I don't know how scientific this poll was, but I can't argue with the opinions expressed.
Policy group examines health care, costs
BY FEOSHIA HENDERSON ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER
DOWNTOWN - A majority of people at a health care conference Saturday said they would pay higher income taxes to have universal care.
Even more people said they would spend more tax money on health care even if that meant reducing the amount spent on the war in Iraq.
Those were just two findings from more than 500 participants at the Citizens' Health Care Working Group meeting at the Cinergy Center. Attendees included citizens concerned about health issues, health professionals, educators and people from labor groups. ...
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Cover the Uninsured Week, continued
Google and ye shall find. There is a website for Cover the Uninsured Week:
http://covertheuninsured.org/
According to the site:
"Cover the Uninsured Week 2006 will create a groundswell of activities in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, including press conferences, health and enrollment fairs, seminars for small businesses, campus activities, business leader summits, interfaith outreach, and more. These activities are designed to mobilize a diverse mix of business owners, union members, educators, students, patients, hospital staff, physicians, nurses, faith leaders and their congregants, and many others at thousands of events across the country."
I don't know much about the organizations involved, and the site doesn't seem to advocate any specific solutions to the health care crisis. So, I of course would suggest you take things a step further than they do: Tell your elected officials to make the implementation of single payer health insurance, not just any healthcare reform, a priority.
http://covertheuninsured.org/
According to the site:
"Cover the Uninsured Week 2006 will create a groundswell of activities in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, including press conferences, health and enrollment fairs, seminars for small businesses, campus activities, business leader summits, interfaith outreach, and more. These activities are designed to mobilize a diverse mix of business owners, union members, educators, students, patients, hospital staff, physicians, nurses, faith leaders and their congregants, and many others at thousands of events across the country."
I don't know much about the organizations involved, and the site doesn't seem to advocate any specific solutions to the health care crisis. So, I of course would suggest you take things a step further than they do: Tell your elected officials to make the implementation of single payer health insurance, not just any healthcare reform, a priority.
Did you know it's Cover the Uninsured Week?
I found the following article on the Trenton Times website. Bravo to them for endorsing Single Payer. I'm going to look for specific events related to "Cover the Uninsured Week" and post what I find.
Editorial: Cover the uninsured
Sunday, April 30, 2006
BY EDITORIAL
Tomorrow begins the fourth Cover the Uninsured Week, a nonpartisan, national effort to urge U.S. leaders to make health coverage for Americans their top priority and to facilitate the enrollment of uninsured people who are eligible for subsidized health-care programs. With some 1,000 public events scheduled nationwide, Cover the Uninsured Week will be the largest such campaign in history. Among those who will make the case for national solutions in forums in Washington, D.C., and around the nation will be business leaders who will describe how rising health expenses limit their ability to provide health insurance for their employees and drive up the cost of competing on a global basis. ...
Bravo for the states that are trying. But the problem is a national one and must be solved nationally. Our preference, as we have said many times, is for a single-payer system like Canada's that eliminates the administrative costs that make up such an enormous part of the overall cost of health care. However, any serious attempt by Congress and the White House to cover America's uninsured would be vastly preferable to the indifference they display today.
Read the full article.
Editorial: Cover the uninsured
Sunday, April 30, 2006
BY EDITORIAL
Tomorrow begins the fourth Cover the Uninsured Week, a nonpartisan, national effort to urge U.S. leaders to make health coverage for Americans their top priority and to facilitate the enrollment of uninsured people who are eligible for subsidized health-care programs. With some 1,000 public events scheduled nationwide, Cover the Uninsured Week will be the largest such campaign in history. Among those who will make the case for national solutions in forums in Washington, D.C., and around the nation will be business leaders who will describe how rising health expenses limit their ability to provide health insurance for their employees and drive up the cost of competing on a global basis. ...
Bravo for the states that are trying. But the problem is a national one and must be solved nationally. Our preference, as we have said many times, is for a single-payer system like Canada's that eliminates the administrative costs that make up such an enormous part of the overall cost of health care. However, any serious attempt by Congress and the White House to cover America's uninsured would be vastly preferable to the indifference they display today.
Read the full article.
