Politics. On Point.

On Friday, the president took action to preserve the reproductive rights of women. His Executive Order  seeks to advance reproductive healthcare services and promote access to critical reproductive healthcare services, including abortions. "It remains the policy of my Administration to support women's rights to choose and to protect and defend reproductive rights', wrote Biden. "Doing so is essential to justice, equality, and our health, safety and progress as a Nation." 1982 v. 2022 Biden . The president's Order calls for members of his cabinet to submit a report, within thirty days, that contains information on free, or reduced cost, reproductive healthcare services through Health Resources and Services Administration-Funded Health Centers, Title X clinics, and other providers while considering actions that would make reproductive healthcare for women as unencumbered as possible. Additionally, the Order seeks to promote awareness of, and access to, contrace...

SOTU graphic credit: WhiteHouse.gov From the White House... Office of the Press Secretary FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 10, 2016 White House Announces Guests in First Lady’s Box – State of the Union Address WASHINGTON, DC – The following individuals will be seated in the box with the First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden and Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to the President, at the State of the Union Address  on Tuesday . For the President’s final State of the Union address, the individuals who will be seated in the guest box of First Lady Michelle Obama represent the progress we have made since the President first delivered this speech seven years ago – from the brink of a second Great Depression and two costly wars to an economy that is growing and renewed American leadership abroad. Their stories – of struggle and success – highlight where we have been and where America is going in the future, building on the best of what our country has to offer. The guests pe...

from today's White House press release THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 30, 2015 FACT SHEET: President Obama’s Precision Medicine Initiative Building on President Obama’s announcement in his State of the Union Address, today the Administration is unveiling details about the Precision Medicine Initiative, a bold new research effort to revolutionize how we improve health and treat disease.  Launched with a $215 million investment in the President’s 2016 Budget, the Precision Medicine Initiative will pioneer a new model of patient-powered research that promises to accelerate biomedical discoveries and provide clinicians with new tools, knowledge, and therapies to select which treatments will work best for which patients. Most medical treatments have been designed for the “average patient.” As a result of this “one-size-fits-all-approach,” treatments can be very successful for some patients but not for other...

Funding creates an estimated 4,750 new jobs; Helps newly insured access care   Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell announced today $295 million in Affordable Care Act funding to 1,195 health centers in every U.S. State, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Pacific Basin to expand primary care services. Today’s awards enable  health centers to increase access to comprehensive primary health care services by hiring an estimated 4,750 new staff including new health care providers, staying open for longer hours, and expanding the care they provide to include new services such as oral health, behavioral health, pharmacy, and vision services.  These investments will help health centers reach an estimated 1.5 million new patients nationwide, including over 137,000 oral health patients and more than 38,000 mental and substance abuse patients. “Health centers are a key part of how the Affordable Care Act is working to impro...

We couldn't help but notice (while looking to see how many people of color, in prominent roles, work for the Obama administration) that 'former' Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is still being featured on the White House Profiles pages . Does Kathleen Sebelius still work for the White House as SHHS? Ms. Sebelius was said to have resigned amid the embattled roll out of the Affordable Care Act website  that ended up being a nightmare for the administration, and those wanting to sign up for health care coverage. You may recall incidents with the website crashing , security issues , and more . [ Sebelius' White House blog posts ]. Despite those 'glitches', more than 7 million Americans have enrolled - a feat the administration calls "historical." Silvia Matthews Burwell (Office of Management and Budget) was announced as the replacement for Sebelius, and praised by President Obama.  Burwell was confirmed by the Sena...

With less than four weeks to go before the March 31, 2014 deadline to sign up for healthcare, the Obama Administration is working to ensure that Americans who need heath care, do so before then. A reported number of 4 million people have enrolled already, per the White House, and continued efforts to ensure that young people as well, continue to enroll. From the White House: Building on efforts over the past several months to encourage Americans to check out HealthCare.gov , where they can find quality health coverage, and likely get financial assistance to make monthly premiums even more affordable, this week, the President, First Lady, and Vice President will all publicly encourage the uninsured to enroll in health coverage and Senior Administration Officials will continue to urge Americans to enroll through radio interviews and events across the country.   On Thursday, March 6 , President Obama will participate in a historic Town Hall on Latinos and the Affordabl...

From politics, to healthcare, to education -  the survey says... I write this post on a day when at least three items hit me dead in the face. I wasn't looking for them. Each of them, blatantly, presented themselves to me - in plain sight. While I realize that this is a political blog, I  have to wonder if there is some sort of polit-triking going on behind the scenes that continue to try to discredit, or exclude African Americans from being represented positively in this journey we call life. On this day, three such examples fell straight on my lap.  (Four if you count last week).  So, guess what?   With something so obvious, I had to write about it and wonder if it's just me, or are these things really happening? From housing and education, to music and culture:  African Americans in 2014.  Has much changed? I finished up earlier today on a conference call with Arizona officials who ...