Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Marion Mass
The fraud you paid for, America
The fraud you paid for, America A Decrease font size. A Reset font size. A Increase font size. Something historic happened in the second week of February. Washington’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published Medicaiddata on apublic platform. Medicaid is a taxpayer-funded, joint federal-state program meant to meet the medical expenses of vulnerable Americans.
Marion Mass: Demand change to reverse upward pressure on American health care costs
Marion Mass: Demand change to reverse upward pressure on American health care costs A Decrease font size. A Reset font size. A Increase font size. On January 22, 2026, two congressional committees — Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means — grilled the CEOs of America’s largest health insurance companies. Both committee chairmen began by stating that Americans are getting less health care while paying more and more for it.
Demand change to reverse upward pressure on American health care costs | Philly Daily
On January 22, 2026, two congressional committees — Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means — grilled the CEOs of America’s largest health insurance companies. Both committee chairmen began by stating that Americans are getting less health care while paying more and more for it. The United States now spends $5.3 trillion per year, a 77 percent increase since the wildly misnamed Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) took effect in 2014.
Demand change to reverse upward pressure on American health care costs
Demand change to reverse upward pressure on American health care costs A Decrease font size. A Reset font size. A Increase font size. On January 22, 2026, two congressional committees — Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means — grilled the CEOs of America’s largest health insurance companies. Both committee chairmen began by stating that Americans are getting less health care while paying more and more for it.
Congress needs to prioritize patient choice in 2026
Congress needs to prioritize patient choice in 2026 A Decrease font size. A Reset font size. A Increase font size. The cost for Americans to purchase “insurance” via the Affordable Care Act, their employer, or individually has continued to rise. Many blame the lack of support for pumping the ACA exchanges with more government subsidies. Neither rising health care costs or finger-pointing blamers are a shocker. But the facts suggest the exact opposite.
Marion Mass: Diet’s role in avoiding entanglement with our sick-care system
Marion Mass: Diet’s role in avoiding entanglement with our sick-care system A Decrease font size. A Reset font size. A Increase font size. In 1981, my father had a massive heart attack. He was 50. His cardiologist advised him to (1) replace butter with margarine, (2) avoid eggs, red meat, and cheese, and (3) eat lots of bread and pasta.
Diet's role in avoiding entanglement with our sick-care system
Diet’s role in avoiding entanglement with our sick-care system A Decrease font size. A Reset font size. A Increase font size. In 1981, my father had a massive heart attack. He was 50. His cardiologist advised him to (1) replace butter with margarine, (2) avoid eggs, red meat, and cheese, and (3) eat lots of bread and pasta.
Can Congress serve both the people and the profiteering pharmacy benefit managers?
Can Congress serve both the people and the profiteering pharmacy benefit managers? A Decrease font size. A Reset font size. A Increase font size. On December 11, I spoke at a press conference convened by Pharmacists United for Truth and Transparency on the lawn of the United State Capitol building. I was there to support the Pharmacists Fight Back Act, a bipartisan bill that is now on the calendar of the House of Representatives.
Bad law means bad, sometimes tragic, health outcomes
Bad law means bad, sometimes tragic, health outcomes A Decrease font size. A Reset font size. A Increase font size. On January 10, 2024, 22-year-old Cole Schmidtknecht of Appleton, Wisconsin, went to his big-box pharmacy and was told that a preventative asthma inhaler he had relied on for years was no longer covered by his insurer. He would have to pay over $500 for it — out of pocket. Cole left without the inhaler. On January 21, 2024, he died as a consequence of a severe asthma attack.
How do nonprofit hospitals rake it in? Let me count the ways
How do nonprofit hospitals rake it in? Let me count the ways A Decrease font size. A Reset font size. A Increase font size. In my last piece, I made these points: 1) Obamacare banned new physician-owned hospitals (POHs) and limited the ability of existing POHs to expand. 2) POHs, while at least the equal in the quality of care provided by hospitals not run by physicians, were better at saving Medicare dollars (aka, taxpayer money) to the tune of $1.1 billion per year.
