Separate and unequal: It’s time to invest in Medicaid

Health equity is the key principle to strengthening the delivery of this country’s health services. The question — and the opportunity — is whether we can turn health equity from a nice sounding idea to a national achievement.Here’s a simple idea: Create parity for underserved communities. Pay doctors who treat Medicaid patients at the same rates that Medicare pays them. While health care providers widely accept the federally administered Medicare program, Medicaid — public insurance for the poor — is a different story. In many states, Medicaid pays providers

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Supplying freedom in Ukraine

There’s an old saying in military affairs: Amateurs talk tactics, while professionals talk logistics. If so, then the truly hardcore pros talk about boots. After all, infantry can’t “ground-pound” without sturdy footwear.  Meet Jonas Ohman, head of Blue/Yellow, an NGO, based in Lithuania, that has been aiding Ukraine since 2014. Ohman was born in Sweden, but settled in Lithuania, where he was

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‘Eco-fascist’ violence targets old scapegoats for new fears

Mass shooting suspects, including the man arrested for the recent Buffalo, N.Y., grocery store massacre, are increasingly invoking the so-called eco-fascist movement, which launders racist and anti-immigrant conspiracy theories through the lens of environmentalism. The Buffalo suspect, who has been charged with the murder of 10 predominantly Black shoppers at a grocery store, identified as an eco-fascist. Similar sentiments can be found in the writings of shooters in New Zealand and El Paso, Texas, who targeted Muslims and Latinos, respectively.   As the climate cri

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Harris at Buffalo funeral: 'We will not be afraid to stand up for what is right'

Vice President Harris on Saturday made a surprise address at the funeral for a victim of the Buffalo, N.Y., supermarket shooting, saying such violent acts will not stop America from speaking out. “I think we all know that a true measure of strength is not based on who you beat down. It's based on who you lift up,” Harris said at the funeral for Geraldine Chapman Talley.  “Who you lift up. And it means then also, in that strength, understanding we will not allow small people to create fear in our communities that we will not be afraid to stand up for what is right, to spe

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Without summits, a West Asia 'Quad' makes progress

President Biden’s participation in a summit meeting of the Indo-Pacific "Quad," which groups Australia, Japan, India and the United States in competition with China, demonstrates the importance of East Asia and the South Pacific in current U.S. policy. But it is a different group of four countries that seems to be making greater progress. The West Asia Quad – a grouping of India, Israel, the UAE and the United States –  was 

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