September 17, 2011

Don't Bet on Green

No legislator would seriously suggest that a roulette wheel be employed to dig California out of its financial mess.  Yet elected officials routinely gamble with taxpayer money. Lawmakers don't bet on red or black.  They bet on green. "Comp...

October 31, 2010

From Surgery to Sacramento

Seven years ago, if anyone suggested I would be spending much of 2010 running for elected office, I probably would have responded, "What's the punchline?"If that same person made the suggestion that if November 2, 2010, were a successful da...

January 21, 2010

Haiti and the U.S. Coast Guard: A Sailor's View from Ground Zero

After returning from a post-earthquake and tsunami medical relief mission in American Samoa, I was stunned to learn of the extent to which Haiti was affected by its own recent disaster.  Though there has been extensive coverage of the relief eff...

January 13, 2010

An Expatriate's Last Day in American Samoa

oday is my last day in American Samoa.  It's like many I spent during the three months I served as a surgeon in the aftermath of the September 29, 2009 tsunami.Like the remote American island itself, the day offered the contrast of glorious succ...

December 22, 2009

A Christmas Message for American Samoa

When I made the decision to leave for Pago Pago after the damaging September 29th earthquake and tsunami that hit American Samoa, one of my brothers gave me some advice.  As an adventurous, curious world traveler who had explored some of the lea...

December 16, 2009

Senate's Solution: Consumer Choice Is Dead on Arrival

According to the health care reform bill being debated in the U.S. Senate, there's an easy way to solve the problem of the uninsured in this country:Force Americans to buy health insurance just like we do with auto insurance.  Make insurance com...

December 12, 2009

Healthcare Access Better Overseas?

European health care systems are often portrayed by their advocates as superior in quality and delivery of care to that of the United States. Proponents of radical health care reform who condemn the U.S. system cite great achievements in access and a...

December 3, 2009

Public Option: Great Britain's Warning to America

Perhaps the most publicized, least understood aspect of the over 2,000 page, $850 billion health care reform bill being debated now in the U.S. Senate is the "public option."  Former Governor Howard Dean asserted last week at Yale Univ...

November 21, 2009

Lights and Miracles on American Samoa

In a few hours it will be Shabbat-the Jewish Sabbath-in American Samoa.  I'm relaxing behind the hospital at my apartment, preparing to light candles later and enjoy dinner with new friends.I turn on the TV expecting to see another CSI rerun....

November 19, 2009

Death and Life on American Samoa: Update

Note: This is the final update to the article Dr. Halderman wrote about the extraordinary efforts of the United States Air Force to save the life of a 5-year-old on a remote Pacific American outpost: Whoever destroys a soul, it is considered as if he...

November 9, 2009

American Medicine Through the Looking Glass

What Alice would see on American Samoa:After the September 29th, 2009 tsunami hit American Samoa, I took a leave of absence from my job as a policy adviser in the California Senate to offer medical relief to the tiny Pacific island. But nothing I did...

November 4, 2009

American Doc in American Samoa: Update

Note: This is a follow-up to this article Dr. Halderman wrote about the extraordinary efforts of the United States Air Force to save the life of a 5-year-old on a remote Pacific American outpost. The island remains beautiful as we enter hurricane sea...

October 25, 2009

Overcoming the odds

It's Saturday night in Pago Pago.  As I write this from a little tropical hospital in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on a tiny island called American Samoa, I'm trying hard to make sense of the last 72 hours.I remember sleeping at one point, ea...

October 15, 2009

A Perfect Tsunami: U.S. Health care reform and a conservative doc in American Samoa

On 9/29/09, an 8.3 earthquake and massive tsunami devastated much of the U.S. territory of American Samoa.  Its fragile health care infrastructure crumbled in the wake of the natural disasters, leaving the 77-square-mile island's residents and v...

October 1, 2009

Subsidized Health Care: a view from the exam room

I learned a lot about the cost of health care when I had a hybrid general surgery practice in California 's rural San Joaquin Valley.  My practice consisted of uninsured women with breast cancer combined with a smaller percentage of cosmetic pat...

September 23, 2009

Medicaid Expansion: Budget-Busting Reform

California has chosen to indulge its poor with what President Obama might call the "Cadillac version" of Medicaid, with all the optional equipment, and no pesky documentation requirements. As a result, financial chaos looms. Medicaid covers...

September 17, 2009

Senator Baucus: what $856 billion buys you

On September 16, 2009, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) offered some of the details of the healthcare reform proposal that will be presented for debate.  The Senator's 223-page summary of the proposal, "America's Healthy ...

August 6, 2009

ObamaCare's Poison Pill

Three House committees just choked down the bitter pill of a compromise version of a healthcare reform bill, HR 3200.  But for vulnerable patients -- and taxpayers -- the cure may be worse than the disease.Problematic policy recommendations by p...

October 12, 2007

California Healthcare Reform: the Governor's new plan

One twelfth of the United States is poised to adopt a sweeping healthcare reform program, making some dubious assumptions about funding along the way. Many voters remain uncertain of the answer to the key question: "How will the proposed healthc...

September 20, 2007

Patients without Doctors: The Flawed Plan of Governor Schwarzenegger

Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to terminate the problem of uninsured Californians needing better health care. According to Governor Schwarzenegger's Senior Health Policy Advisor, the Governor's Health Care Proposal will add 900,000 Californians to Medi-...

January 27, 2007

First Do No Harm. Then Do Something.

"First, do no harm" is the foundation of modern medicine.  But for sick patients to benefit, illness must then be actively treated.  Avoiding harm by simply ignoring a problem is rarely the best way to solve it.Governor Schwarzene...

January 25, 2007

What's Your Doctor Worth?

How much money does your doctor earn?  If your doctor is a Surgeon practicing in rural central California, you're about to find out.First, some background:  Perhaps your 51-year-old neighbor's screening mammogram this year showed a suspicio...

January 17, 2007

Governor Schwarzenegger's Flawed Health Care Plan

Paved with good intentions, California's  proposed road to Universal Health Coverage will lead straight to chaos. The Governor's January 8th, 2007 proposal aims to provide relief for Californians suffering under a healthcare system in despe...