Undoing damage done by Obamacare: The stupidity that thwarts hospital competition
Undoing damage done by Obamacare: The stupidity that thwarts hospital competition A Decrease font size. A Reset font size. A Increase font size. In my last piece, I introduced “C2T2” — consumerism, competition, transparency, and trust — as a help to remembering the principles that must guide any sane effort to rebuild American medicine and health care.
C2T2: Consumerism, competition, transparency, and trust can build back medicine better
C2T2: Consumerism, competition, transparency, and trust can build back medicine better A Decrease font size. A Reset font size. A Increase font size. The United States Senate recently held a hearing on how American patients can shop for medical services offered at lower cost and better quality. I know. That sounds like a land where unicorns frolic among rainbows. But it’s not. It’s a simple vision of empowered consumerism and competition.
What Donohue, Dougherty, and Wecht did to Pennsylvania health care
What Donohue, Dougherty, and Wecht did to Pennsylvania health care A Decrease font size. A Reset font size. A Increase font size. In the late 1990s, my husband and I — both young in our respective medical practices — moved to Bucks County, Pennsylvania, only to find that the medical field was under attack. The aggressive marauders? Trial lawyers.
Free-market reforms needed in health care
Free-market reforms needed in health care A Decrease font size. A Reset font size. A Increase font size. What we now call “health insurance” is not health care. “Coverage,” whether through the ACA exchanges or the Medicaid expansion, was the model of the Affordable Care Act. The act is unwinding and the players are getting exposed. Case in point are the Covid-era ACA subsidies that everyone is talking about.
Are Democrats keeping Americans healthy or bailing out insurers?
- OPINION: Democrats have always been the party of health insurance over actual care, propping up giants such as UnitedHealthcare instead of prioritizing patients and doctors. This year, they are fully committing to this idea by shutting down Washington for the fifth time since 2000 to protect Obamacare subsidies. If we’re to believe the Democrats’ track record, protecting these extended subsidies won’t help patient care because they will go straight to insurers.
MANGIONE/MASS: What Do We Want? Healthcare Price Transparency — NOW! | @amacforamerica
Newsline , Society | | 0 Comments | Struggling Americans told political candidates early in 2024 that healthcare costs topped the list of their financial worries. Congress would do well to listen. Hospital costs have been nothing short of a gluttonous sinkhole of American wealth.
MANGIONE/MASS: What Do We Want? Healthcare Price Transparency -- NOW! – DV Journal
Struggling Americans told political candidates early in 2024 that healthcare costs topped the list of their financial worries. Congress would do well to listen. Hospital costs have been nothing short of a gluttonous sinkhole of American wealth.
Bucks County Commissioners Marseglia and Harvie are the Hands that Rocked the Cradle of Liberty
Critics were more than riled by Bucks Commissioner Diane Marseglia’s words: “People violate laws anytime they want. So, for me, if I violate this law, it’s because I want a court to pay attention.” Those words, spoken on November 13, 2024, referred to Marseglia and her co-commissioner, Bob Harvie, motioning to accept ballots in defiance of recent Pennsylvania Supreme Court rulings.
MASS: PA Race Could Decide Control of the Keystone State -- And a Whole Lot More – DV Journal
My Bucks County has been in national news after voters were wrongly turned away after waiting in line for hours for on-demand mail-in ballots. This was a violation of Pennsylvania’s election code. The campaigns of both former President Donald Trump and Senate Candidate Dave McCormick filed complaints, and mail in voting has now been extended.
Our newest sterile salt water shortage
The season of respiratory illnesses is off to a busy start with a surge in cases of pneumonia requiring kids to be hospitalized. But it gets worse. kAm%9@D6 6?E6C:?8 9@DA:E2=D 7@C 2?J C62D@?[ :?4=F5:?8 49C@?:4 5:D62D6[ 2C6 6?4@F?E6C:?8 2 D6G6C6 D9@CE286 @7 D2=:?6[ 2]<]2] DE6C:=6 D2=E H2E6C[ 2 >2:?DE2J :? 9J5C2E:@? E96C2AJ]k^Am kAm(96? 569J5C2E65 @C F?23=6 E@ 5C:?< 7=F:5D[ A2E:6?ED 42? ?665 :?EC2G6?@FD D2=:?6[ H9:49 :D @7E6? E96 42D6 H96?
