The New Year is a time for making resolutions and focusing on self-improvement. While many of these New Year’s resolutions typically have to do with quitting smoking or weight loss, numerous well-intentioned goal-seekers just wind up feeling depressed. Broken resolutions combined with lousy weather and the end of the festive holiday season can leave many...Continue reading
Category: Policy
Health Disparities: Why Do Women Live Longer Than Men?
On average, men’s lives are less healthy—and shorter—than women’s. This health disparity exists in part because women take better care of themselves than men do. But several recent studies have found that in many cases, a man and a woman with the exact same condition may respond to it quite differently. Logic would dictate that...Continue reading
Fail First is the Wrong Prescription for Patients
As policymakers and health care stakeholders consider reforms to address the cost of medications, Men’s Health Network (MHN), the leading health advocacy and education non-profit for advancing the comprehensive health of boys and men in America, urges lawmakers and regulators to reject outright policies that will prevent or constrain patients from accessing effective medications necessary...Continue reading
Prescription Drug Concessions and Rebates: Keeping the Focus on the Patient
Virtually anyone in America who takes a prescription medication has that medication processed and paid for through a for-profit business called a Pharmacy Benefit Management (PBM) company. These companies provide a very valuable service in the transaction between your local pharmacy and the health insurers or other payers like state or federal health programs I...Continue reading
Men and Breast Cancer
Men and breast cancer. That’s not a phrase you see often. But you should, because although breast cancer is most commonly thought of as a disease affecting women, it does occur in men as well. Many people mistakenly believe that because men don’t have “breasts” they don’t get breast cancer. Truth is that all people...Continue reading
Setting the Costs of Medicines: Government Price Arbitration Is Dicey Policy
We are all concerned about the cost of medications. As the leading health advocacy and education non-profit for advancing the comprehensive health of boys and men in America, Men’s Health Network (MHN) focuses on policy issues and strategies to help enhance the health of boys and men. Medications are one of the most cost-effective ways...Continue reading
Abortion: An Issue That Affects All of Us
Dear Mr. Dad: I remember a thoughtful column you wrote a few years ago about abortion and the need for men and women to talk about it. I’m wondering whether your thinking has changed in light of the draconian anti-abortion laws in Georgia, Alabama, and other places. I’m also wondering what you think about the...Continue reading
Title IX: A Good Thing Gone Bad
Dear Mr. Dad: In one of your columns a month or so ago, you took a swipe at Title IX, which most people think has done a great job of bringing equity to college sports. You even called it “dangerous.” I don’t see what there is to complain about. Please explain. A: Thank you for asking....Continue reading
Beyond Proposition 4
The decisive victory for Proposition 4, restoring voting rights to 1.5 million ex-felons in Florida, is a big win for American democracy, yet the problems of 17-20 million formerly incarcerated Americans extend far beyond restoring their right to vote. The list is long: employer hiring bias, ex-felons’ lack of skills, poverty and homelessness, health and...
The Women’s Health“Crisis” Delusion?
The recent “pink wave” swept into Congress an unprecedented number of women, many of whom put women’s health high on their list of priorities. There’s no question that much can—and should—be done to improve women’s health. However, there’s also no question that a legislative focus on women’s health continues to ignore a far larger problem:...Continue reading
