Barbara Jordan — attorney, former congresswoman and professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs — would have turned 76 today.
At the age of 59, her candle burned out too soon. She helped unify this nation, and we need her now more than ever.
When she was sworn into office as U.S. representative in 1973, the [...]
Politics Articles
Our Missed Health Care Opportunity
Austin American-Statesman, December 1, 2011
For the past 17 months I’ve watched through my fingers as Congress has slowly eviscerated a gentle, brilliant, apolitical pediatrician and Harvard professor — Don Berwick. It’s been painful, gut-wrenching and depressing. Congress will finish him off today, when his resignation as administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services takes effect.
The words “missed [...]
Final of four Winkler County ‘good ol’ boys’ faces charges in court
Austin American-Statesman, October 13, 2011
The last man standing in the unfolding saga of small-town retaliation against two nurses who tried to protect hospital patients from dangerous medical care is scheduled to appear before a judge today. The pre-trial hearing of Dr. Rolando Arafiles should be the opening scene in what should be the closing chapter of a story that [...]
West Texas Story has Sleaze, Drama — Sadly, It’s Real
Austin American-Statesman, June 7, 2011
We’ve seen the beginning of the
Winkler County whistle-blowing nurses movie so many times, but it still doesn’t have an ending.
It has an all-star cast. Winkler County nurses Anne Mitchell and Vickilyn Galle; town doctor Rolando G. Arafiles Jr.; hospital administrator Stan Wiley; former Winkler County Sheriff Robert L. Roberts; Winkler County Attorney Scott M. [...]
Efficiency can make health care better and cheaper
Austin American-Statesman, May 11, 2011
There’s a little history leading up to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’ visit to Austin last week. It began in 1999, the year that health care across America woke up.
Sebelius’ visit coincided with the 12th anniversary of a report by the Institute of Medicine that upward of 100,000 people die in any given [...]
Lawmakers, Doctors Holding Nurses Back
Unpublished, April 22, 2011
Here’s an idea that wouldn’t cost Texas a dime but would save millions of dollars every year: Remove all barriers restraining nurses from practicing to the full extent of their education and training.
No state needs primary care providers more than Texas, which has a severe shortage. Texas ranks last in access to health care and [...]
Regulatory boards need to keep their independence
Austin American-Statesman, March 2, 2011
Facing a $27 billion budget shortfall, Gov. Rick Perry has revived a failed and tired idea from past legislative sessions. To save a paltry $7 million, he proposes to combine under one umbrella some of the most essential agencies in state government — the boards regulating doctors, nurses, dentists, chiropractors, podiatrists, optometrists, pharmacists, psychologists and [...]
Campaigns Against Health Care Bill
Austin American-Statesman, October 29, 2010
The midterm elections seem to be all about health care. Republicans spew venom toward Democrats for passing the reform bill. Democrats distance themselves from the legislation.
If Lyndon Johnson had been alive on March 24 when President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law, he would have remarked from experience that [...]
Controlling health care costs needs to happen from within
Austin American-Statesman, July 2, 2010
The White House nomination of Dr. Donald Berwick to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services seems to be imploding. If it does, it would be a missed opportunity for our country.
Conspicuously absent from the health care overhaul were meaningful measures to control costs. There’s a reason for that: Government cannot legislate that issue, [...]
Contact Info
Toni Inglis
800 W. 5th St., #805
Austin, Texas 78703
512.478.3228
