Healthcare-NOW

Single-payer healthcare: better care, lower cost

By Josh Starcher – Healthcare has already been proclaimed the central issue of the 2012 Presidential election, just like it was hailed the central issue of Obama’s presidency. It was also a central issue during the 2010 election, and the 2008 campaign. So why don’t we ever hear the end of it? Our leaders still…

Montana Gov. Seeks Waiver To Establish Single Payer In His State

By Zaid Jilani for ThinkProgess – As ThinkProgress previously reported, Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin (D) made history earlier this year when he signed into law legislation that would make his state the first state to lay the groundwork for a single payer health care system. In order to enact this system, the state needs a…

A Difficult Pill to Swallow

The path to single payer health care through challenging concentrated wealth By Margaret Flowers, M.D. The efforts in recent years to pass health care reform at the state and national levels have provided important lessons for the single payer movement. Corporate control of the political process and media message has proven to be a primary…

Vt. governor picks panel for single-payer health plan

From Boston.com – MONTPELIER – A health care policy specialist will lead Vermont’s Green Mountain Care board, the panel that will be responsible for implementing the state’s single-payer health care system, Governor Peter Shumlin said yesterday. Advocates for the plan say the single-payer system will help control health care costs and guarantee coverage for Vermonters…

Act Now to Protect Medicare and Medicaid

The debt ceiling package recently signed into law by President Obama created a Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (Super Committee). This committee is tasked with identifying $1.5 trillion in cuts with the supposed goal of reducing the federal deficit. Members of the committee claim that “everything is on the table.” Everything? The committee will…

Muslim Council of America Opens Free Health Clinic in Braddock, PA

The official opening and dedication of the Braddock Free Health Clinic will take place on Saturday, September 10, 2011 at 10:30 AM at the Braddock Municipal Building, 415 Sixth Street, Braddock, PA 15104. Dr. Mohammad Akhtar, president of the Muslim Council of America, which is sponsoring the clinic, will host the event. Dr. Akhtar said,…

Healthcare, babies and the national debt: The real cost

By Jonathan D. Walker, M.D. for Frost Illustrated – The term “infant mortality rate” is a measure of the number of babies that die under one year of age per 1,000 live births. It is a useful indicator of how effective a healthcare system is—the lower the number, the fewer babies die. Although there are…

Meet Our New Director of Organizing

Exciting news! Please join me in welcoming Healthcare-NOW!’s new Director of Organizing, Vanessa Beck. Vanessa comes to us from Chicago where she was a founding member of Chicago Single-Payer Action Network and recently received a graduate degree in Social Work from the University of Chicago. Vanessa is joining the team in Philadelphia, PA and will…

Single-payer: Sensible health plan

A Charleston Gazette Editorial – CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Some federal courts are ruling that America’s breakthrough 2010 medical reform is kaput because government cannot force people to pay for health insurance. (Governments force people to buy car insurance. What’s the difference?) If the historic reform eventually is killed, we hope it leads to a better…

Simplifying US Healthcare Could Save $27.6 Billion a Year

By AFP – Find the study at Health Affairs. US health care spending could be cut by billions a year if doctors spent the same amount of time and money dealing with insurance plans as their Canadian counterparts, according to a new study. Canada has a “single-payer” system for health care financing, under which doctors…