Healthcare-NOW

Poverty, Addiction, and Medicaid Cuts: A Former Addict’s Call to Occupy Wall St.

By Jeff Deeney for AlterNet – An addict-turned-social worker explores the relationship between poverty and addiction, exposing how Medicaid cuts could have disastrous consequences on entire communities. This week the City of Philadelphia was awarded the dubious distinction of the nation’s “poorest large city,” with one quarter of the adult population and one third of…

Deficit commission showing no progress

By Robert Pear for the New York Times – With just five weeks until its deadline, a secretive congressional committee seeking ways to cut the federal deficit is far from a consensus, and party leaders may need to step in if they want to ensure agreement, say people involved in the panel’s work. The 12-member…

Supercommittee operating in secret

By Jake Sherman and Matt Dobias for Politico – The supercommittee has become supersecret about most of what it’s doing. On Tuesday, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) encapsulated the attitude of the members of the Joint Deficit Reduction Committee: “I don’t want to discuss what we discussed.” As 12 lawmakers tackle the historic task of slashing…

54 Arrested as ADAPT Demands Real Medicaid Reform

By Jerry Costley, Utah ADAPT – See video of the action here. The power of ADAPT was on full display today at the as over 300 individuals with disabilities and their associates descended on the White House. We told stories about why Medicaid matters, how devastating any cuts will be to us, how Medicaid can…

My Medicaid Matters Rally – Sept. 21

Thanks to the Super Committee, the Medicaid program – on which over 58 million Americans rely – is more vulnerable to cuts than ever. 49% of Medicaid recipients are children, 25% adults, 10% are older Americans, 15% are disabled, and all are low-income. If people on Medicaid lost their benefits, the results would be greater…

If U.S. is Serious About Debt, There’s a Single-Payer Solution

An STL Today editorial – If America truly is serious about dealing with its deficit problems, there’s a fairly simple solution. But you’re probably not going to like it: Enact a single-payer health care plan. See, we told you weren’t going to like it. But the fact is that everyone who has studied the deficit…

Physicians group: debt deal threatens health of seniors and disabled

The New York Metro chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP), an 18,000-member national organization, denounces the federal debt ceiling deal signed into law by President Obama on Tuesday. “Politicians who say Medicare and Social Security are spared cuts are not being honest,” said Dr. Oliver Fein, Chair of PNHP-NY Metro. “Plans to…

Debt Ceiling Deal Threatens Medicare, Medicaid

With a decision finally reached this afternoon on the debt ceiling, both the President and Congress have put Wall Street and the wealthy in front of the needs of their constituents. Our most important social insurance programs are squarely on the chopping block. The spending cuts will only exacerbate the economic crisis and people’s suffering.…

Medicare’s 46th Anniversary Roundup!

July 30th was Medicare’s 46th anniversary and we’ve been celebrating all over the country. Improved Medicare-for-all supporters in 21 states organized over 45 events, rallies, birthday parties, and congressional visits aimed at preventing cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security while also calling for Medicare-for-all as the solution to, not the problem with, our national…

Close to Our Goal!

Healthcare-NOW! is fighting hard for the protection, improvement, and expansion of our most beloved social insurance program: Medicare. To help strengthen our work, Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) pledged a $5,000 matching grant. Our supporters have been amazing so far–helping us raise two-thirds of the money in just a few days. But if…