Healthcare-NOW

Newly Formed 150,000-Strong Nurses’ Union Pushes for Single-Payer Healthcare

From Democracy Now!— Three of the country’s top organizations of direct care registered nurses have come together to form a new national nurses’ union that is advocating for a single-payer national health insurance program. The new union unifies the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, United American Nurses, and the Massachusetts Nurses Association into a…

Put Single-Payer on the Table

By Amy Goodman for TruthDig.com— President Barack Obama promises health-care reform, but he has taken single-payer health care off the table. Single-payer is the system that removes private insurance companies from the picture; the government pays all the bills, but health-care delivery remains private. People still get their choice of what doctor to go to…

We’re Organizing Rallies at the Presidential Health Forums

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!! As many of you have heard, the Obama Health Care Task Force is hosting 5 Regional forums on healthcare in Michigan, California, Iowa, North Carolina, and Vermont. Healthcare-NOW! currently has logistics on two (Vermont and Michigan) of the five demonstrations. On short notice, peaceful demonstrations are being mobilized outside the…

No Reason to Demonize U.S. Single-Payer Health

Commentary by John F. Wasik for Bloomberg.com— It’s time to stop kicking sand in the face of single-payer health care. It may be the strongest solution around to insure every American at a lower cost. After decades of industry campaigns against this model — dubbed by its critics as “socialized” medicine — it’s important to…

Groups Protest Health Insurance Heavyweights

By Arthur Delaney for the Huffington Post— Congressman Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) led a protest Monday outside the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Washington, site of the 2009 national conference of America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), a trade group for the health insurance industry. “We are not radicals! We are not a fringe element!” shouted Massa, who opted…

Oregon Plumbers Local Endorses HR 676

Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 290 has endorsed HR 676, single payer healthcare legislation introduced by Congressman John Conyers (D-MI). The 4,000 member local has jurisdiction in Northern California, Southwest Washington and Oregon. Eric Fanning, who introduced the endorsement resolution, said after it passed: “The membership of United Association Local 290, Plumbers and Steamfitters, is fully…

Today: Mass Action for Single-Payer!

As the new administration takes on the giant task of reforming healthcare, the Leadership Conference for Guaranteed Health Care must continue to keep up the heat in support of meaningful reform and the tremendous momentum for the only plan proven to work: Expanded and Improved Medicare for All. So on March 10th, 2009, we will…

At Jefferson, Conyers backs Obama health stand

By Michael Vitez for the Philadelphia Inquirer— U.S. Rep. John Conyers. Jr. (D., Mich.) said today that President Obama won’t support single-payer universal health insurance now because he’s got too much on his plate – two wars and an economic crisis – and he’s got to settle for the health care reform he can get.…

Nurse’s insurance nightmare makes her a single-payer advocate

By Michael Vitez for the Philadelphia Inquirer— Marilyn Cawthon has been a nurse for 30 years. “All my life I provided health care to people,” she said recently. “I thought when I needed it, it would be there and wouldn’t drive me broke or crazy.” It nearly did both. Cawthon got the heart care she…

Media Blackout on Single-Payer Healthcare

FAIR study finds: Proponents of popular policy shut out of debate Major newspaper, broadcast and cable stories mentioning healthcare reform in the week leading up to President Barack Obama’s March 5 healthcare summit rarely mentioned the idea of a single-payer national health insurance program, according to a new FAIR study. And advocates of such a…