I am encouraged by President Obama's nomination of Dartmouth College president Jim Yong Kim, MD, PhD, to head the World Bank. A physician and anthropologist, Dr. Kim’s experience in global health would bring critically important insights to an institution that focuses on alleviating poverty. We can't achieve the Millennium Development goals or reduce poverty without addressing the fundamental importance of health.

Dr. Kim would be the first World Bank president with a…

Unfortunately, Congressional proposals to gut the Prevention and Public Health Fund reemerged this morning. Congress is considering cutting the Prevention Fund by up to $5 billion over ten years to avoid massive cuts to Medicare physicians. As I said in my blog last December, when a similar proposal was on the table, this tactic is not only bad for…

President Obama presented an inspiring vision for the future in his State of the Union speech: Our country will build a thriving and sustainable economy, give every American a fair shot at success, and use common sense regulations to protect citizens from the worst corporate abuses. Despite the lack of direct attention to health in this speech, I was reminded of the great strides that have already been made to achieve this vision because of the Affordable Care…

As the curtain falls on 2011, Congress is struggling to complete its unfinished business, including finalizing the federal budget for 2012, and, once again, public health is being shortchanged. A recent payroll tax proposal released by House Republicans would cut the Prevention and Public Health Fund by 68% to avoid a scheduled 27% cut in payments to Medicare physicians.  

While slashing current Medicare provider reimbursements would be devastating and could cause millions of…

I was recently honored to participate as an observer representing the Public Health Institute (PHI) at the…