Super Committee – Healthcare-NOW

The Fight to Preserve Medicare Continues

In less than three months, the Occupy Wall Street movement has changed public discourse. Because of Occupy, countless organizations and individuals voiced their opposition to any cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, and opposition to the very existence of the Super Committee. In the end, the Super Committee was not able to come up…

Less care for fewer and fewer

By Helen Redmond for the Socialist Worker – EVIDENCE of how bad the U.S. health care crisis has gotten continues to pile up. And with the federal government preparing to impose automatic cuts in the Medicare health program for the elderly and Medicaid health program for the poor, it will only grow worse–unless something is…

For Debt Committee, No Final-Hour Deal Apparent

From NPR – Monday is the last day the congressional supercommittee can reach a deficit-reduction deal and still make its Wednesday deadline. The legislation has to be publicly available for 48 hours before a vote, and the clock is ticking. But instead of announcing an agreement, the committee is widely expected to admit it has…

Supercommittee Dems offer $350 billion in Medicare cuts

From Politico – Supercommittee Democrats quietly floated details late Wednesday of a $2.3 trillion tax-and-cut proposal that includes $400 billion in Medicare and Medicaid reductions, but also clears the way for a new physician payment formula. The framework — a counterproposal to one offered by Republicans on Monday — calls for $350 billion in savings…

Occupiers plan epic New York to Washington march

Their target: The congressional supercommittee and the Bush tax cuts for the rich By Justin Elliott for Salon – Persistent criticism of Occupy Wall Street for failing to specify demands has helped obscure the fact that groups of people within the movement have been mobilizing around concrete political goals. The latest example is a small…

Increasing Medicare Age Could Lead To Higher Costs

By Julie Rovner for NPR – Congress’ so-called deficit reduction “supercommittee” is down to the final weeks of deliberations in its efforts to come up with $1.2 trillion in budget savings. And one proposal that keeps cropping up is the idea of raising the eligibility age for Medicare. GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney became just…

Dems Propose $400 Billion in Medicare Cuts

By Sam Stein for Huffington Post – Democrats on the congressional super committee have produced a “presentation” that would include a roughly equal mix of spending cuts and revenue increases to achieve an estimated $2.5 trillion to $3 trillion in deficit reduction. The early reviews among progressives is that the outlines, as introduced by Senate…

Deficit commission showing no progress

By Robert Pear for the New York Times – With just five weeks until its deadline, a secretive congressional committee seeking ways to cut the federal deficit is far from a consensus, and party leaders may need to step in if they want to ensure agreement, say people involved in the panel’s work. The 12-member…

Stop the Super Committee, Support Healthcare-NOW!

The Super Committee does not represent us. Operating in secret with no public accountability while laden with ties to special interests, the Super Committee is tasked with identifying $1.2 trillion in cuts to federal spending by November 23rd. Co-chair Senator Patty Murray (D-Washington) has said cuts to everything, including Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, are…

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…