Healthcare-NOW

Union Nurses Call for Single-Payer System

By Emily P. Walker, MedPage Today – Several hundred members of National Nurses United held a rally here on Tuesday to call for a single-payer healthcare system, an end to tax breaks for big corporations, and workers’ rights. The nurses started their march in front of the White House and walked across the street to…

British fear ‘American-style’ healthcare system

As leaders debate ways to reform healthcare, politicians repeatedly tell a worried public that Britain will not turn the National Health Service into an ‘American-style’ private system. By Henry Chu, Los Angeles Times – Two years ago, Britons were outraged when U.S. politicians like Sarah Palin, in the debate over healthcare reform, turned this country’s…

Christie proposal to slash Medicaid by $540 million puts NJ at center of national debate

By the AP – TRENTON, N.J. — As states across the country look for ways to trim billions off their spending on Medicaid, New Jersey is garnering particular attention for a proposal that opponents characterize as an unprecedented and draconian attempt to balance the state’s precarious budget on the backs of society’s most vulnerable populations.…

Still Paying Through the Nose, Labor Campaigns for Single Payer

By Andy Coates for Labor Notes – A year after President Obama signed his health care reform with strong support from the labor movement, advocates of a single-payer system might be tempted to ask, “How’s that working out for you?” At last weekend’s conference of the Labor Campaign for Single Payer, a Plumbers and Pipe…

Medicare for All!

By the Editors of the Nation – The day after Democrat Kathy Hochul scored an upset victory in a special election deep in upstate New York’s Republican territory, former President Bill Clinton was getting real chummy with Congressman Paul Ryan, whose plan to privatize Medicare was widely seen as costing the Republicans the race and…

Health Insurers Have Had Their Chance

By Wendell Potter for Huffington Post – Of the many supporters of a single-payer health care system in the United States, some of the most ardent are small business owners who have struggled to continue offering coverage to their workers. Among them are David Steil, a small business owner and former Republican — yes, Republican…

Vermont governor signs universal healthcare bill

New law designed to lead the state toward the nation’s first single-payer system By Dave Gram for the AP – Vermont still has “a few challenges” ahead to meet its goal of a universal health care system this decade, Gov. Peter Shumlin said Thursday as he signed into law the bill designed to make the…

FDL and PNHP Join Forces to Petition Obama Administration

Give Vermont the Waivers it Needs to Build a Better Health Care System If McDonald’s receives health care waivers from HHS, Vermont should too Petition: http://action.firedoglake.com/VThealthcare Physicians for National Health Program (PNHP) and Firedoglake.com are joining forces to urge the Obama administration to grant Vermont the waivers it needs to implement its new health care…

Video: VT to Become 1st State to Enact Single-Payer

From Democracy Now! – Today Vermont is set to make history by becoming the first state in the nation to offer universal, single payer healthcare when Gov.Peter Shumlin signs its healthcare reform bill into law. The Vermont plan, called the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, will attempt to stem rising medical care prices and…

Thursday: Live Streamed Signing of Vermont’s Universal Healthcare Bill

The Vermont Breakthrough: Live Streamed Press Conference on Signing of Vermont’s Universal Healthcare Bill H.202 When: 9:00 AM (Eastern Time) Thursday, May 26, 2011 Where: Vermont Statehouse, Montpelier, Room 11 Live streamed online, tune in here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/vermont-workers-center-press-conference The Vermont Workers’ Center invites you to tune into this special presentation on Vermont’s new universal health care…