More info on the Medicare Drug (lack of) Benefit
There's a lot of good info in the article cited below on the inadequacies of the Medicare Part D Drug Program. It's more proof that if we leave it up to the pols in DC (or Springfield), the only solutions we'll get to our health crisis will be ones that benefit insurance companies and big pharma. Public servants indeed.
I'm only listing a few interesting quotes from it. Click the headline to read the whole thing, including an interesting story about how and why the parents of Mike Leavitt, head of the Dept. of Health and Human Services, dropped out of the plan.
Dr. Peter Rost: Winners and Losers in the Medicare Drug Lottery
(We the People, vs. Them the Large Insurance and Drug Companies)
According to the most recent Washington Post/ABC News Poll, 86% of seniors currently take prescription drugs on a regular basis, but only 38% have signed up for the Medicare prescription drug program. This is a glaring disparity in numbers. 44% thought the cost was too high and more Americans disapprove of the program, 45%, than approve, 41% (14% had no opinion). ...
The Washington Post states that "8 million -- and as many as 14 million by some estimates" eligible Americans have not signed up for the drug program. ...
The New York Times writes, "At least two dozen states have taken emergency action to help low-income people who could not get their medications under the program, which began Jan. 1. States are spending millions of dollars a day in such assistance."
And the Los Angeles Times claims that "a review by the Senior Action Network, a grass-roots advocacy group in San Francisco, found that Costco's prices on the top 100 drugs used by Medicare beat prices of all 48 plans in California in more than half the cases."
According to the Wall Street Journal, the "early winners" include large health insurers, who "have snagged roughly 15 million new customers and healthy government subsidies" under the program. The WSJ concludes, "By far, the biggest winner in the race to sign up seniors is UnitedHealth Group Inc., which has used an alliance with AARP to help it grab more than 3.9 million new customers"
I'm only listing a few interesting quotes from it. Click the headline to read the whole thing, including an interesting story about how and why the parents of Mike Leavitt, head of the Dept. of Health and Human Services, dropped out of the plan.
Dr. Peter Rost: Winners and Losers in the Medicare Drug Lottery
(We the People, vs. Them the Large Insurance and Drug Companies)
According to the most recent Washington Post/ABC News Poll, 86% of seniors currently take prescription drugs on a regular basis, but only 38% have signed up for the Medicare prescription drug program. This is a glaring disparity in numbers. 44% thought the cost was too high and more Americans disapprove of the program, 45%, than approve, 41% (14% had no opinion). ...
The Washington Post states that "8 million -- and as many as 14 million by some estimates" eligible Americans have not signed up for the drug program. ...
The New York Times writes, "At least two dozen states have taken emergency action to help low-income people who could not get their medications under the program, which began Jan. 1. States are spending millions of dollars a day in such assistance."
And the Los Angeles Times claims that "a review by the Senior Action Network, a grass-roots advocacy group in San Francisco, found that Costco's prices on the top 100 drugs used by Medicare beat prices of all 48 plans in California in more than half the cases."
According to the Wall Street Journal, the "early winners" include large health insurers, who "have snagged roughly 15 million new customers and healthy government subsidies" under the program. The WSJ concludes, "By far, the biggest winner in the race to sign up seniors is UnitedHealth Group Inc., which has used an alliance with AARP to help it grab more than 3.9 million new customers"
Oregon voters are going to be busy ...
The article below describes the 7 initiatives voters in Oregon will get to vote on in November. Health care activists in the state are quite active indeed. Let's hope that kind of acitivity builds here in Illinois soon.
Learn about medical initiatives
By BILL KETTLER
Mail Tribune
You probably think you have better things to do Sunday afternoon than listen to people talk about Oregon's health care system, but you're unlikely to get a better opportunity to learn about seven medical initiatives that could be on the November ballot.
Sponsors and supporters of each of the initiatives will gather at Medford's First United Methodist Church, 607 W. Main St., to explain how each proposal would address specific shortcomings in Oregon's health care system. The two-hour program begins at 4 p.m.
The sheer number of health-related initiatives indicates how broken Oregon's health system really is, said Maribeth Healey, executive director of Oregonians for Health Security. The Portland-based nonprofit organized the Medford program as part of a series of presentations around Oregon this spring.
