Healthcare-NOW

Why Tea Party Gov. Rick Scott Flip-Flopped on Obamacare

By Stephanie Mencimer for Mother Jones – Florida Gov. Rick Scott was elected in 2010 almost entirely thanks to his activism opposing the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. Scott spent $20 million of his own considerable fortune attacking the law, and the Republican backed the state’s lawsuit challenging its constitutionality all the way…

Health Care Spending: A 21st Century Gold Rush

By Dr. Philip Caper for the Bangor Daily News – Winston Churchill once remarked, “Americans will always do the right thing, once they’ve exhausted all alternatives.” His observation, at least the second half of it, is proving itself as we continue to struggle with our health care system, especially its out-of-control costs that are crippling…

Conyers Reintroduces National Single-Payer Health Care Bill

Today, Representative John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) reintroduced H.R. 676, “The Expanded And Improved Medicare For All Act.” This bill would establish a privately-delivered, publicly-financed universal health care system, where physicians and non-profit health care providers would be in charge of medical decisions — not insurance companies. H.R. 676 would expand and improve the highly popular…

Growing Support for Single-Payer in Oregon

An Oregon house bill sponsored by Rep. Michael Dembrow, D-Portland, is not expected to pass, but advocates claim momentum By Christopher David Gray for the Lund Report – Nearly a thousand people swarmed the front of the Oregon Capitol Building for the opening session Monday, demanding that Oregon become the second state to enact single-payer…

Hundreds rally for single-payer healthcare in Oregon

By Bennett Hall for Corvallis Gazette-Times – Hundreds of people from all over Oregon rallied in Salem on the first day of the legislative session to call attention to what they claim is a broken health care system and call on lawmakers to enact reforms. An estimated 1,000 protesters, many brandishing signs and wearing red…

A Cruel Blow to American Families

From the New York Times – The Internal Revenue Service has issued a hugely disappointing ruling on how to calculate the affordability of health insurance offered by employers. Its needlessly strict interpretation of the Affordable Care Act could leave millions of Americans with modest incomes unable to afford family coverage under their employers’ health insurance…

Big Pharma Buys Off The Senate

An eleventh-hour loophole in the “fiscal cliff” deal confirms our worst suspicions about how Congress operates. By Bill Moyers – The inauguration of a president is one of those spectacles of democracy that can make us remember we’re part of something big and enduring. So for a few hours this past Monday, the pomp and…

U.S. Health Worse Than Nearly All Other Industrialized Countries

U.S. citizens suffer from poorer health than nearly all other industrialized countries, according to the first comprehensive government analysis. By Carey L. Biron for Alternet – U.S. citizens suffer from poorer health than nearly all other industrialised countries, according to the first comprehensive government analysis on the subject, released Wednesday. Of 17 high-income countries looked…

Vermont Single-Payer Financing Plan Released

By Andrew Stein for VTDigger.org – The Shumlin administration released two financing plans Thursday evening: one for funding a publicly financed health care system and another to pay for portions of the state’s new health benefit exchange. The much-anticipated single-payer financing plan provides more of a map of the state’s health care finance landscape than…

Top CEOs Plan to Loot US Social Programs

By Margaret Flowers for Al Jazeera – A top CEO plan to curb social programs will be bad for everyone – except them. The new recommendations for Social Security and Medicare released by the Business Round Table are beyond belief. It’s as if the people who wrote them never gaze outside of the tinted windows…