Healthcare-NOW

Opt-out bill could give states more flexibility on health reform

They would have to provide coverage that is at least as comprehensive and affordable as the national law. From amednews.com – Washington — A bill to accelerate states’ ability to opt-out of parts of the national health reform law could give states more flexibility to continue working on their own brands of health system reform.…

In Breakaway, Big Health Insurers Seek To Boost Washington Clout

By Bara Vaida for NPR – Five of the nation’s largest health insurance companies are looking to build their own inside-the-Beltway coalition to influence implementation of the new health law and congressional efforts to change it. The companies – Aetna, Cigna, Humana, UnitedHealthcare and WellPoint — are shopping around Washington for a public relations firm…

Healthcare-NOW! Talks with Drs. Himmelstein and Woolhandler

Join Healthcare-NOW! members and supporters for a special evening of discussion with the founders of the leading national single-payer advocacy group, Physicians for a National Health Program, Drs. Steffie Woolhandler and David Himmelstein. As 2010 comes to a close, what have we learned in our advocacy for single-payer healthcare? Join us for an analysis of…

Will the Wyden/Brown state waiver enable single payer?

By Don McCanne MD for PNHP – The initial reaction to S. 3958, The Empowering States to Innovate Act, sponsored by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA), is that the bill will enable states to bypass the requirements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and set up their own…

Victory – Medicare Safe for Now

We did it! The Deficit Commission did not garner the 14 votes needed to send their proposal to Congress to cut Social Security and Medicare. With your help, on November 30th, the National Call In Day to protect Social Security and Medicare, we shut down the Capitol switchboard twice. The same day, single-payer activists delivered…

Majority Of Deficit Commission Endorses Plan; Not Enough To Make It Automatic

From NPR – As expected, a majority of the bipartisan commission charged with crafting a plan to slash the nation’s soaring budget deficits and national debt, has endorsed a blueprint for how to tackle those daunting problems. But, also as expected, the plan did not get the super-super-majority 14 (out of 18) votes necessary to…

Deficit Commission Slashes Taxes For Wealthy, Corporations, While Raising Retirement Age And Cutting Spending

By Ryan Grim for Huffington Post – WASHINGTON — The president’s deficit commission report, scheduled for a vote by the full panel on Friday, proposes to slash tax rates for corporations and for high earners. The top tax rate is currently 35 percent and is scheduled to rise to 39.6 percent in 2011. The commission…

New Outreach Guide

“Outreach Guide: Empowering Single-Payer Activists to be Organizers”, by Single Payer Now and Healthcare-NOW!, is now available for download. This Outreach Guide was designed to empower you— the dedicated activist — to become more involved in community outreach and education. The following components are fundamental in building our movement: community outreach, neighborhood meetings, fundraising events,…

No Cuts – Call Today!

Tell Congress: Don’t Cut Our Social Security and Medicare programs. CALL TODAY. Join today’s National Call Congress Day and tell your Representative and Senators to SAY NO to cutting our Social Security and Medicare. Call 866-220-0044 for the capitol switchboard and ask to be connected. Don’t know your Representative or Senators? Go here. The Co-Chairs…

Power and the Tiny Acts of Rebellion

By Chris Hedges for TruthDig – There is no hope left for achieving significant reform or restoring our democracy through established mechanisms of power. The electoral process has been hijacked by corporations. The judiciary has been corrupted and bought. The press shuts out the most important voices in the country and feeds us the banal…