"Oregonians are saying, 'Enough is enough,' " Healey said. "We have to do something about the health care crisis.
"They're not exactly clear on what they want done, but clearly the Legislature is the place to do it," she said. "Nothing's going to happen in Washington D.C. very fast."
Read the full article
Learn about medical initiatives
By BILL KETTLER
Mail Tribune
You probably think you have better things to do Sunday afternoon than listen to people talk about Oregon's health care system, but you're unlikely to get a better opportunity to learn about seven medical initiatives that could be on the November ballot.
Sponsors and supporters of each of the initiatives will gather at Medford's First United Methodist Church, 607 W. Main St., to explain how each proposal would address specific shortcomings in Oregon's health care system. The two-hour program begins at 4 p.m.
The sheer number of health-related initiatives indicates how broken Oregon's health system really is, said Maribeth Healey, executive director of Oregonians for Health Security. The Portland-based nonprofit organized the Medford program as part of a series of presentations around Oregon this spring.
"Oregonians are saying, 'Enough is enough,' " Healey said. "We have to do something about the health care crisis.
"They're not exactly clear on what they want done, but clearly the Legislature is the place to do it," she said. "Nothing's going to happen in Washington D.C. very fast."
Read the full article
Legislative progress in Hawaii?
Hawaii is trying to pass a bill similar to our Governor's All Kids plan. The excerpts below from an article in the Star Bulletin don't give a lot of details, but it does mention that immigrants are covered. The legislator's comment that the funding "might not be enough to pay for the program if kids are picked up with serious medical problems" is a little troubling. They've also created a commission to explore universal health care.
Cigarette tax: $1.20 hike proposed
Also before legislators is universal medical coverage for children
By Helen Altonn
...
The Keiki Care bill agreed to yesterday would establish a three-year pilot program of health coverage for children ineligible for any state or federal health care coverage. The state and the Hawaii Medical Service Association would split costs of about $600,000 each.
A family earning up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level -- about $60,000 for a family of four -- would qualify, said House Health Chairman Dennis Arakaki.
"This is a big, big step for universal health," said Senate Human Services Chairwoman Suzanne Chun Oakland (D, Kalihi-Liliha) after agreement on the children's health insurance program (HB 3116).
Arakaki (D, Alewa Heights-Kalihi Valley) said 10,000 Isle children still have no health insurance.
Because of the high cost of living, many families above 200 percent of the poverty level, who are ineligible for the state's QUEST health program, cannot afford health insurance for their children, said Beth Giesting, Hawaii Primary Care Association executive director.
The Keiki Care program will be free to any families, including immigrants, she said. The $1.2 million fund might not be enough to pay for the program if kids are picked up with serious medical problems, she said. "But at least they will be getting some care."
The conferees also approved a bill that would establish a Hawaii Health Commission to develop a universal-care plan. "The goal is to provide health care for all Hawaii's people," Arakaki said. "It is a vision, but you can't get anywhere without vision."
The conferees also approved a bill that would establish a Hawaii Health Commission to develop a universal-care plan. "The goal is to provide health care for all Hawaii's people," Arakaki said. "It is a vision, but you can't get anywhere without vision.
...
Cigarette tax: $1.20 hike proposed
Also before legislators is universal medical coverage for children
By Helen Altonn
...
The Keiki Care bill agreed to yesterday would establish a three-year pilot program of health coverage for children ineligible for any state or federal health care coverage. The state and the Hawaii Medical Service Association would split costs of about $600,000 each.
A family earning up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level -- about $60,000 for a family of four -- would qualify, said House Health Chairman Dennis Arakaki.
"This is a big, big step for universal health," said Senate Human Services Chairwoman Suzanne Chun Oakland (D, Kalihi-Liliha) after agreement on the children's health insurance program (HB 3116).
Arakaki (D, Alewa Heights-Kalihi Valley) said 10,000 Isle children still have no health insurance.
Because of the high cost of living, many families above 200 percent of the poverty level, who are ineligible for the state's QUEST health program, cannot afford health insurance for their children, said Beth Giesting, Hawaii Primary Care Association executive director.
