March 2011 – Page 3 – Healthcare-NOW

The Human Cost of Boehner’s Cuts

John Boehner is calling for cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid this spring claiming these programs aren’t sustainable. The only thing unsustainable is the parasitic greed of the corporations and a Congress complicit in supporting them. Just a few weeks ago Congress approved huge tax cuts to the wealthy, and now we have to…

Massachusetts reform hasn’t stopped medical bankruptcies: Harvard study

Skimpy health insurance policies are likely culprit in continuing problem; findings indicate national reform law won’t stop bankruptcies From Physician for a National Health Program – The percentage of personal bankruptcies linked to medical bills or illness changed little, and the absolute number actually increased in Massachusetts after the implementation of its landmark 2006 law…

Rally, Hearing for Single Payer in Oregon Friday

Dissatisfied with Obamacare, single-payer advocates are taking their message to the state capital By David Rosenfeld for The Lund Report – Advocates for single-payer healthcare in Oregon plan to make their voices heard in Salem, Oregon on Friday. Supporters of HB 3510, which calls for a universal state health plan, will rally in front of…

Rising Calls to Replace Top Man at Medicare

By Robert Pear for the New York Times – WASHINGTON — Members of Congress, including Democrats, have urged the Obama administration to search for another Medicare chief after concluding that the Senate is unlikely to confirm President Obama’s temporary appointee, Dr. Donald M. Berwick. Dr. Berwick’s principal deputy, Marilyn B. Tavenner, has emerged as a…

USW President Leo Gerard Speaks to Canadians about U.S. Health Care

Speaking to a pre-election conference of the New Democratic Party in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, United Steelworkers of America International President Leo Gerard highlighted some of the differences between Canadian and U.S. health care. Canadian health care is a single payer system that is publicly funded and covers everyone. The New Democratic Party is a…

As Health Costs Soar, G.O.P. and Insurers Differ on Cause

By Robert Pear for the New York Times – MANCHESTER, N.H. — Workers at a circuit-board factory here just saw their health insurance premiums rise 20 percent. At Buddy Zaremba’s print shop nearby, the increase was 37 percent. And for engineers at the Woodland Design Group, they rose 43 percent. The new federal health care…

Rutland, VT Mayor Gets Behind Single-Payer Health Plan

By Peter Hirschfeld for TimesArgus.com – MONTPELIER — Rutland City Mayor Christopher Louras on Wednesday urged lawmakers to pursue with force the single-payer health-care proposal now under consideration in the Statehouse. At the risk of offending his former Republican colleagues and the Rutland business community at large, Louras said, he believes the state’s health-care system…

With the nurses on the road to Madison

Helen Redmond, a social worker in Chicago, describes the “festival of fighters” she encountered on a trip to Madison, Wis., with a delegation from National Nurses United. THE MOOD on the bus was jubilant and serious. National Nurses United (NNU) organized a group of union members to go to Wisconsin to support state workers in…

Anthem Blue Cross, again, seeks dramatic rate increases on individual policies

From Southern California Public Radio – It’s déjà vu all over again—almost a year ago exactly Anthem, the California division of Blue Cross health insurers, proposed raising rates on individual policy holders by as much as 39%. That rate increase was stalled and eventually scaled back due to mathematical inaccuracies in Anthem’s rate filings, as…

WSJ/NBC Poll: Hands Off Medicare, Social Security

Many Deem Big Cuts to Entitlements ‘Unacceptable,’ but Retirement and Means Testing Draw Support By NEIL KING JR. and SCOTT GREENBERG for the WSJ – WASHINGTON— Less than a quarter of Americans support making significant cuts to Social Security or Medicare to tackle the country’s mounting deficit, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News…