Signed into law in March 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) reforms private and public health insurance policies in an effort to broaden healthcare coverage in the United States. Together with the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, the law’s major provisions include an expansion in health insurance options and Medicaid coverage, the creation of health insurance exchanges, and the implementation of an individual mandate that taxes groups that do not purchase health insurance.

During their young adulthood in the decades following the Second World War, the “baby boomers” were symbolically viewed as the driving force of optimism and opportunity in our society. As these citizens have grown older, however, there has been growing … Continue Reading

On September 14, 2010, the Corn Refiners Association petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to advertise high fructose corn syrup as “corn sugar.” Although name changes have occurred in the past for other foods, a wave of debate has erupted … Continue Reading

The Let’s Move Campaign, launched in 2010 by First Lady Michelle Obama, aims to solve “the challenge of childhood obesity within a generation,” according to the organization’s website. According to the website, nearly 1 in 3 American children is overweight … Continue Reading

Hospitals and cigarettes embody fundamentally contradictory notions: one is where people go to seek health, and the other is the nation’s number one cause of preventable disease and death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website. … Continue Reading

A picture may be worth 1000 lives, or many more, in the case of cigarette labels. In September of 2012, graphic images of the various illnesses caused by smoking may replace the small, black and white text labels that have … Continue Reading

With heart disease and cancer-related deaths on the rise in the United States, the medical community has pushed for more frequent, earlier screenings in an effort to save lives. However, there is little consensus among members of the medical community … Continue Reading

The United States is in the midst of an obesity epidemic. Rising health care costs for diseases related to unhealthy diets have led government policymakers and economists to consider levying a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages. Health care costs for obesity … Continue Reading

With the legalization of same-sex marriage in New York this past June, the gay marriage debate has once again thrust itself into the spotlight. In California, only gay marriages performed before the passage of Proposition 8, which defined marriage as … Continue Reading

Frivolous lawsuits in the American legal system make rousing news stories and attention-grabbing headlines. They are usually health-related cases in which the plaintiff accuses the defendants of significant mental and physical damages. However, many are not aware that these provocative … Continue Reading