A Bill of Rights for the rest of us.

Fifteen years ago a Patient’s Bill of Rights was introduced in the United States Congress, and just yesterday the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor, and Treasury issued regulations for a new Patient’s Bill of Rights under the Affordable Care Act.

So what does that mean for every American? It means all of us — and particularly those of us with pre-existing conditions — can truly gain coverage and actually keep it. And that makes me very happy.

Some other incredible bullet points include:
—keeping insurers from setting annual or lifetime limits on your coverage
—eliminating the need for a referral to see an ob-gyn (this is huge for women)
—keeping insurance companies from requiring “prior approval” before you seek emergency care at a hospital outside your plan’s network

Check out Dr. Michael Bihari and HHS secretary Kathleen Sebelius’ webchat with answers to questions from the About.com community at WhiteHouse.gov.

When the going gets tough...

...my mom usually brings a casserole. Perhaps that’s why I fell in love with the simplicity and thoughtfulness behind MealBaby.com—an online service that allows people to plan and organize all the details of a meal registry.

With MealBaby you can be sure your colleague with a new baby or your grandma who just had surgery has plenty of food and company to help them rest, get healthy or at least get fed!

Safe Patients, Smart Hospitals.

It’s been out for a while, but as an obsessive list-maker and frequent hospital visitor this book immediately caught my eye (and ear on the radio the other day): Safe Patients, Smart Hospitals: How One Doctor’s Checklist Can Help Us Change Health Care from the Inside Out

Check out Claudia Dreifus’ conversion with Dr. Peter Pronovost here: nytimes.com/science and for goodness sake, wash your hands people.

(Thanks Jose for reminding me of this!)