OPINION: The Truth Behind the IRA – DV Journal
early every senator who voted for the Inflation Reduction Act celebrated its second anniversary, claiming that the legislation reduced healthcare costs for Americans. Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Vice President Kamala Harris, who cast the tie-breaking vote for the IRA, are counting that Americans won’t look for the facts beyond the headlines. Healthcare spending now accounts for 20 percent of our nation’s economy.
COLUMN: Despite Casey's claims, IRA led to rising health care costs
MARION MASS is a practicing pediatrician and is a board member of Free2care, a coalition of 8 million patients and physician advocates. ANDY MANGIONE is senior vice president of AMAC Action, the advocacy affiliate of the Association of Mature American Citizens.
Opinion: The truth behind the IRA
Nearly every senator who voted for the Inflation Reduction Act celebrated its second anniversary, claiming that the legislation reduced healthcare costs for Americans. Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Vice President Kamala Harris, who cast the tie-breaking vote for the IRA, are counting that Americans won’t look for the facts beyond the headlines. Healthcare spending now accounts for 20 percent of our nation’s economy.
Late changes hurt Pa.’s new PBM bill - The Bucks County Herald
Pennsylvania has a new law regarding Pharmacy Benefit Managers. While a few decent reforms were achieved, the public ought to know that the changes made to the bill the day before the vote substantially weakened the original legislation. The changes watered down much-needed transparency for PBMs and will allow these wealthy corporations to continue to grow wealthier at the expense of Pennsylvanians, especially those with multiple chronic medical conditions.
MASS: Last Minute Changes Erode Pennsylvania’s New PBM Bill – DV Journal
Pennsylvania has a new law regarding Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBM). While a few decent reforms were achieved, the public ought to know that the changes made to the bill the day before the vote substantially weakened the original legislation. The changes watered down much needed transparency for PBM and will allow these wealthy corporations to continue to grow wealthier at the expense of Pennsylvanians, especially those with multiple chronic medical conditions.
Healthcare inflation is forcing people to delay treatment
President Joe Biden has fulfilled his promise of ensuring Americans have near-universal access to health insurance . But this high level of coverage has been accompanied by a skyrocketing cost of care, leaving needed medical care out of reach for many and our country’s economic future in peril.
Healthcare inflation is forcing people to delay treatment
President Joe Biden has fulfilled his promise of ensuring Americans have near-universal access to health insurance. But this high level of coverage has been accompanied by a skyrocketing cost of care, leaving needed medical care out of reach for many and our country’s economic future in peril.
MASS: Time To End Policies Driving Higher Healthcare Costs
Healthcare consolidation has economically beaten down most communities across the United States, driving up the price of health care services. When the nation’s largest hospital operator, HCA Healthcare, acquired western North Carolina’s Mission Health System in 2019, few in Asheville expected their daily lives would be impacted. Not only did HCA acquire the region’s seven largest hospitals, but it snapped up 124 physician practices too.
The least thing politicians can do when China attacks our medicine supply Original
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! COVID exposed the danger of being heavily reliant on a foreign country for medications and medical supplies when China and other countries put a halt on PPE and other exports. As a result of inaction, we are seeing headlines announcing medication shortages of life-saving drugs, like chemotherapeutics, and generics like amoxicillin are higher than ever.
Bye, DEI. Don't let the door hit you on the way out
Diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI , has insinuated itself into many aspects of Americans’ lives, from corporate hiring to college admissions. Over much of the past few years, diversity officers have been some of the hottest hires in business , university, and government bureaucracies. But recently, they’ve begun to feel left out in the cold. According to the Wall Street Journal , “Companies including Netflix, Disney and Warner Bros.
