Healthcare-NOW

89,000 Poor Penn. Kids Slashed from Medicaid

By Michael Hinkelman and Catherine Lucey for Philly.com – Kheli Muhammad was trying to schedule a routine pediatrician’s appointment last summer when she discovered that her 2-year-old son, who has a congenital heart disorder, had been kicked off the Medicaid rolls. The 30-year-old mother of two boys was stunned. “It is written in stone that…

The Power of Universal Health Care

By Winthrop C. Dillaway III for NJ.com – In 2009, when President Obama began his term of office, the U.S. health care system was painfully dysfunctional. He announced an initiative for health care reform. Early on, “universal health care” garnered thought and attention. Unfortunately, with the ensuing debate and politics, the concept of universal health…

Knoxville-Oak Ridge CLC endorses HR 676, Improved Medicare for All

From Unions for Single Payer – President Suzanne Coile reports that the Knoxville-Oak Ridge Area Central Labor Council unanimously endorsed HR 676, national single payer health care legislation, at its April, 2012 meeting. “Everyone completely agreed on HR 676,” said Coile, “and all of us are totally opposed to any kind of voucher system.” Coile…

Fool’s Gold: US Healthcare System Cheats Patients

By Donna Smith – In case any one of us needs reminding, the profit-driven healthcare system in America is broken. Driven by its primary motivation to make money, there is little that compels those currently in control to care about patients like you and me. We are most assuredly a necessary component of the healthcare…

Funding a National Single-Payer System

By Gerald Friedman for Dollars and Sense – Download “Funding a National Single-Payer System” here (.pdf). Don’t like the Obamacare (or Romneycare) mandate? Single-payer is a viable—and more redistributive—alternative. “The Expanded & improved Medicare for all act” (hr 676) would establish a single authority responsible for paying for health care for all Americans. Providing universal…

Recession Boosted Hospital Expansions Into Affluent Areas

By Jordan Rau for KHN – Amid the recession, hospitals have been aggressively establishing footholds in affluent areas outside their traditional market boundaries as they fight for the patients with the best insurance, according to a new study. The paper, published in Health Affairs, found hospitals “wooing” EMS workers that service well-off neighborhoods, even sprucing…

Conservatives and Liberals Agree: Medicare for All Would Be Constitutional

By Miles Mogulescu for the Huffington Post – Conservatives and liberals may disagree about the constitutionality of the individual mandate requiring all uninsured Americans to buy health insurance from private companies or pay a penalty to the IRS. But there is no debate about whether single-payer Medicare For All would be constitutional. No one —…

Minnesota Single-Payer Impact Study Released

From Health Care for All – Minnesota – A report from Growth and Justice on the Lewin Group’s study of a single-payer health care system in Minnesota was recently released. Lewin Group’s Findings: – A total savings of $35.7 million to state and local governments; – An average savings of $1,214 per worker, for employers…

Against the health care mandate

By Helen Redmond for Socialist Worker – IN A highly charged and polarizing case, the Supreme Court heard a series of legal challenges to President Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). The case was brought to the high court by 26 Republican-led states that are hell-bent on a showdown with the Obama administration,…

Americans Cutting Back on Drugs and Doctor Visits

By Katie Thomas for the New York Times – Patients cut back on prescription drugs and doctor visits last year, a sign that many Americans are still struggling to pay for health care, according to a study released Wednesday by a health industry research group. The report, issued by the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics,…