The overwhelming majority of small business owners will see important new benefits as a result of health reform working through Congress right now, said Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) Chair Christina Romer and Small Business Administration (SBA) head Karen Mills in a joint teleconference with reporters, July 24.

President Obama continued his campaign for health care reform this week with a stop at a Cleveland area clinic, July 23. The town hall event came one day after a major televised press conference during which the President confronted Republican obstructionism to health reform and pressed Congress for urgent action.

On this episode, President Obama fires back against Republican obstructionism of health reform. The minimum wage goes up July 24th to $7.25 per hour. And we play excerpts of a recent interview with Dan Kovalik a United Steelworkers union staffer who traveled to Honduras earlier this month to observe pro-democracy protests against the military coup.

Alcohol and drug addiction are major drivers of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in many parts of the world, but for political and ideological reasons, scientists and clinicians have tended to shy away from this area of HIV research, while governments and donors have been reluctant to fund programs targeting addicts.

In recent weeks we have been treated to wails of pain and indignation regarding the cost of government subsidized health care from our elected representatives. Most frequently the most plaintive cries are from those senators and representatives who show no compunction about large appropriations for foreign military adventures and who show total disregard for the taxpayers’ subsidies of executive salaries and bonuses.

Families are in desperate need of health reform, President Obama said in remarks at the Children's National Medical Center in Washington DC, July 20. In his statement, after meeting with the hospital's administrators, doctors and nurses, the President also warned against Republican obstructionism on health reform.

Health reform advocates pushed back this weekend against a new insurance industry and congressional Republican offensive to block or slow down President Obama's push to overhaul health care by pointing out that the most important accomplishment of reform would be to relieve in the financial burden the current broken health system has on the economy.

Health care reform gained new momentum this week with several major endorsements. Wednesday, July 15, the Senate HELP committee passed a version of the bill that closely fits President Obama's main principles for reform.

To cheers from leaders of the labor movement, a public option as part of health reform cleared a major legislative hurdle, July 15, with passage of the Quality, Affordable Health Coverage for All Americans Act in the Senate HELP Committee.

Over 25,000 health professionals will graduate this year in Cuba, in the largest graduation ceremony ever in the history of medicine on the island, which will be dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution.

Health reform activists descended on Washington by the thousands June 25th as Congress continued to craft health reform legislation. On one side of the struggle stand President Obama, labor and health advocates and the vast majority of the American people, pushing hard for meaningful reforms that include a public option...

It appears people have married the healthcare system in this country. Americans are either unconvinced or unwilling to acknowledge that our healthcare system is corrupt, under-serving, unmanageable and outright dangerous.

On this episode, the government is now saying that the swine flu may not be as bad as expected, plus, we interview scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson about his new radio show, Star Talk Radio, and we talk with up and coming hip hop band Junkyard Empire about politics and music.

While the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimated last week that as many as 1 million Americans may have contracted the H1N1 virus, it doesn't seem to be any more dangerous than the seasonal flu, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told reporters on a teleconference call, July 10.

Weakening health reform in exchange for bipartisanship is unacceptable, Senate Majority Harry Reid, D-Nev., warned Senate Finance Chair Max Baucus, D-Mont., July 7th, according to a report in Washington-based Roll Call.

Congress continued to work on health reform and made some progress before adjourning for the July 4 recess. Still, the bulk of the work awaits them in July.

If the last 30 years were an era of reaction, then the coming decade could turn into an era of reform, even radical reform. Six months into the Obama presidency, I would say without hesitation that the landscape, atmosphere, conversation and agenda have strikingly changed compared to the previous eight years.

On this episode, we look closely at the healthcare reform debate and talk with various activists and leaders in the movement to fix the broken healthcare system and create a public option for Americans who can't afford or who have been left behind by the private insurance industry.

Pressing hard on the urgency of needed health reform, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius released a set of new state-by-state reports this week documenting the nation's broken health system.

Swine flu, or more technically influenza A (H1N1), is now officially a pandemic. Addressing the press on June 11, Dr Margaret Chan, the director general of World Health Organisation (WHO) said, “On the basis of available evidence, and these expert assessments of the evidence, the scientific criteria for an influenza pandemic have been met.