Our Health Policy Matters

Thirty years ago, AIDS was a total mystery to us. Six years into what CDC already termed an epidemic, 358 AIDS cases in twenty states had been confirmed and 136 people had died.  No one knew why. Several people I knew were probably already infected with HIV.  I learned this only as they died over the next few years.  One was a popular Connecticut Congressman, Stew McKinney, who was a moving force behind federal funding for services for homeless people.  Another was a lawyer named Jim Hurley. I first met Jim when we were high school debaters.   His school debated against my school at several local and regional debate tournaments.  I remembered him as bright, easy-going, and friendly. We reintroduced ourselves during our first year in college, when we crossed paths in his dormitory one day.  He hadn’t changed much.  He was personable, still friendly, and happy to exchange a few stories about Catholic high schools and debating...

Thirty years ago, AIDS was a total mystery to us. Six years into what CDC already termed an epidemic, 358 AIDS cases in twenty states had been confirmed and 136 people had died.  No one knew why. Several people I knew were probably already infected with HIV.  I learned this only as they died over the next few years.  One was a popular Connecticut Congressman, Stew McKinney, who was a moving force behind federal funding for services for homeless people.  Another was a lawyer named Jim Hurley. I first met Jim when we were high school debaters.   His school debated against my school at several local and regional debate tournaments.  I remembered him as bright, easy-going, and friendly. We reintroduced ourselves during our first year in college, when we crossed paths in his dormitory one day.  He hadn’t changed much.  He was personable, still friendly, and happy to exchange a few stories about Catholic high schools and debating...

On December 8, 2010, Jack Dalrymple, a Republican Governor in the safely Republican state of North Dakota, sent a budget to the state Legislative Assembly calling for an $8 million increase in funding for mental health services. His transmittal message accompanying his FY2011-2013 proposed budget was simple. “We… need to make investments that help take care of people.  We have all been alarmed recently about teen suicide rates, especially on our Native American reservations.  These highlight the need to make more resources available for critical mental health services for our citizens.” So, in a $3.3 billion general fund budget, he proposed over $6 million for new inpatient services, community crisis stabilization, and drug dependency treatment.  He also proposed $1 million for suicide prevention, another million dollars for mental health services on college and high school campuses, and a rate increase for mental health providers.  He summed up thes...

On December 8, 2010, Jack Dalrymple, a Republican Governor in the safely Republican state of North Dakota, sent a budget to the state Legislative Assembly calling for an $8 million increase in funding for mental health services. His transmittal message accompanying his FY2011-2013 proposed budget was simple. “We… need to make investments that help take care of people.  We have all been alarmed recently about teen suicide rates, especially on our Native American reservations.  These highlight the need to make more resources available for critical mental health services for our citizens.” So, in a $3.3 billion general fund budget, he proposed over $6 million for new inpatient services, community crisis stabilization, and drug dependency treatment.  He also proposed $1 million for suicide prevention, another million dollars for mental health services on college and high school campuses, and a rate increase for mental health providers.  He summed up thes...

A few weeks ago, we were tantalized by the news that a new treatment for leukemia might be on the horizon.   Three very sick patients were injected with a new drug.   It was made from – of all things – a modified version of the virus that causes AIDS.   After a year, two were disease-free and the third had a 70% reduction in disease tissue.   One researcher was quoted as saying that the results “exceeded our wildest expectations.” But the rest of the story pointed out that the discovery almost didn’t happen.   There wasn’t enough research money for a full trial.   Neither the National Cancer Institute nor pharmaceutical companies had funding for the research.   A family foundation stepped up, but that’s why there were only enough funds for three patients to participate initially. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the largest funder of biomedical research in the United States.   In requesting a budget of $32 billion for FY2012, it n...

A few weeks ago, we were tantalized by the news that a new treatment for leukemia might be on the horizon.   Three very sick patients were injected with a new drug.   It was made from – of all things – a modified version of the virus that causes AIDS.   After a year, two were disease-free and the third had a 70% reduction in disease tissue.   One researcher was quoted as saying that the results “exceeded our wildest expectations.” But the rest of the story pointed out that the discovery almost didn’t happen.   There wasn’t enough research money for a full trial.   Neither the National Cancer Institute nor pharmaceutical companies had funding for the research.   A family foundation stepped up, but that’s why there were only enough funds for three patients to participate initially. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the largest funder of biomedical research in the United States.   In requesting a budget of $32 billion for FY2012, it n...