies Fannie Mae and [...]

Byline: Neil McLaughlin When people ask us what sets Modern Healthcare apart from other publications in its field, we point out three important differences. The first is that our magazine [...]

Byline: Neil McLaughlin A few words about surveys and polling: * Many industry observers focused on widespread dissatisfaction in the newly released Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems [...]

Byline: Neil McLaughlin, Managing editor Movie fans may recall the recurring theme of the "no-win scenario'' in the film "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.'' A Starfleet cadet is [...]

Byline: Neil Mclaughlin Anyone who follows state legislatures or Congress will recognize the harsh punishment syndrome. This occurs when lawmakers try to solve a social problem through escalating penalties. If [...]

Byline: Neil Mclaughlin As we move deeper into an election year, the talk about healthcare reform no doubt will intensify. One thing you can also be sure of is that [...]

Byline: Neil McLaughlin You might say there have been two presidential primary campaigns in 2007. One is the race by candidates to win their party's nomination. The other is the [...]

Byline: Neil Mclaughlin Notes on Modern Healthcare's Oct. 15 issue: Progress is a funny thing, especially in the healthcare industry. Reporter Andis Robeznieks examined the slow adoption of patient e-mail [...]

Byline: Neil McLaughlin News story: The Census Bureau reports that the number of Americans lacking health insurance rose to a record total of 47 million in 2006. The increase of [...]

Byline: Neil McLaughlin Dear Nicolas Sarkozy, Congratulations on your election as president of France. As you settle into your new office after last week's handover of power, I wanted to [...]

Byline: Neil McLaughlin Modern Healthcare has won 13 awards from the American Society of Healthcare Publication Editors, more than any other organization this year in its annual competition recognizing editorial [...]

Byline: Neil McLaughlin The French aviator and writer Antoine de Saint-Exupery is best known to Americans as the author of the children's story The Little Prince. But he recounts some [...]