Massachusetts Faces Costs of Big Health Care Plan

By Kevin Sack for the New York Times— Three years ago, Massachusetts enacted perhaps the boldest state health care experiment in American history, bringing near-universal coverage to the commonwealth with Paul Revere speed. To make it happen, Democratic lawmakers and Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican, made an expedient choice, deferring until another day any serious…

Read More

Howard Dean: ‘I Don’t Think We Should Impose Single-Payer On Everybody’

Some political pundits have portrayed former Gov. Howard Dean (D-VT) as a wacky liberal caricature, whose online supporters spam blog comment sections in favor of single-payer health care. But during an exclusive interview with ThinkProgress, Dean described parts of his own health care philosophy as conservative. Rather than advocating for a broad overhaul of the…

Read More

We Have Good News/Tomorrow’s Demo. Cancelled

Because of all your calls and emails, Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP), our ally in support of single-payer healthcare, received word that Dr. Oliver Fein, president of PNHP, has been invited to participate in tomorrow’s White House summit on healthcare. He will therefore be joining Rep. John Conyers in the meeting as a…

Read More

Action Alert: Tell Sen. Baucus To Stop Pressuring CBO

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT), who ruled single-payer “off the table” before he even started considering healthcare reform, is now pressuring the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to favorably judge his health plan as financially sound–even though it isn’t. According to CongressDaily (2/25), Baucus, other lawmakers, and “some special interest groups have not been…

Read More

Mass. healthcare reform is failing us

By Susanne L. King— Massachusetts Has been lauded for its healthcare reform, but the program is a failure. Created solely to achieve universal insurance coverage, the plan does not even begin to address the other essential components of a successful healthcare system. What would such a system provide? The prestigious Institute of Medicine, part of…

Read More

Sen. Baucus: We Need Accurate Numbers not “Creative” Figuring

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT), who ruled single payer “off the table” before he even started considering healthcare reform, is now trying to pressure the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to judge the Baucus health plan financially sound. Baucus held a Finance Committee hearing last Wednesday (2/25/09) at which the sole witness was CBO…

Read More

Can the US Achieve Meaningful Healthcare Reform Within a For-Profit System?

Democracy Now hosted a debate between Dr. David Himmelstein of Physicians for a National Health Program and Len Nichols of the New America Foundation about their views on the most feasible healthcare plans available. The full video can be found on DemocracyNow.org. Here’s the full transcript: JUAN GONZALEZ: President Obama has unveiled a $3.6 trillion…

Read More

Video: National Lessons from State Health Reform

The following video was taken on February 25, 2009 at the “National Lessons from State Health Reform: The Massachusetts Case Study” forum in Washington, DC. National Lessons from State Health Reform: The Massachusetts Case Study from New Words on Vimeo. Speakers include: David Himmelstein, MD, Cambridge Hospital Physician, Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical…

Read More

Bluegrass Central Labor Council Endorses HR 676

At its February meeting the Executive Board of the Bluegrass Central Labor Council voted to endorse HR 676, single payer health care legislation introduced by Congressman John Conyers (D-MI). Council President Barbara Pierce said: “The Board of the CLC endorsed HR 676, single payer universal health care, because we firmly believe that it’s the best…

Read More