Tag Archives: vote

Health care ballot measures challenge reporters to separate fact from fiction

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Joseph Burns

About Joseph Burns

Joseph Burns (@jburns18), a Massachusetts-based independent journalist, is AHCJ’s topic leader on health insurance. He welcomes questions and suggestions on insurance resources and tip sheets at joseph@healthjournalism.org.

Photo: Newslighter via Flickr 

In California, an initiative known as Proposition 8 asks voters to limit the revenue that kidney dialysis clinics can earn. The proposition pits health care unions against the large companies that run dialysis centers.

In Massachusetts, a ballot question asks voters to consider a proposal to limit how many patients a hospital can assign to each registered nurse at hospitals and other health care facilities. Continue reading →

Voters around the country OK soda taxes to tackle obesity

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Susan Heavey

About Susan Heavey

Susan Heavey, (@susanheavey) a Washington, D.C.-based journalist, is AHCJ’s topic leader on social determinants of health and curates related material at healthjournalism.org. She welcomes questions and suggestions on resources and tip sheets at determinants@healthjournalism.org.

Photo: Andy.Schultz Soda via photopin (license)

Photo: Andy.Schultz Soda via photopin (license)

Soda taxes, it seems, are gaining some pop.

Voters in several U.S. cities in California and Colorado overwhelmingly approved additional pennies-on-the-ounce taxes in the Nov. 8 election in a move to help combat the nation’s ongoing obesity crisis and generate health funding. The Chicago area also narrowly passed soda taxes in a separate vote. Continue reading →