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Today in Health Care |
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Here’s the latest news from around the country as the battle for real health care reform continues:
* 45,000 people die every year from lack of access to health insurance. How much would it cost to cover those 45,000 every year, saving their lives? Here’s a hint: It’s less than the $263 million the health care industry has spent this year on lobbying.
* Today, the California Labor Federation begins a 24-hour vigil in Sacramento to let their elected leaders know that they demand health care reform now, including a public option to bring down costs for families. California union members also will hold events this week in Los Angeles, San Diego and Bakersfield.
* On Thursday, protesters—young and old alike—held sit-ins outside the offices of Humana, an insurance company that used misleading mailers to scare seniors about health care reform. In 10 cities, protesters from community groups and health reform advocacy organizations demanded that insurers like Humana stop using scare tactics to turn seniors against reform. The Alliance for Retired Americans is taking a lead role in organizing seniors to protest Humana’s actions and educating them on health care.
* The insurance industry put out yet another fishy study last week that claims health care reform will increase costs. This time it’s Blue Cross Blue Shield, running a selective study that highlights some provisions of health reform but ignores others. Blue Cross Blue Shield also opposes a public option—which would control costs for consumers.
* The House Ways and Means Committee is moving ahead with efforts to prepare for budget reconciliation, a legislative method, which would allow health care reform to bypass the filibuster and receive a simple majority vote in the Senate.
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Looks like it is time to put “single payer” healthcare option back on the table. It was sad that the Obama folks excluded single-payer healthcare folks from the table early on in this fight.
That action will cost the dems during the midterm elections.
Even more sad, organized labor took forever to officially endorse single-payer like HR676. Ignorance among working folks about healthcare is enormous and we should have done a better job educating workers and their families on healthcare reform.
All the healthcare proposals in congress that passed committee are deeply flawed and ultimately unworkable. We will be back to this crisis well before another decade passes.
Single payer systems work and work well around the world. Time for this to be the case in America.
My little SOAR group (11-3, Retired steelworkers in the St. Louis area) favor HR676. Otherwise, most of the membership favor a complete nationalization of the healthcare industry and let them sort it out later.
By the way, it is long overdue they take a look at the “anti-trust” exemptions given to healthcare industry. Time to revoke it and let some real competition in the market place and jailing a few of the healthcare executives is a good idea.
Right on!! You are absolutely right. My father was a steel worker in Gary, IN. He would be proud of his fellow workers. As a retired nurse, I say, “Universal Single Payer or Bust”.