Universal Healthcare // Current

Senator unveils universal healthcare bill

Senate Finance Committee Chairman and Montana's Democratic senator Max Baucus will introduce a sweeping healthcare measure... more

bansheewail
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The Broke Generation

If there's one thing that both parties, both candidates and the country can agree on it's that the economy is the most... more

CJCollectiveWorks
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Hawaii ending universal child health care

The only U.S. state to offer universal child health care, is dropping the program just seven months after launching it.

Gov. Linda Lingle's administration cites budget shortfalls and other health care options for eliminating the program. A state official complained that the program was aimed at helping low-income people and immigrants, but that better-off families were dropping private coverage so their children would be eligible for the subsidized plan.

The state says it will stop providing health coverage to the 2,000 children enrolled in it by Nov. 1.

However, the state's private partner in the venture, Hawaii Medical Service Association, says it will extend their coverage through the end of the year even without government support.

HMSA spokeswoman Jennifer Diesman says the company is disappointed by the decision, which she said came as a "complete surprise."

"We believe the program is working, and given Hawaii's economic uncertainty, we don't think now is the time to cut all funding for this kind of program," said Diesman, whose company is the state's largest health care provider.

Hawaii legislators approved the health plan in 2007 as a way to ensure every child can get basic medical help.

The Keiki (child) Care program aimed to cover every child from birth to 18 years old who didn't already have health insurance - mostly immigrants and members of lower-income families.

State health officials argued that most of the children enrolled in the universal child care program previously had private health insurance, indicating that it was helping those who didn't need it.

"People who were already able to afford health care began to stop paying for it so they could get it for free," said Dr. Kenny Fink, the administrator for Med-QUEST at the Department of Human Services. "I don't believe that was the intent of the program."

The United States is one of the few western countries that does not have universal health care, although many states have government programs to help parents cover their children. The only U.S. state to offer universal child health care, is dropping the program just seven months after launching it. Gov.... more

TravG73
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3 responses

1 month ago

Nationalizing health care

Nationalizing any sector of society is a bad idea, but nothing makes me cringe like the idea of government-run health care.... more

unitedliberty
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22 responses

1 month ago

National Day of Action to Open the Debates! Thursday, September 25, 2008

Here are five ways you can take action on Thursday to
Open the Debates:

1. Write letters to the editor, to the corporations and organizations sponsoring the CPD debates, to the debate moderators and broadcast organizations, and to your friends and family members. Watch this space for links to writing samples you can use for your campaign.

* The debate schedule and moderators' contact information is listed below.
* Click here to see the national sponsors for the CPD debates, with contact information for your phone or letter-writing campaign.
* Click here to see the lineup of corporate sponsors for the first Presidential debate at Ole Miss on September 26th.
2. Call the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), Obama and McCain Campaigns, Talk Shows, and National and Local Media Outlets.

* Contact information for the Commission on Presidential Debates, the debate broadcasters, and the other presidential campaigns is listed below.
* Click here to go to our talk radio call-in information page, and check back often for updates.
3. Sign online petitions calling on the media and the Obama and McCain campaigns to agree to America's demand to Open the Debates.

* Support the Open Debates campaign to reform the Presidential Debates process by signing their online petition.
* Crank up a budding petition effort started earlier this month at www.thepetitionsite.com, with the ambitious goal of gathering 100,000 signatures for the inclusion of Ralph Nader and Bob Barr in the debates.
4. Print posters, fliers and literature to pass out and hang up at college campuses and other high traffic areas, and banners to display to morning and evening rush hour traffic. You'll find links to downloadable materials on the right-hand side of this page. Once again, check back often for additions to the collection.

5. Protest outside the Democratic and Republican headquarters in your community, at corporations that sponsor the debates, at radio stations, newspapers and media outlets not covering Ralph Nader.

See link for more info.Here are five ways you can take action on Thursday to Open the Debates: 1. Write letters to the editor, to the corporations... more

futuregen
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3 responses

1 month ago

What Healthcare Crisis? This one!

The statistics are compelling and from them it is clear that without profound reform, the millennials stand to suffer... more

btparton
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8 responses

2 months ago

Can we trust the FDA? PBS Frontline

Vioxx was one of the most widely used prescription drugs in the world and, for many, it may have been a killer. The Food and Drug... more

CarolynGillis
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9 responses

3 months ago

82% of Americans think healthcare needs a major overhaul

August 7, 2008, New York, NY—Americans are dissatisfied with the U.S. health care system and 82 percent think it should be... more

advertisehere
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78 responses

3 months ago

A Tribute To Lit drummer Allen Shellenberger (And The State Of Our Health "Care" System)

The video above is a tribute to Lit drummer Allen Shellenberger, who was diagnosed with brain cancer earlier this year. The video... more

AndreaKnoll
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2 responses

4 months ago

U.S. health care gets boost from charity, we need universal health care

Forty-seven million Americans have no health insurance, and that's just the start: Millions more are underinsured, unable to... more

Marilynn_Murray
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57 responses

4 months ago

Healthy San Francisco still working out kinks

It's been a year since San Francisco initiated its Healthy San Francisco program, which aims at providing universal health... more

Adumbration
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0 responses

5 months ago

New Barack Obama "Hero" Video

Video, of all of Barack Obama Presidential Vision, and Ideas, Ending the Iraq War, Universal Healthcare, New Barack Obama... more

supportobama2008
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0 responses

7 months ago

Elizabeth Edwards Plugs Clinton Health Plan

WASHINGTON - Elizabeth Edwards put in a plug Wednesday for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's health care plan — possibly... more

JanforGore
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7 responses

7 months ago

An Open Letter To The Candidates On Single Payer Health Reform

America's health care system is failing. It denies care to many in need and is expensive, error-prone, and increasingly bureaucratic. The misfortune of illness is often amplified by financial ruin. Despite abundant medical resources, care is often inadequate because of the irrationality of our insurance system. Yet our political leaders seem intent on reprising failed schemes from the past, rejecting the single payer national health insurance model that is the sole hope for affordable, comprehensive coverage.