The Keiki Care program will be free to any families, including immigrants, she said. The $1.2 million fund might not be enough to pay for the program if kids are picked up with serious medical problems, she said. "But at least they will be getting some care."
The conferees also approved a bill that would establish a Hawaii Health Commission to develop a universal-care plan. "The goal is to provide health care for all Hawaii's people," Arakaki said. "It is a vision, but you can't get anywhere without vision."
The conferees also approved a bill that would establish a Hawaii Health Commission to develop a universal-care plan. "The goal is to provide health care for all Hawaii's people," Arakaki said. "It is a vision, but you can't get anywhere without vision.
...
Friday, April 28, 2006
Discussion Series on "Health as a Human Right"
This looks like an interesting series of discussions:
The Public Square at the Illinois Humanities Council and the Neighborhood Writing Alliance present...
HEALTH AS A HUMAN RIGHT
A Series of Community Conversations
Co-sponsors include: Health and Medicine Policy Research Group, Co-op Humboldt Park, Chicago Women's AIDS Project, AREA Chicago, Garfield Park Conservatory, The HotHouse, DuSable Museum, and the Nathalie P. Voorhees Neighborhood Center.
How can we think of health as a human right? How have the "War on Terror," Hurricane Katrina, and pending Immigration Legislation impacted our health as a nation? How does where we live effect our health, our diet, and our stress level? How would open, honest dialogue about sexuality improve our health?
The Public Square and the Neighborhood Writing Alliance present a series of conversations on public health and access to healthcare. With the participation of the leading thinkers and doers in Chicago's public health community, such as Quentin Young of Health and Medicine Policy Research Group; Courtney Bell, former director of Women's Health Center; Danny Block of Chicago State University; and Miguel Morales of Co-op Humboldt Park, we will consider not only the challenges of an inadequate healthcare system, but also the way in which issues such as geography, demographic inequalities, food distribution, sexuality, adolescent access to healthcare, and the strains of war can and should inform our larger picture of public health.
RESERVATIONS ARE REQUIRED and can be made at info@prairie.org or 312.422.5580. Please specify which of the panels you are registering for with the date. Please include the names of all guests in your reservation.
How Do We Think of Health as a Human Right?
A Conversation About War, Immigration, Universal Healthcare, and the Corporatization of Healthcare
Wednesday, May 10, 6pm-8pm
DuSable Museum, 740 E. 56th Place
Let's Talk About Sex and Health, Baby
A Conversation about Reproductive Health, Youth, and Sexual Identity
Saturday, May 13, 1pm-3pm
HotHouse, 31 E. Balbo
How Do We Build Healthy Places?
A Conversation About Geography, Food, and Transportation
Saturday, May 20, 2-4pm
Garfield Park Conservatory, 300 N. Central Park Ave.
The Public Square at the Illinois Humanities Council and the Neighborhood Writing Alliance present...
HEALTH AS A HUMAN RIGHT
A Series of Community Conversations
Co-sponsors include: Health and Medicine Policy Research Group, Co-op Humboldt Park, Chicago Women's AIDS Project, AREA Chicago, Garfield Park Conservatory, The HotHouse, DuSable Museum, and the Nathalie P. Voorhees Neighborhood Center.
How can we think of health as a human right? How have the "War on Terror," Hurricane Katrina, and pending Immigration Legislation impacted our health as a nation? How does where we live effect our health, our diet, and our stress level? How would open, honest dialogue about sexuality improve our health?
The Public Square and the Neighborhood Writing Alliance present a series of conversations on public health and access to healthcare. With the participation of the leading thinkers and doers in Chicago's public health community, such as Quentin Young of Health and Medicine Policy Research Group; Courtney Bell, former director of Women's Health Center; Danny Block of Chicago State University; and Miguel Morales of Co-op Humboldt Park, we will consider not only the challenges of an inadequate healthcare system, but also the way in which issues such as geography, demographic inequalities, food distribution, sexuality, adolescent access to healthcare, and the strains of war can and should inform our larger picture of public health.
RESERVATIONS ARE REQUIRED and can be made at info@prairie.org or 312.422.5580. Please specify which of the panels you are registering for with the date. Please include the names of all guests in your reservation.
