March 2013 – Healthcare-NOW

Health/PAC Bulletins Now Available Online

Searchable and free at www.healthpacbulletin.org. From HealthPACBulletin.org – Before there was an internet, with blogs, listservs and web pages to turn to, there was the Health/PAC Bulletin, the hard-hitting and muckraking journal of health activism and health care system analyses and critiques. A new web site, www.healthpacbulletin.org, is a complete and searchable digital collection of…

Strike Debt Kicks Off Second Debt Buy-Up With March for Universal Healthcare

By John Knefel for Truthout – A coalition of groups associated with Occupy Wall Street took to the streets of midtown Manhattan on Thursday evening calling for the abolition of the for-profit health care system in the United States and the creation of a government-run single-payer system. Around 70 protesters marched to four major health…

Strike Debt Abolishes $1.1 Million of Medical Debt

By Allison Kilkenny for the Nation – Strike Debt, a group that emerged from the Occupy Wall Street movement, has planned a week of actions in multiple cities across the country to mark the abolition of $1.1 million in medical debt belonging to 1,064 people as part of the “Rolling Jubilee” project. While that may…

“Protect our Health, Not Their Wealth” Rally in Albany

Wednesday, March 20 – 60 people rallied in front of Albany Medical Center under the banner, “Protect OUR Health, Not THEIR Wealth.” Speakers and protesters called for “No Grand Bargain” – Hands off Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid,” “Scrap the Cap on Social Security,” “Oppose Privatization of our Public Hospitals and Nursing Homes,” and “Single…

States Urged to Expand Medicaid With Private Insurance

From the New York Times – The White House is encouraging skeptical state officials to expand Medicaid by subsidizing the purchase of private insurance for low-income people, even though that approach might be somewhat more expensive, federal and state officials say. Ohio and Arkansas are negotiating with the Obama administration over plans to use federal…

Health Insurers Warn on Premiums

From the Wall St. Journal – Health insurers are privately warning brokers that premiums for many individuals and small businesses could increase sharply next year because of the health-care overhaul law, with the nation’s biggest firm projecting that rates could more than double for some consumers buying their own plans. The projections, made in sessions…

Action Alert: Should School Workers Earn $2 An Hour?

The cooks, custodians, and maintenance workers at the Old Rochester School system in Massachusetts are facing an impossible healthcare situation. You can help by signing their change.org petition asking their employer to do the right thing and raising awareness about the need for single-payer healthcare reform. Here’s what happened: the Old Rochester School Committee is…

Ask Socially Responsible Investors to Say NO To For-Profit Health Insurance

We need your help for a collective action. TIAA-CREF, the nation’s largest retirement fund, covering academic (including medical) and religious organizations, has an option for those who want to invest their money in “socially responsible” companies. It’s called CREF-Social Choice. While CREF-Social Choice does not invest in the tobacco, gambling, or liquor industries, the fund…

Research ties economic inequality to gap in life expectancy

By Michael A. Fletcher for the Washington Post – ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — This prosperous community is the picture of the good and ever longer life — just what policymakers have in mind when they say that raising the eligibility age for Social Security and Medicare is a fair way to rein in the…

Single-Payer Would Save PA $17 Billion Annually

Health Care for All PA, a statewide non-profit organization today released an economic impact study. The results prove that a single-payer health care plan will save families, businesses and tax payers $17 billion annually while at the same time providing comprehensive health care to all. This study was done by University of Massachusetts – Amherst…