Should there be more transparency in the health care reform debate? If so, did the Health Care Summit make a difference?

Charlie Rose is having a panel discussion about today's Health Care Summit. Members of the panel include: Dona Shalala, Bill Frist, Joseph Califano, Mark Halpern, and Ezra Klein.

A recent report published by Reuters indicates that the line between the haves and the have-nots is expanding beyond just those that have health insurance. The article describes disparities in where doctors locate and illustrates the point with the scenario of White Plains, NY. This city has doctors a plenty lining up to provide care to a population of people with the highest national income (approximately $77,000 per year). This is not the case for economically struggling Bakersfield, CA. The article describes how diabetic patients have to take a 2-hour bus ride to Fresno to get the care they need.

You might be surprised to learn that our health care system is rife with gender-oriented discriminatory practices such as, “gender rating, the exclusion of health care services that only women need, and pre-existing-condition denials.” This is according to Marcia Greenberger of the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) in her testimony before the Senate.

By Susan Wilder, MD. On a beautiful fall day in Washington, DC, President Obama convened over 100 physicians and medical students in the White House Rose Garden to emphasize physician’s role in healthcare reform and call us to action. Physicians, selected due to our efforts on health reform over many years, came from every state of the union, representing multiple specialties, with diverse backgrounds and even more diverse opinions. Despite our differences, we all agree upon the need for meaningful comprehensive healthcare reform this year as our collective “patient,” the healthcare system, is gravely ill with systemic diseases that have festered for far too long.