Delivering a farm bill worthy of America’s hardworking farm families
The success of our economy depends on the success of our farmers . According to the Department of Agriculture , agriculture contributed roughly $1.3 trillion to gross domestic product in 2021, with direct farm output reaching nearly $165 billion. The 2023 Feeding the Economy report also confirms the importance of agriculture to the economy, finding that nearly 43 million jobs, $2.3 trillion in wages, and $7.43 trillion in total food and industry economic activity are tied to agriculture.
Americans must say 'never again' to COVID-19 tyranny
COVID-19 craziness appears to be on the horizon again as America enters election season. Some wish a return to the outdated COVID playbook of shutting down society and depriving Americans of their civil rights. Most of us won’t forget the videos of educators forcibly masking toddlers amid tears and cries. Recently, however, Rosemary Hills Elementary School in Montgomery County, Maryland , reinstated a KN95 mask mandate for its kindergartners after three students tested positive for the virus.
A rare chance to deliver a bipartisan win for patients
Last week, House Republicans and Democrats introduced the Lower Cost, More Transparency Act. In a bipartisan effort that is all too rare in Congress, this bill makes significant progress to address a problem that has long plagued patients: hidden healthcare costs. For decades, the public has had no way of knowing the price of various medical services at a given hospital or doctor’s office until their bill arrives. These prices are typically hidden from patients, and the costs vary dramatically.
Medicine: Best Administered Personally
Recently, I took care of a toddler who needed to be sent to an ER. At the time, there had been an active measles exposure in our area. Measles is one of the most contagious pathogens. Before the measles vaccine was introduced in 1963, measles epidemics every two to three years killed an estimated 500 children per year in the U.S. As part of the history, I asked the toddler’s mother about the child’s vaccination status.
Pediatricians' Statement on Transgender Kids Ignores Three Words That Have Guided Doctors for Millennia
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recently reaffirmed its 2018 position on youth who suffer from gender dysphoria while simultaneously calling on a systematic review of the evidence of how to treat such children. Looking back on the AAP’s 2018 statement, as pediatricians, we both agree with the 2018 report that we “must protect youth who identify as Transgender and Gender Diverse from discrimination and violence.” It’s our job to protect children.
Pediatricians' statement on transgender kids ignores three words that have guided doctors for millennia Original
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recently reaffirmed its 2018 position on youth who suffer from gender dysphoria while simultaneously calling on a systematic review of the evidence of how to treat such children.
Who are these Moms that Crave Liberty?
I went to Moms for Liberty’s Joyful Warrior Summit. Why? In the last few years I hear parents from many different backgrounds talking about our national burden of incivility; talking about the fact that when we disagree, we can’t just talk. As a physician, I see this distressing trend in my own profession. Medical professionals disagree. Even before Covid, there was medical disagreement when famous athletes collapsed.
This bill could shine light into the dark recesses of U.S. health care
From 2018 through 2021, the annual cost of the predatory system of American health care rose by 20%, from $3.6 trillion to $4.3 trillion. In 2018, one of my favorite commentators on that system wrote, “What drives the cost… is lack of transparency, administrative glut, overregulation, and ongoing consolidation.” In June 2023, the “PATIENT Act,” H.R. 3561 — passed unanimously out of the Energy and Commerce Committee in the House of Representatives. That’s right.
Dobbs decision created 'abortion destinations' in unlikely red states
The state response to Roe v. Wade being overturned created an environment where unlikely pro-life states became "destinations" for abortion seekers from states that made it illegal. The decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which returned the regulation of abortion to state governments, created a legal patchwork that resulted in precipitous declines for abortion in some states and increases in nearby states that still permitted the procedure.
Don’t let the COVID tyrants rewrite history
In a move that should shock absolutely no one, the COVID lockdown era’s most nefarious actors are now attempting to Jedi-mind-trick their way out of taking responsibility for their actions. Mountains of evidence have emerged that show that lockdowns, masking, and school closures did little to nothing to stop the spread of the coronavirus, and our government overlords have decided that lying is preferable to admitting to their mistakes.
