Healthcare-NOW

Plans for Medicare’s Anniversary?

Medicare is making headlines daily. Republicans are threatening to eliminate the program, and Democrats aren’t impressing us with their ability to defend it. Regardless of the beltway politics, people across the country have been showing an outpouring of support for Medicare at town halls, and vocal advocates for Medicare-for-all like John Nichols and Robert Reich…

Celebrate Medicare’s 46th Anniversary! – Join Today

In this time of strong economic uncertainty, while Medicare and Medicaid are under attack and states across the country are balancing their budgets on the backs of the working class, you have remained committed to fighting for universal and equitable healthcare reform. We cannot thank you enough for your championing of Medicare for all, but…

Poll: Medicare doesn’t have to be cut

By the AP – WASHINGTON (AP) – They’re not buying it. Most Americans say they don’t believe Medicare has to be cut to balance the federal budget, and ditto for Social Security, a new poll shows. The Associated Press-GfK poll suggests that arguments for overhauling the massive benefit programs to pare government debt have failed…

GOP plan is a non-starter

By Rep. John Conyers, Jr. – Medicare is arguably one of the nation’s most successful and cherished public insurance programs. The program covers 47 million elderly and disabled Americans, and helps pay for hospital, physician visits and prescription drugs. It is truly hard to argue with success. The traditional Medicare program, coupled with a supplemental…

Video: Sen. Sanders and Rep. McDermott Introduce Single-Payer Bills

Legislation to provide health care for every American through a Medicare-for-all type single-payer system was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Bernie Sanders and in the House by Rep. Jim McDermott. Their twin bills would provide better care for more patients at less cost by eliminating the middle-man role played by private insurance companies that…

Cut Medicare? No Way! Make It ‘Medicare for All’!

By John Nichols for the Nation – House Budget Committee chair Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, proposes to undermine the integrity of the Medicare and Medicaid programs, with an eye toward enriching the insurance companies that so generously fund his campaigns. The American people are not amused. They have sent a clear signal that they want to…

Keep Your Hands Off My Medicare!

By Katrina vanden Heuvel for the Nation – It’s been a common refrain of politicians in Washington for as long as the capitol has been unpopular: “It’s good to get outside the Beltway, good to go get back to the real America.” But in recent days that cliché might feel a bit stale for Republican…

Republican and Democratic Plans for Medicare and Medicaid Misguided

Push for Privatization will Accelerate Costs and Deaths By Margaret Flowers, M.D. for FireDogLake – Leadership in Washington recognizes the damage our soaring health care spending is doing to our entire economy. Although their rhetoric differs, recent budget proposals from both Republicans and Democrats mistakenly place the blame on Medicare and Medicaid. Cuts to and…

What we’re not being told about Paul Ryan’s Medicare plan

The mainstream media has failed to report that the Ryan plan is a privatization program that will hand $30tn to insurers By Dean Baker for the Guardian – The film Casablanca features one of greatest moments in movie history. With Humphrey Bogart standing with a smoking pistol over the body of the dead Gestapo major,…

As If Privatizing Medicare Wasn’t Enough

By Jonathan Cohn for the New Republic – By now, virtually everybody has heard about the Medicare voucher scheme that House Republicans want to implement starting in 2022. Instead of getting comprehensive, government-run insurance, seniors would have to enroll in private insurance, using a federal subsidy too skimpy to pay for adequate coverage. According to…