Archive for August 2011
Meet Our New Director of Organizing
Exciting news! Please join me in welcoming Healthcare-NOW!’s new Director of Organizing, Vanessa Beck. Vanessa comes to us from Chicago where she was a founding member of Chicago Single-Payer Action Network and recently received a graduate degree in Social Work from the University of Chicago. Vanessa is joining the team in Philadelphia, PA and will…
Read MoreJan Cline Holds Yard Sales To Pay Medical Bills; City Shuts Them Down
By the Huffington Post – According to KATU-TV in Salem, Ore., Jan Cline, a woman with terminal bone marrow cancer, has been holding yard sales to raise money to pay off her bills. But Cline recently received an unfortunate notice from the city of Salem: She is breaking the law, and the city is shutting…
Read MoreActivists call for trauma care from the University of Chicago Medical Center
By Gabriel Spitzer for WBEZ.org – The group Fearless Leading by Youth slept on concrete last night in front of the University of Chicago Medical Center. They want more emergency care for the most seriously injured patients – a business the hospital got out of 23 years ago. The demonstration comes one year after the…
Read MoreRemote Area Medical Comes to Chicago
Community Activists and Legislator to Speak on Site about Health Care Crisis CHICAGO—Remote Area Medical (RAM) will be in Chicago to serve the under- and uninsured citizens of Cook County and points beyond. Founded in 1985 to serve “desolate areas of the world,” RAM is a non-profit, volunteer group that delivers on-site health care, dental…
Read MoreSingle-payer: Sensible health plan
A Charleston Gazette Editorial – CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Some federal courts are ruling that America’s breakthrough 2010 medical reform is kaput because government cannot force people to pay for health insurance. (Governments force people to buy car insurance. What’s the difference?) If the historic reform eventually is killed, we hope it leads to a better…
Read MoreCan We Have Health Reform Without an Individual Mandate?
Yes, It’s Called ‘Medicare for All’ By John Nichols for The Nation – The essential vote on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals panel that ruled that the individual-coverage mandate in President Obama’s healthcare reform is unconstitutional did not come from a reactionary Republican appointed by Ronald Reagan or George W. Bush. Rather, it came…
Read More11th Circuit: Health Care Law’s Individual Mandate Is Unconstitutional
From Talking Points Memo – In a split decision, a three-judge panel on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has determined that the health care law’s individual mandate exceeds Congress’ Commerce Clause powers and is therefore unconstitutional. However, unlike the district court ruling preceding this case, the judges found the mandate to be “severable” and…
Read MoreIf U.S. is Serious About Debt, There’s a Single-Payer Solution
An STL Today editorial – If America truly is serious about dealing with its deficit problems, there’s a fairly simple solution. But you’re probably not going to like it: Enact a single-payer health care plan. See, we told you weren’t going to like it. But the fact is that everyone who has studied the deficit…
Read MorePhysicians group: debt deal threatens health of seniors and disabled
The New York Metro chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP), an 18,000-member national organization, denounces the federal debt ceiling deal signed into law by President Obama on Tuesday. “Politicians who say Medicare and Social Security are spared cuts are not being honest,” said Dr. Oliver Fein, Chair of PNHP-NY Metro. “Plans to…
Read MoreSimplifying US Healthcare Could Save $27.6 Billion a Year
By AFP – Find the study at Health Affairs. US health care spending could be cut by billions a year if doctors spent the same amount of time and money dealing with insurance plans as their Canadian counterparts, according to a new study. Canada has a “single-payer” system for health care financing, under which doctors…
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