Michael Moore: Americans pay more for healthcare than others, but “we don’t call it a tax”
We don’t call — what they get for their taxes, we don’t call it a tax here. We call it tuition. We call it copayment. We call it, I mean, daycare, daycare fees. By Democracy Now Democracy Now’s interview with Academy Award-winning filmmaker Michael Moore about election 2020 and some of the major issues for […]
Maine Voices: Single-payer would give U.S. patients, caregivers more control over health care system
Weaker campaign finance laws have enabled insurers and Big Pharma to create a system that benefits only them. By Joshua Gear for The Press Herald YORK — As a medical student, I remember HMOs being touted as the answer to the spiraling costs of health care and the high number of uninsured Americans. That was […]
Insurance Industry Is Clearly ‘Terrified,’ Says Sanders, As Lawmakers Admit Lobbyists Helped Them Write Attacks on Medicare for All
“We are taking on the big-money interests who have an army of lobbyists trying to defeat Medicare for All.” By Jake Johnson for Common Dreams Documents obtained by the Washington Post Monday showed that lobbyists helped three state lawmakers draft op-eds this year attacking Medicare for All, a revelation Sen. Bernie Sanders highlighted as further […]
CBO Health Panel Packed With Experts Tied to Anti-Medicare For All Groups
The 19-member panel that advises the Congressional Budget Office on health policy is flush with health insurance, pharmaceutical, and hospital interests. By Donald Shaw for Sludge One of the key steps in the federal legislative process occurs when the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), an agency in the legislative branch that studies the budgetary and economic […]
Buttigieg Denounced for Spouting ‘Pack of Lies’ About Medicare for All While Swimming in Insurance Industry Cash
“Mayor Pete sounds like he’s on the payroll of the Republican National Committee.” By Jake Johnson for Common Dreams South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg—the leading recipient of campaign cash from the healthcare industry among Democratic presidential candidates—went on the offensive against Medicare for All with right-wing talking points during Tuesday night’s debate, bashing the […]
Why the Private Health Insurance Industry Faces an Existential Crisis
A former health insurance executive says the moment the insurance industry fears most has arrived. By Wendell Potter for the Independent Media Institute I have told a lot of stories about my time near the top of the health insurance industry. This is not one I’ve ever shared, until now. Shortly before I left Cigna, […]
Health Insurance Costs Surpass $20,000 Per Year, Hitting a Record
Ever-rising premiums have pushed some to drop coverage By John Tozzi for Bloomberg The cost of family health coverage in the U.S. now tops $20,000, an annual survey of employers found, a record high that has pushed an increasing number of American workers into plans that cover less or cost more, or force them out of the insurance […]
Progressives Say GM’s Decision to Cut Off Employee Health Insurance ‘Yet Another Reason Why We Need Medicare for All’
Under a single-payer system, said one Medicare for All advocate, employers would no longer have “tons of leverage because workers are desperate to keep their benefit.” By Jake Johnson for Common Dreams General Motors’ decision Tuesday to stop paying healthcare premiums for nearly 50,000 of the company’s striking workers offered a powerful case for why […]
Healthcare ad spending exceeds $65 million in 2019 as insurance industry ramps up effort to kill medicare for all
“The insurance companies are working hard to shift the blame and stop the movement for Medicare for All.” By Jake Johnson for Common Dreams An Axios analysis released Wednesday found that spending on healthcare advertisements has exceeded $65 million in 2019 as dark money organizations, the insurance industry, and Big Pharma ramp up their campaigns against Medicare for […]
‘Bad policy and bad politics’: Kamala Harris accused of hijacking Medicare for All label to push more industry-friendly plan
“Harris calls her plan ‘Medicare for All,’ but it’s not even close.” By Jake Johnson for Nation of Change Single-payer advocates on Monday accused Sen. Kamala Harris of hijacking the Medicare for All label to push an alternative that would fail to fundamentally overhaul America’s for-profit healthcare system. Harris, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, outlined what she […]