Monday Night: Let’s Discuss the Health Bill
Join Healthcare-NOW! for a conference call exposing the last minute negotiations of the health care bill and the ramifications of the mandate to purchase private insurance when public programs like Medicaid and Medicare suffer.
The conference call is tomorrow, Monday, March 22nd at 8 PM EST.
Guest speakers include:
– Michael Lighty, Policy Director for National Nurses United
– Ajamu Sankofa, Esq., founder of Private Health Insurance Must Go!
– And voices on the ground in Massachusetts, where the insurance mandate was first implemented
The discussion will be moderated by Katie Robbins.
Here is the dial-in information:
Conference Dial-In: 1-218-862-1300
Conference Code: 441086
Please send your questions for the panel to info@healthcare-now.org.
I don’t understand. I was under the understanding that you were supporting this bill and after you help to pass it, you want to talk about how horrible it is. Shouldn’t we be talking about this, before it is passed? Should you not be sending out emails to people saying call you representatives to stop this bill because of the “ramifications of the mandate to purchase private insurance when public programs like Medicaid and Medicare suffer.”
I am sure I am under a horrible misunderstanding. Please help me out in my thinking because I don’t get it.
Are you possibly confusing Healthcare NOW! with the Obama booster group called Health Care for America Now?
http://healthcareforamericanow.org/
Check out the links on my blog. Especially the top ten enemies of single payer. You can sort out the faut reformers there.
Hi Janice,
I am sorry for any misunderstanding. We have been circulating our position on the health care bill since the House version in November 2009. We have been opposed to the mandate model of reform. We seek to build the movement for truly universal, comprehensive high quality health care without financial barriers. This bill falls far short of those goals. We at Healthcare-NOW! will continue to educate and discuss the movement going forward for a system that meets these goals such as improved and expanded Medicare for All, single-payer national health insurance. Here is a link to our position on the bill – http://www.healthcare-now.org/healthcare-now-members-oppose-current-version-of-congressional-health-bill/
We hope you will join us in building the movement to win!
Public option is next… Civil rights in this country always require more than one bill.
What has to be next is removing the ban on individual states creating single payer plans. The “public option” has been so redefined (administered by private not-for-profit insurance cos. like Blue Cross/Blue Shield, limited oversight, and forced to charge as much as the private plans) as to be nearly meaningless.
The “reform” that has passed would allow double and triple premiums charged to people over 55 and those w/ pre-existing conditions guaranteeing that many in those groups will have to pay high fines for no insurance at all because the allowed premiums will be so high. This “reform” is simply gov’t mandated extortion by private insurers. Since it is clear that our wholly bought Congress can’t act in the public interest, the least we can demand will be to change the law to allow the states to do better. California was well on its way to passing universal healthcare when the law passed banning it.
GOP advocating Tort Reform is important but not enough and hard to implement.
Tax credits for individuals and small businesses with regards to health care premiums are great solutions. This one, we cannot wait. This will decrease unemployment but not cure chronic underemployment in this country.
The chronically underemployed are fighting this bill hard because they don’t want any of their hard-earned dime to go to health insurance companies who they do not trust.
Since most uninsured, underinsured, unemployed and underemployed don’t trust the for profit insurance companies ruled by financial sociopaths, what is the sense of forcing us to mandatorily pay for health insurance?
This is clearly an extortion folks!
We can do away with car insurance by not buying a car!
We can do away with homeowners insurance if we just decide to rent!
But mandatorily making us pay to a new HEALTHCARE SYSTEM that heavily FAVORS HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANIES that WE DO NOT TRUST?
Please encourage your Senators to convert this for profit health insurance companies to nonprofit and fully funded by (not buy the people LOL!) the people and for the people!
Health Insurance reform must happen too as an addendum to the amendments! If we can eliminate the financial sociopaths ruling these companies before conversion to nonprofit, the better!
How about let’s be creative in creating the new healthcare reform bill:
*I mentioned in my earlier posts and in the healthcare reform website that the US badly needs another 3 nonprofit tax-exempt heath insurance companies (they will get some government grants, donations from private and public foundations and from individuals) to compete against the for profit health insurers.
*I mentioned mandatory progressive taxation for the new healthcare tax (Refer to my range from my earlier posts).
*I mentioned also the new “healthcare tax” in my earlier posts. This can be enhanced by redistributing the current taxes that US workers pay. How about move the 2 to 3 percent from Social Security tax to the new “healthcare tax”? How about moving the 1 percent from Medicare tax to the new “healthcare tax”?
*The new “healthcare tax” will fund all “Free Clinics” (will run 16 hours a day) in the US to take care of all testing, medicine and preventative care.
*The new “healthcare tax” will fund the 3 new nonprofit tax-exempt health insurance companies.
*The new “healthcare tax” will fund State run hospitals to handle medical emergencies, emergency medical testing, necessary surgical procedures from emergencies and hospital bed expenses arising from emergency.
*THE WHEN, WHERE, AND HOW TO USE THE FUNDS FROM THE NEW HEALTHCARE TAX WILL ALWAYS BE SUBJECT TO VOTING BY ALL US CITIZENS.
*All size business will not be required to pay for their part-time or full-time employees’ health insurance. Their only obligation is to direct each employee to this free clinics and State-run hospitals. THIS PROPOSAL WILL CREATE MORE JOBS IN THE LONG RUN.
*All private and public hospitals and free and for profit clinics will have posted billing fee schedule range standard for all medical procedures. No health insurance company will have advantage over another in negotiating the rates. Right now the rates are mystery to the insured consumers and to all health insurance companies.
*Let us make malpractice insurance like a HSA (Health Savings Account) or FSA (Flexible spending account). This way, nothing is wasted and profits by the Board Members and Officers of this companies regulated.
*All states must implement caps on punitive damages and compensatory damages arising from medical malpractice.
*New Physicians will pay for their tuition and fee loans and malpractice insurance another way: Community Service Hours where they are mostly needed. Reason: To create efficient health care delivery.
*Dollar for dollar healthcare tax credit by each US Worker, US Citizen and US Immigrant. That means, all expenses incurred related to heath care will be deducted from the total tax. For example: An individual paid in 2010 $8K for health insurance premium, he paid $1K for medicine, he paid the 1st $1K of his high deductible health insurance plan, he paid $.5K of copays, he paid $3K for gym membership, wellness/nutrition/exercise/activity classes, vitamins, health beverages, diet meals, and heath gear and equipment. The total expenses paid for the year is $13.5K.
Assuming his tax is 12K. 12K minus 13.5K results in a tax refund of 1.5K for the year.
My rationale: Deduction does not count much, credit is much better. This is where the middle class and middle income taxpayers will benefit most.
*MY ABOVE PROPOSAL SHOULD BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY BY THE CITIZENS, PERMANENT RESIDENTS AND WORKERS OF THE UNITED STATES. HOWEVER YOU SLICE IT OR DICE IT OR DISECT IT, IT IS A WIN WIN PROPOSAL BEFORE VOTING YES!