tagged w/ health care insurance reform
-
We can't afford health care for all. But we sure can afford to spend millions to stop it. The AMA backs the chamber on this issue.
In related news, doctors are leaving the AMA in droves.We can't afford health care for all. But we sure can afford to spend millions to... more
-
-
Take heed republicrats, wealthcare reform is not a liberal or conservative issue. Both parties are guilty of selling out to private insurance companies. Politicians should be required to dress like race car drivers displaying their Big Pharma, Big Insurance and Big Banking sponsors on their jackets
Do police officers, firefighters and teachers qualify as socialists? So why isn't medical care a government run, not for profit system as well? At the very least a reform bill should include the Kucinich amendment allowing states to decide for themselves on a single payer plan, without facing litigation from private companies.
For more information on viable health care reform visit: http://www.singlepayeraction.org/Take heed republicrats, wealthcare reform is not a liberal or conservative issue. Both... more
-
-
Congressman Dennis Kucinich after voting against H.R. 3962 addresses why he voted NO, stating (http://kucinich.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=153995):
"We have been led to believe that we must make our health care choices only within the current structure of a predatory, for-profit insurance system which makes money not providing health care. We cannot fault the insurance companies for being what they are. But we can fault legislation in which the government incentivizes the perpetuation, indeed the strengthening, of the for-profit health insurance industry, the very source of the problem. When health insurance companies deny care or raise premiums, co-pays and deductibles they are simply trying to make a profit. That is our system."
"Clearly, the insurance companies are the problem, not the solution. They are driving up the cost of health care. Because their massive bureaucracy avoids paying bills so effectively, they force hospitals and doctors to hire their own bureaucracy to fight the insurance companies to avoid getting stuck with an unfair share of the bills. The result is that since 1970, the number of physicians has increased by less than 200% while the number of administrators has increased by 3000%. It is no wonder that 31 cents of every health care dollar goes to administrative costs, not toward providing care. Even those with insurance are at risk. The single biggest cause of bankruptcies in the U.S. is health insurance policies that do not cover you when you get sick."
"But instead of working toward the elimination of for-profit insurance, H.R. 3962 would put the government in the role of accelerating the privatization of health care. In H.R. 3962, the government is requiring at least 21 million Americans to buy private health insurance from the very industry that causes costs to be so high, which will result in at least $70 billion in new annual revenue, much of which is coming from taxpayers. This inevitably will lead to even more costs, more subsidies, and higher profits for insurance companies - a bailout under a blue cross."
"By incurring only a new requirement to cover pre-existing conditions, a weakened public option, and a few other important but limited concessions, the health insurance companies are getting quite a deal. The Center for American Progress' blog, Think Progress, states, 'since the President signaled that he is backing away from the public option, health insurance stocks have been on the rise.' Similarly, healthcare stocks rallied when Senator Max Baucus introduced a bill without a public option. Bloomberg reports that Curtis Lane, a prominent health industry investor, predicted a few weeks ago that 'money will start flowing in again' to health insurance stocks after passage of the legislation. Investors.com last month reported that pharmacy benefit managers share prices are hitting all-time highs, with the only industry worry that the Administration would reverse its decision not to negotiate Medicare Part D drug prices, leaving in place a Bush Administration policy."
"During the debate, when the interests of insurance companies would have been effectively challenged, that challenge was turned back. The 'robust public option' which would have offered a modicum of competition to a monopolistic industry was whittled down from an initial potential enrollment of 129 million Americans to 6 million. An amendment which would have protected the rights of states to pursue single-payer health care was stripped from the bill at the request of the Administration. Looking ahead, we cringe at the prospect of even greater favors for insurance companies."
"Recent rises in unemployment indicate a widening separation between the finance economy and the real economy. The finance economy considers the health of Wall Street, rising corporate profits, and banks' hoarding of cash, much of it from taxpayers, as sign of an economic recovery. However in the real economy - in which most Americans live - the recession is not over. Rising unemployment, business failures, bankruptcies and foreclosures are still hammering Main Street."
"This health care bill continues the redistribution of wealth to Wall Street at the expense of America's manufacturing and service economies which suffer from costs other countries do not have to bear, especially the cost of health care. America continues to stand out among all industrialized nations for its privatized health care system. As a result, we are less competitive in steel, automotive, aerospace and shipping while other countries subsidize their exports in these areas through socializing the cost of health care."
"Notwithstanding the fate of H.R. 3962, America will someday come to recognize the broad social and economic benefits of a not-for-profit, single-payer health care system, which is good for the American people and good for America's businesses, with of course the notable exceptions being insurance and pharmaceuticals."
Please know the struggle for real health care reform will continue. Contribute, we can make a difference.
Thank you.