Michigan school ignores free speech to spare Biden supporters’ feelings
A middle school in Michigan bucked free speech to spare the feelings of Biden supporters. Tri-County Middle School in Howard City, Michigan, showed political favoritism and its lack of commitment to free speech by demanding that two students remove anti-Biden sweatshirts in February 2022.
Fairfax County school district's 'independent,' 'objective' auditor doesn't pass the smell test
During a Fairfax County , Virginia , school board meeting last week, Karen Keys-Gamarra, an at-large member who served as the board’s audit committee chairwoman for two years, gushed to the school district’s internal auditor, “I personally wanted to thank you for being a partner … and for making us look good.” Keys-Gamarra and the other 11 members offered platitudes for roughly 30 minutes about the greatness of the school district’s internal auditor, Esther Ko , who is charged with reviewing...
How to restore and reshore vital medications
Parents, pharmacists, and pediatricians have scrambled for months to find antibiotics for children amid one of the worst winters for respiratory illnesses, strep throat, and ear infections. Children's fever reducers, in particular, were missing from the shelves of pharmacies for weeks. It shouldn't be so hard to find common generic medicines. But this is an ongoing problem that seems to get worse with time. Shortages have been commonplace for over a decade .
AARP: An Organization that Stands with PBM Kickbacks and Hidden Prices
Not only did the administration insist on compliance, but it doubled down by increasing the penalties for the 80% of large hospitals that had dragged their feet. Both administrations should be congratulated for the patient-friendly policy, but getting compliance has proven difficult. Patient Rights Advocate semi-annual report on transparency recently reviewed 2000 hospitals, discovering that 84% of the hospitals were continuing to hide prices from consumers.
MASS: American Health Care’s 'China Syndrome' – DV Journal
Among the most striking effects of the overhead built into the annual national cost of our dysfunctional healthcare system has been the outsourcing to China of the manufacture of many pharmaceuticals and medical supplies used here at home. Part of that historic shift has been a change in the sourcing of the active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) that go into our medicines and vitamins. In the 1990s, 90 percent of the world’s APIs came from the U.S., Europe, and Japan.
Months in, Team Biden still can't get the baby-formula shortage under control
Team Biden just trumpeted that another flight carrying imported baby formula is on its way, this one from Australia. More formula for our nation’s babies is a good thing, but the announcement feels like this administration merely has its finger in the dike and isn’t dealing with the root causes of a broken market. The average out-of-stock rate in stores and online last month stood at 61%, per Datasembly.
Biden must demand the timid FDA act as the baby-formula shortage grows even worse
Half a year in, the baby-formula shortage keeps getting worse with no end in sight. Unlike the global semiconductor and grain shortages, the formula shortfall is an America-only phenomenon. This means the solution can be found here at home. But by focusing on importing limited amounts of Food and Drug Administration-approved foreign formula, President Joe Biden is addressing only the problem’s symptom, not the root cause. He needs to cut the ridiculous red tape that’s keeping store shelves bare.
Wrong Diagnosis + Wrong Prescription = Congressional Malpractice
Supporters of the Inflation Reduction Act have made claims about lowering the cost of healthcare and prescription drugs. But the bill does neither and sets a dangerous precedent that will lead to less access to care and fewer cures for patients. In fact, not only does it harm healthcare – it funnels money toward the two entities that are currently the biggest problems in healthcare – Pharmacy Benefit Managers and insurers.
MASS: America’s Dependence On China For Medicine Gives The CCP Massive Leverage
In their 2018 book, “China Rx: Exposing the Risks of America’s Dependence on China for Medicine,” Rosemary Gibson and Janardan Prasad Singh painted a profoundly ominous picture of a world that had changed over the preceding 25 years.
Guest Opinion: How our government abetted the baby formula shortage Original
By Dr. Marion Mass Recent news has featured urgent, dumbfounding stories about a shortage of baby formula — another example of the menacing “empty-shelf syndrome” at the nation’s supermarkets. Explaining shelves without baby formula is a complicated story.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Marion
Contact Marion, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack