Articles by Steven Gilchrist

According to a new report by the Kaiser Family Foundation an estimated 41% of Americans or about 100 million adults have some form of health care debt. The medical debt that Americans owe ranges from under $500 (16%) to $10,000 or more (12%). As of 2019, Americans carried over $195 billion in medical debt. The largest amount of unexpected medical bills typically arise from out-of-network providers being involved in patient care.  Approximately 15% of people with medical debt say they have been denied access to a hospital, doctor's office, or another provider because of unpaid bills. According to a June 16, 2022 Kaiser Health News article by Noam N. Levey: "Medical debt is piling additional hardships on people with cancer and other chronic illnesses. Debt levels in U.S. counties with the highest rates of disease can be three or four times what they are in the healthiest counties, according to an Urban Institute analysis.  Compared to other forms of consumer debt, medical bills ...

According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons stroke is the 5th leading cause of death in the United States. Strokes are also a leading cause of long-term disability. Although strokes can occur at any age, stroke risk increases with age. 3/4 of all strokes occur in people older than 65 years old. The majority of strokes are caused when blood clots in an artery of the brain. These blood clots can block adequate blood flow to the brain. On May 11, 1989, President George H.W. Bush signed Proclamation 5975 declaring May as National Stroke Awareness Month. When he signed the proclamation, President Bush shared the following about the devastation that strokes can cause. "It strikes between 400,000 and 600,000 Americans each year. Many of its victims, their brain cells damaged by impaired circulation, never fully regain their physical and mental abilities. Stroke costs this country more than $11 billion annually in medical treatment and lost productivity, but far more regrett...

I n April 2013 the Rand Corporation and the University of Michigan conducted a study on dementia – an ailment that most commonly manifests itself as Alzheimer’s disease.   Alzheimer’s causes the loss of brain function affecting behavior, judgment, language, memory, and thinking.   The study estimates that 15% of Americans older than 70 have dementia.   Nationally, the cost for caring for dementia patients has reached $109 billion annually. On April 2, 2013, President Obama announced an initiative called BRAIN (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies), which is intended to spend $100 million to better research the interactions between brain cells and neurological circuits.   When he announced the BRAIN Initiative President Obama said: “We have a chance to improve the lives of not just millions, but billions of people on this planet through the research that’s done in this BRAIN Initiative alone.   But it’s going to require a serious eff...