The Re-Elect Congressman Kucinich Committee
http://kucinich.us/hcpetitionCongressman Dennis Kucinich after voting against H.R. 3962 addresses why he voted NO,... more
-
-
i received the following report from one of the Pelosi 12 arrested today:
Around 3PM this afternoon I was one of 12 single payer activists who were
escorted from the reception area of Nancy Pelosi's office in the San
Francisco Federal Building and arrested by members of the Federal Protection
Service of U.S. Homeland Security.
Just before noon we went to Pelosi's office to ask Dan Bernal, the district
director, make a phone call either to Pelosi herself or Terri McCullough,
Pelosi's chief of staff in Washington. We wanted to directly communicate two
demands: that the Kucinich amendment be included in the health care bill
that will soon be brought to a vote in the House and that the Weiner
amendment be voted on by the House, as previously promised by Pelosi.
For two hours Bernal refused to meet with any of us. Then he called in the
police and had them arrange for a meeting with himself and three of us in
the reception area. The doors between the reception area and the hallway
were closed. Two policemen stayed in the room. The other activists and other
police stood outside the closed doors in the hallway. Instead of working out
how a call could be made so that we could discuss our demands, Bernal
promptly and brusquely said he'd just listen to what we wanted and then all
of us had to leave the building. As soon as we said that wasn't why we had
agreed to the police's conditions to meet with him, Bernal broke off the
meeting, left the reception area and went back inside the locked doors to
his office.
Then the police took us from Pelosi's office on the second floor to the
basement, where they processed our arrests. Because Bernal was too cowardly
to file an official complaint, an elaborate charade was worked out by
Bernal, building management and the Federal Protection Service. The
misdemeanor charged against all of us was based on a technicality: our
singing and chanting for single payer was not in accord with the rules and
regulations of the federal building. This technicality was then extended to
mean that we had "disobeyed" the police officers. We were issued citations
and told that we would be summoned to court later. Then we were dismissed
from the building.
From noon until we emerged from the basement with our citations in hand,
there was a spirited rally for single payer taking place across the street.
The demonstrators included a large contingent of members of the California
School Employees Association, some of whom had come from Sacramento and
Stockton. The rally also included members of California Nurses Association
and Single Payer Now.
The "Pelosi Twelve" are members of organizations such as ActforSinglePayer,
AFSCME District Council 57, California Alliance of Retired Americans,
California School Employees Association, Gray Panthers, and Health Care for
All-California.
All of us today, those who were arrested and those who rallied in support of
us, will keep fighting to get the Kucinich amendment in the House health
care bill. And we'll keep fighting to win single payer in California and the
nation. Republicans, Blue Dog Democrats or sell-out Democrats, like Nancy
Pelosi, will not prevent us from succeeding.
Dan Hodges
Chair
Health Care for All-California
I believe the video here explains why people remain in favor of a single payer plan and are frustrated with Pelosi's doubletalk: http://current.com/items/91366767_pelosi-12-arrested-at-her-san-francisco-office.htm
http://queertoday.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-pelosi-12
Visit:
http://www.healthcare-now.org/
http://mobilizeforhealthcare.org
http://outinthestreetfilms.comi received the following report from one of the Pelosi 12 arrested today:
Around... more
-
-
They're at it again. Those pesky health care people who think everyone deserves to live a healthy life, or just plain live, for that matter. 122 people die every day for lack of health care and more for denial of care despite paying high premiums. That's the way it is in America. But some people just can't let it go. What is this, some kind of first world democracy where everyone has equal rights to life?
Seven were arrested today at CIGNA headquarters in Glendale CA, including Dr. Matt Hendrickson, MD MPH, as they sat-in on the CIGNA lobby. Police and CIGNA security barricaded the entrance to the lobby and only allowed "registered" press inside, of which there were very few.
Sit-in supporters chanting "Arrest the Real Criminals" and pointing at the CIGNA building, had to watch from afar through the glass doors as police carried protesters away through the building to a loading dock garage. Protesters then walked around to the loading dock where a Glendale Police motorcycle squad promptly followed them and kept them at a s distance from the garage entrance. Then they closed the garage door enough so that the arrests and their loading into the police van could not be witnessed by protesters, the public, or cameras.
I talked to Shelia Dvorak who was there in support of the sit-in protesters and who was arrested on 10/15/09 for a sit-in at Blue Cross in L.A.'s beautiful downtown financial district. She said she's not afraid of being arrested and was not treated badly, and that in fact the police she talked to sympathized with her. She made a video of that sit-in here: http://mobilizeforhealthcare-la.ning.com/video/blue-cross-sit-in-for-medicare The police arrested the sit-in protesters only in response to CIGNA on charges of trespassing.
Another man who was inside with the sit-in protesters came out when police threatened to arrest everyone. He was carrying a sign that read "What's a life worth?", with a picture of his daughter on it. He had full CIGNA coverage for his family when his daughter was denied treatment for a liver problem and died.They're at it again. Those pesky health care people who think everyone deserves... more
-