Leading Republicans propose tax incentives to encourage the uninsured to buy coverage, but these subsidies fall far short of the cost of adequate insurance. For cost control, they suggest high co-payments and deductibles. Yet these selectively burden the sick and poor, discourage preventive and primary care, and have little effect on costs, since seriously ill patients - who account for most health spending - quickly exceed their deductibles and are in no position to forego expensive care.

The incremental changes suggested by most Democrats cannot solve our problems; further pursuit of market-based strategies, as advocated by Republicans, will exacerbate them. What needs to be changed is the system itself.Most leading Democrats offer a mandate model for reform. Under this model, the government would require people (or their employers) to buy private coverage, while offering an expanded Medicaid-like program for the poor and near-poor.

Variants of the mandate model, first proposed by Richard Nixon, were passed with great fanfare in Massachusetts (1988), Oregon (1989) and Washington State (1993). All died quiet deaths. As costs soared, legislators backed off from enforcing the mandates or funding new coverage for the poor. Massachusetts' recent reform, which largely excuses employers from the mandate but imposes steep fines on the uninsured, appears poised to follow a similar path. Of the middle-income uninsured who are required to pay the full premium for coverage, few have signed up. Meanwhile, the state has already announced a $147 million shortfall in funding for subsidies for the poor.

Mandates and tax incentives can add coverage only by increasing costs. They augment the role (and profits) of private insurers, whose overhead is four times Medicare's, and whose efforts to avoid payment impose a costly paperwork burden on doctors and hospitals. The cost cutting measures often appended to such reforms - computerization, care management and medical prevention - have repeatedly failed to yield savings.

...single payer reform could realize administrative savings of more than $300 billion annually - enough to cover the uninsured, and to eliminate co-payments and deductibles for all Americans.In contrast, single payer reform could realize administrative savings of more than $300 billion annually - enough to cover the uninsured, and to eliminate co-payments and deductibles for all Americans. It would also slow cost increases by fostering coordination and planning.

Political calculus favors mandates or tax incentives, which accommodate insurers, drug firms and other medical entrepreneurs. But such reforms are economically wasteful and medically dangerous. The incremental changes suggested by most Democrats cannot solve our problems; further pursuit of market-based strategies, as advocated by Republicans, will exacerbate them. What needs to be changed is the system itself.
We urge our political leaders to stand up for the health of the American people and implement a non-profit, single payer national health insurance system.
Physicians for a National Health Program - PNHP
America's health care system is failing. It denies care to many in need and is expensive, error-prone, and increasingly... more

Marilynn_Murray
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5 responses

9 months ago

This is the universal heath care plan we need

Physicians for a National Health Program is a non-profit research and education organization of 15,000 physicians, medical... more

Marilynn_Murray
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21 responses

9 months ago

New Healthcare Scare! Hospitals Creating "Medical Credit Score" To Determine Level of Service!

Excerpt: "The project, dubbed 'MedFICO' in some early press reports; will aid hospitals in assessing a... more

crob80227
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1 response

10 months ago

Sicko Michael Moore Looks To Norway For A Healthy Future

by Nicole
Michael Moore's documentary Sicko, about the unhealthy state of healthcare in the United States, has made the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' shortlist for an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary. Also on the list is another Daily Mantra favorite, The Price of Sugar, about the scandal that lies behind almost every spoonful of sugar. The final five nominations from this shortlist of fifteen will be announced on Jan 22nd, with the 80th annual Oscar ceremony taking place on February 24th.

Sicko was released on DVD earlier this month, with the Special Edition (available at Amazon.com and Blockbuster) featuring over 80 minutes of additional footage. Even if you've already seen the movie, it's well worth getting your hands on the DVD just for the extras.

One of the choice clips from Moore's excellent bonus material covers a foray to Norway, which Moore deemed to "scary" to include in his original film. The Daily Mantra has visited Norway, and can understand why; In Norway 97% of the wealth generated from the country's state controlled oil reserves goes into a fund for the welfare and betterment the people. The revenue pays for arts programs, a years-worth of maternity leave for mothers, and two week tropical vacations for those whose health is compromised by the country's long winters.

Rather than being (mis) managed by greedy corporate moneymen or corrupt politicians, this fund is looked after by a state appointed philosopher whom Moore interviews. "The idea is we don't spend this money now, we can spent the surplus, but the capital itself should be kept for future generations, because basically this has been built up over two to three million years, and we shouldn't spend it in fifty years," explains State Philosopher Hynrik Syse. "This is something I see cutting across the political spectrum, in that all emphasize this need to pull together, to take of those that are weakest, and at the same time preserving a tolerance and respect for difference."

Wow. Imagine if America's oil wealth was used to fund our education, health, and social services. Imagine if our politicians planned for the future good of the people, rather than merely for short term political gain. Imagine if the ill could concentrate on getting better rather than how they're going to bear the financial burden of their sickness, and the old could look forward to a worry-free retirement after a lifetime in the workforce. Sicko shows it's possible. There are alternatives, if we could only stop fearing the unknown -- and two simple but scary words -- universal healthcare. An Oscar-worthy endeavor indeed.

http://www.dailymantra.com
http://www.myspace.com/thedailymantraby Nicole Michael Moore's documentary Sicko, about the unhealthy state of healthcare in the United States, has made the... more