How Do We Think of Health as a Human Right?
A Conversation About War, Immigration, Universal Healthcare, and the Corporatization of Healthcare
Wednesday, May 10, 6pm-8pm
DuSable Museum, 740 E. 56th Place
Let's Talk About Sex and Health, Baby
A Conversation about Reproductive Health, Youth, and Sexual Identity
Saturday, May 13, 1pm-3pm
HotHouse, 31 E. Balbo
How Do We Build Healthy Places?
A Conversation About Geography, Food, and Transportation
Saturday, May 20, 2-4pm
Garfield Park Conservatory, 300 N. Central Park Ave.
Good Article on the Medicare Drug Plan
The author of the following piece lays out the problems with the Medicare Drug Benefit and calls on Congress to at least extend the May 15 deadline:
Deadline Extension Is Needed Rx For Ill-made Medicare Drug Plan
By Robert Arnow
Deadline Extension Is Needed Rx For Ill-made Medicare Drug Plan
By Robert Arnow
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Facts on the Massachussets Bill (from Mass-Care)
• Most uninsured people will now have to buy their own insurance without any or with very little financial support.
• The Bill will not help the underinsured or those with poor quality insurance, including those on Medicare paying high out-of-pocket costs.
• It will not attempt to reduce the costs of health insurance for individuals and businesses paying the highest prices in the world.
• 40 percent of the uninsured in Massachusetts, the 292,000 who earn more than three times the poverty level income, will be forced to purchase their own health insurance without any help or subsidies from the state. Bad insurance for someone earning three times the poverty level will cost them 20 percent of their total income.
• The Bill raises only $170 million per year in new spending to help subsidize 748,000 uninsured people in Massachusetts. This is not enough to pay for 45,000 people. All other funds used by the Bill are a shell game, most taken out of Free Care - which provides medically necessary health services for the uninsured - and moved into more wasteful plans run by commercial insurance companies.
• This Bill, which will affect the lives of hundreds of thousands, was bought and paid for by healthcare industry lobbyists. Industry lobbyists spent over $7.5 million this year to make your health care Bill work for them. Forcing uninsured people into private insurance plans will create new business and new profits for insurers, without reforming the system of waste and discriminatory health care access for Massachusetts residents.
• The Bill will not help the underinsured or those with poor quality insurance, including those on Medicare paying high out-of-pocket costs.
• It will not attempt to reduce the costs of health insurance for individuals and businesses paying the highest prices in the world.
• 40 percent of the uninsured in Massachusetts, the 292,000 who earn more than three times the poverty level income, will be forced to purchase their own health insurance without any help or subsidies from the state. Bad insurance for someone earning three times the poverty level will cost them 20 percent of their total income.
• The Bill raises only $170 million per year in new spending to help subsidize 748,000 uninsured people in Massachusetts. This is not enough to pay for 45,000 people. All other funds used by the Bill are a shell game, most taken out of Free Care - which provides medically necessary health services for the uninsured - and moved into more wasteful plans run by commercial insurance companies.
• This Bill, which will affect the lives of hundreds of thousands, was bought and paid for by healthcare industry lobbyists. Industry lobbyists spent over $7.5 million this year to make your health care Bill work for them. Forcing uninsured people into private insurance plans will create new business and new profits for insurers, without reforming the system of waste and discriminatory health care access for Massachusetts residents.
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Massachussets' bad example spreading
Politicians seem to recognize a bad idea when they see one, and are quick to jump on the bandwagon toward failure. It seems other states are looking at the Massachussets bill and seeing it as a beacon of false change. Check these two articles out:
2 Wisconsin Plans Tout Universal Health Coverage
Massachusetts Recently Passed Similar Bill
MADISON, Wis. -- New ideas on how to cover every working Wisconsinite with health care are floating in the State Capitol.
The plans come on the heels of Massachusetts passing a bill to require everyone in that state to have health insurance. The idea is modeled after the way some states require all drivers to have auto insurance.
Now some lawmakers in Wisconsin said it's time to adopt a similar plan. ...
Read the full article.
