September 2011 – Healthcare-NOW

Montana Gov. Seeks Waiver To Establish Single Payer In His State

By Zaid Jilani for ThinkProgess – As ThinkProgress previously reported, Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin (D) made history earlier this year when he signed into law legislation that would make his state the first state to lay the groundwork for a single payer health care system. In order to enact this system, the state needs a…

Administration Asks Supreme Court to Rule Quickly on Health Law

By Adam Liptak for the New York Times – The Obama administration asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday to hear a case concerning the 2010 health care overhaul law. The development came unexpectedly fast and makes it all but certain that the court will soon agree to hear one or more cases involving challenges to…

Supercommittee operating in secret

By Jake Sherman and Matt Dobias for Politico – The supercommittee has become supersecret about most of what it’s doing. On Tuesday, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) encapsulated the attitude of the members of the Joint Deficit Reduction Committee: “I don’t want to discuss what we discussed.” As 12 lawmakers tackle the historic task of slashing…

Health care and the Ron Paul redux

In the US, 45,000 people die every year because they cannot afford basic medical services, according to a Harvard study. By Helen Redmond for Aljazeera – When Tea Party supporters at a recent Republican presidential debate in Florida laughed wickedly and shrieked out “YEAH!” to Wolf Blitzer’s question to Ron Paul asking if society should…

Oct. 6 – Join Us in Freedom Plaza

Are you going to the October 6, 2011 rally at Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C.? Healthcare-NOW! will be there to demand human needs over corporate greed, including life-saving, money-saving improved Medicare for all. Help us build the single-payer contingent by coming to Freedom Plaza on October 6th. Please email Vanessa@healthcare-NOW.org if you and/or your organization…

Sharp Rise in U.S. Health Insurance Cost

By Reed Abelson for the New York Times – The cost of health insurance for many Americans this year climbed more sharply than in previous years, outstripping any growth in workers’ wages and adding more uncertainty about the pace of rising medical costs. A new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit research group…

A Difficult Pill to Swallow

The path to single payer health care through challenging concentrated wealth By Margaret Flowers, M.D. The efforts in recent years to pass health care reform at the state and national levels have provided important lessons for the single payer movement. Corporate control of the political process and media message has proven to be a primary…

54 Arrested as ADAPT Demands Real Medicaid Reform

By Jerry Costley, Utah ADAPT – See video of the action here. The power of ADAPT was on full display today at the as over 300 individuals with disabilities and their associates descended on the White House. We told stories about why Medicaid matters, how devastating any cuts will be to us, how Medicaid can…

Investors with a Conscience Should Divest from Health Insurance Companies

By Rob Stone for Tikkun.org – I was the doctor on duty one night in August when the ambulance rushed a man into our Midwestern hospital ER. As I walked into the room, the scene was right out of TV. A nurse was trying to start an IV. Someone was running an EKG. A student…

The Devilish Detail of Obama’s Speech

By John Nichols for NPR – President Obama has erected what is likely to be the left flank in the debates of the Congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction—the so-called “super-committee” that will define so much of this fall’s fiscal and economic discourse. That flank is sturdier than some of the president’s critics on…