The National Institute on Drug Abuse “challenged the public to create Infographics that present current scientific information about prescription drug abuse in interesting, novel, and creative ways to help inform and educate the general public.” Below are six of the graphical presentations. All the sources for the data are at the bottom of the page. […Full Article]
Where does a Congress member or Senator go when they leave the Hill; be it a calculated exit or otherwise? It’s true they have opulent post-employment compensation plans but even with a sturdy safety net many aren’t necessarily ready to trade in their careers or ambitions for leisurely weekday afternoons on the golf course, senior’s […Full Article]
This article contains several charts and videos concerning the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. All the charts expand to make the data easier to view. Click on a chart to expand it, and click on the expanded chart to shrink it back to its original size. The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and […Full Article]
Betty Ann Bowser of PBS NewsHour in April 2011 reported the following: A study published in Health Affairs examined the records of 795 patients at three teaching hospitals. 354 of the patients had experienced medical mistakes. “90 percent of all hospital mistakes go unreported.” To read the entire article, click on New Study Finds Medical […Full Article]
truthful politics reviewed data from various sources on Social Security. The official report that shows the current and projected financial status of Social Security is the Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds. Mark Weisbrot in the Center for Economic and Policy […Full Article]
Emily P. Walker in MedPage Today in November 2010 reported on high deductible health insurance plans (HDHP). According to IRS publication 969 (2009), at the time of this article, to qualify as a high deductible health insurance plan (HDHP), the minimum annual deductible for an individual is $1,200, and for a family is $2,400. Because […Full Article]
The American Human Development Project, a nonpartisan initiative, completed their The Measure of America report. It measures three categories: health, education, and income. Some of the findings are as follows: U.S. life expectancy is 78.6 years, the same life expectancy for Chile. Chile spends 10% of what the U.S. spends on health care. The 11 […Full Article]
David Nather of The Center for Public Integrity in October 2010 reported the following: Medicare expenses grow faster than Social Security expenses. Medicare expenses have grown faster than the economy by 1.3% to 3% over the past 40 years. In 2009, Medicare trustees said Medicare faces $36 trillion in unfunded obligations. However, in 2010 the […Full Article]
According to the CDC, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, part of the Department of Health and Human Services, food “deserts are areas that lack access to affordable fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat milk, and other foods that make up the full range of a healthy diet.” The USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) […Full Article]
Mary W. Walsh in The New York Times in October 2010 reported that the municipalities of New York face $200 billion in health care benefits to retirees. The health benefits are separate from the pensions. “Governments have reported their pension obligations for years, but their retiree medical obligations have been building up unseen, because governments […Full Article]