Assembly panel approves bill for universal health care coverage
SAMANTHA YOUNG
Associated Press
SACRAMENTO - An Assembly committee approved a bill Tuesday that would mandate Californians buy health insurance coverage much like drivers are required to purchase auto insurance.
Although California voters and politicians repeatedly have rejected forcing individuals and employers to pay for a universal insurance program, lawmakers are seeking to capitalize on the momentum from a new Massachusetts law that will make that state the first in the country to establish mandatory health insurance. ...
Read the full article.
2 Wisconsin Plans Tout Universal Health Coverage
Massachusetts Recently Passed Similar Bill
MADISON, Wis. -- New ideas on how to cover every working Wisconsinite with health care are floating in the State Capitol.
The plans come on the heels of Massachusetts passing a bill to require everyone in that state to have health insurance. The idea is modeled after the way some states require all drivers to have auto insurance.
Now some lawmakers in Wisconsin said it's time to adopt a similar plan. ...
Read the full article.
Assembly panel approves bill for universal health care coverage
SAMANTHA YOUNG
Associated Press
SACRAMENTO - An Assembly committee approved a bill Tuesday that would mandate Californians buy health insurance coverage much like drivers are required to purchase auto insurance.
Although California voters and politicians repeatedly have rejected forcing individuals and employers to pay for a universal insurance program, lawmakers are seeking to capitalize on the momentum from a new Massachusetts law that will make that state the first in the country to establish mandatory health insurance. ...
Read the full article.
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
PNHP Analysis of the Massachussets Bill
Himmelstein and Woolhandler Respond to Massachusetts' New Healthcare Law
The New York Times
Published: April 9, 2006
To the Editor:
Your reports about Massachusetts’ health reform legislation treat politicians’ overblown claims as gospel.
The legislation completely ignores one-third of the uninsured, dismissing the Census Bureau’s estimate that 748,000 lack coverage in Massachusetts in favor of an estimate of 500,000 derived from a phone survey.
The linchpin of the promised coverage is a requirement that most of the uninsured buy their own coverage, and assurances that private insurers will offer affordable, comprehensive policies.
But already reports have surfaced that these new policies will be far costlier than promised, putting them out of reach of most of the uninsured and sharply raising the costs of state subsidies to help the very poor.
Predictably, rising costs will force more employers to drop coverage, while state coffers will be drained by the continuing cost increases in Medicaid. When the next recession hits, tax revenues will fall just as a flood of newly unemployed people join the Medicaid program or apply for the insurance subsidies promised in the reform legislation.
The program is simply not sustainable over the long or even short term. In contrast, a single-payer reform could save $9 billion a year on bureaucracy in Massachusetts, more than enough to cover the uninsured and to upgrade coverage for the rest of us.
David U. Himmelstein, M.D.
Steffie Woolhandler, M.D.
Cambridge, Mass., April 6, 2006
The writers, associate professors of medicine at Harvard, co-founded Physicians for a National Health Program.
The New York Times
Published: April 9, 2006
To the Editor:
Your reports about Massachusetts’ health reform legislation treat politicians’ overblown claims as gospel.
The legislation completely ignores one-third of the uninsured, dismissing the Census Bureau’s estimate that 748,000 lack coverage in Massachusetts in favor of an estimate of 500,000 derived from a phone survey.
The linchpin of the promised coverage is a requirement that most of the uninsured buy their own coverage, and assurances that private insurers will offer affordable, comprehensive policies.
But already reports have surfaced that these new policies will be far costlier than promised, putting them out of reach of most of the uninsured and sharply raising the costs of state subsidies to help the very poor.
Predictably, rising costs will force more employers to drop coverage, while state coffers will be drained by the continuing cost increases in Medicaid. When the next recession hits, tax revenues will fall just as a flood of newly unemployed people join the Medicaid program or apply for the insurance subsidies promised in the reform legislation.
The program is simply not sustainable over the long or even short term. In contrast, a single-payer reform could save $9 billion a year on bureaucracy in Massachusetts, more than enough to cover the uninsured and to upgrade coverage for the rest of us.
David U. Himmelstein, M.D.
Steffie Woolhandler, M.D.
Cambridge, Mass., April 6, 2006
The writers, associate professors of medicine at Harvard, co-founded Physicians for a National Health Program.
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