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This post was co-authored by Katie Conover, SVP, Public & Corporate Affairs, and Joe Wagner, VP/GM, Public & Corporate Affairs and originally appeared on the Ketchum Blog.

As the election draws very near, one of the
greatest questions on the minds of most is the future of health care reform, which Congress passed a little over two years ago.

Since its passage, the bill, known as the Affordable Care Act, has been implemented in phases, with the bulk of reform set to roll out in 2014, when states are slated to begin offering health insurance through fully operational exchanges.

If President Barack Obama is re-elected, health care reform will continue to unfold exactly as the legislation dictates.  But what happens if Governor Romney wins the election?

While everyone agrees that the system is broken – and that something must be done to reign in health care costs, how to do this remains the million dollar – or more aptly, trillion dollar – question. Read full post »

Jeff Levine is an award-winning journalist who was the medical correspondent for CNN for 17 years.  He has also worked on Capitol Hill for Senator Byron Dorgan, as Washington bureau chief for WebMD, and as a media specialist at Ketchum. A guest contributor to Health-E Minds, the following post represents Jeff’s perspective on the presidential election debates, based on his opinions generated during his many years of observing and reporting on healthcare and politics. To read Jeff’s commentary on the earlier debates, click here.  – Nancy Hicks, Senior Vice President, Associate Director, Ketchum North America Healthcare Practice

By the time this entry is published, the last
presidential debate will be over, but the final word on health care reform awaits the electoral outcome and pending legal actions by conservative opponents. Read full post »

If research underway in China ultimately results
in marketable meat, “naturally” polyunsaturated meats such as lamb could indeed become the norm. 

Scientists in a laboratory in China's far western region of Xinjiang have cloned a genetically modified sheep containing a "good" type of fat “found naturally in nuts, seeds, fish and leafy greens” that helps reduce the risk of heart attacks and cardiovascular disease.  But Peng Peng, as the prototype lamb is called, has an usual gene in its make-up – a gene linked to the production of polyunsaturated fatty acids but that was taken from a common round worm.  When a gene from one species is transferred to another species, the result is called a transgenic plant or animal. Read full post »

Jeff Levine is an award-winning journalist who was the medical correspondent for CNN for 17 years.  He has also worked on Capitol Hill for Senator Byron Dorgan, as Washington bureau chief for WebMD, and as a media specialist at Ketchum. A guest contributor to Health-E Minds, the following post represents Jeff’s perspective on the presidential election debates, based on his opinions generated during his many years of observing and reporting on healthcare and politics. – Nancy Hicks, Senior Vice President, Associate Director, Ketchum North America Healthcare Practice

With tonight’s second presidential debate
just hours away, a look back on the first debate offers insights into what we might expect to see this evening, particularly from a healthcare reform perspective.  Read full post »

The news was devastating.  Lance Armstrong,
one of the greatest athletes of our age, had just announced that he would no longer contest the USADA investigation on doping charges.  Although he did not admit to using performance enhancing drugs, and many believe he is innocent, the decision not to fight the charges was a stunning development.  As a result, Armstrong will be stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and will be permanently banned from cycling.

But while perceptions of Armstrong’s role as an athlete may be altered by this development, what about his role as a philanthropist?  With Livestrong, his cancer advocacy group, Lance Armstrong has become as prominent in the world of health as he is in the world of cycling. Read full post »