A better way – single payer, universal health care
By Jeff Hardwig, M.D. for International Falls Journal When I started my medical training 37 years ago, my only focus was on becoming a competent physician. There was little thought given to the systems of care that support the practice of medicine. My first job after residency was as a Navy psychiatrist where all patients […]
Before Big Pharma Kills Us, Maybe Public Pharma Can Save Us
Drug companies are abandoning antibiotic research to make more money elsewhere. Yet another reason why we need a publicly owned company. By Dana Brown for The American Prospect Drug-resistant “superbugs” are predicted to kill more people per year than cancer by 2050. Already, more than two million Americans annually are infected with bacteria that have evolved to […]
Breast cancer survivors have a bigger problem after treatment: The cost
By Ann Pietrangelo for Healthline Breast cancer treatment is saving lives. But its extreme expense is also causing a different kind of hardship for many survivors, saddling them with lifelong financial burden. A new study finds that many physicians believe they’re adequately addressing patients’ financial concerns before treatment. However, many patients say doctors need […]
The time for single-payer system is now
By Chuck Pezeshki for the Moscow-Pullman Daily News I read in the Daily News (“Old Peking owner retired, but grateful,” Sept. 1) with a fair amount of chagrin about the closing of the Old Peking Restaurant in Moscow. The owner, Vinh “Sam” Huy Tran, is being forced by health reasons to close his operation of […]
Your Turn: A cost-effective alternative for U.S. healthcare
By Ken Lefkowitz for Courier Post If someone paid $1,000 for a service they could purchase elsewhere for $512, you’d think they were quite foolish. Yet, that’s the situation facing healthcare in America today. Our current system for financing healthcare has been ineffective in controlling costs or providing the highest-level quality care. In 2016, the […]
Businesses back single-payer plan
By Ron Green in the Albany Democrat-Herald Many years ago I started and ran a bicycle store, building it over 10 years to seven or eight employees. For the first year or so, my one worker was, like me, a disabled veteran with health care through the VA. I could tell insurance salesmen that our […]
61% of hospital leaders say single-payer would help lower healthcare costs
By Alia Paavola for Becker’s Hospital Review A new report from the New England Journal of Medicine-Catalysts about trends in payer-provider integration suggests that the industry is warming up to single-payer — with 61 percent of hospital leaders saying single-payer would boost the industry’s efforts to lower costs and provide better care. For its report, […]
Healthcare Advocates Block Chicago Streets Demanding Care
By Anne Scheetz for Popular Resistance Responding to Iashea Cross’s cry, “Are you ready to take action?,” on August 31 members of Chicago ADAPT and the Alliance for Community Services, and personal assistants from SEIU Healthcare Illinois, kicked off Labor Day weekend by blocking two streets at the State of Illinois Building in downtown Chicago. […]
Ten ways Medicare Advantage plans differ from traditional Medicare
By Diane Archer, JustCareUSA. Listen to Diane Archer speak about Medicare Advantage Plans here: And visit her healthcare blog at JustCareUSA. There is a lot of confusion surrounding Medicare Advantage plans, commercial health insurance for people with Medicare, and the ways Medicare Advantage plans differ from traditional Medicare. You are likely to hear about […]
We’ve Come A Long Way: President Obama says Medicare for all is a “good new idea”
By Margaret Flowers, MD, Health Over Profit for Everyone. Above photo from The Hill. On September 7, 2018, speaking at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, President Obama said that Democrats are running on “good new ideas like Medicare for All…” This indicates a significant shift in support of National Improved Medicare for All (NIMA). […]