How Value Based Programs Are Undermining Medicare and Single Payer
By Russell Mokhiber, Morgan County USA There is a growing sentiment, bubbling from the ground up, that before we get to Medicare for All, we need to first fix Medicare. Richard Bazarian, an eye surgeon in Portland, Maine, is supportive of the idea. “The senators who tout Medicare for All could prove their commitment by […]
How Medicare for All Would Stop Hospitals Like Hahnemann From Closing
By Adam Gaffney for The Nation On Monday, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders joined hospital staff, patients, and activists in a large protest outside the doors of Hahnemann University Hospital, a major safety-net hospital in northern Philadelphia. The demonstration came days after another rally at the hospital, attended by an estimated 800 protesters, last week. The […]
Voters Are Less Scared of Government Healthcare Than You Think
By Libby Watson for Splinter News Democratic supporters of the public option, which include Joe Biden but also Amy Klobuchar and Kirsten Gillibrand, fear more than anything the wrath of the imaginary Voter Who Would Die For Their Private Insurer. A new poll from Morning Consult reveals that one particular aspect of this is flawed. […]
UnitedHealth’s political and financial heft just keeps growing
By Bob Herman for Axios UnitedHealth Group’s stock fell 2.3% yesterday even though the company continues to print money and raised its profit projections for the rest of the year. The big picture: Wall Street is quibbling over the “quality” of UnitedHealth’s earnings beat, but that doesn’t really matter. UnitedHealth remains the most financially powerful […]
Soaring Insurance Deductibles and High Drug Prices Hit Sick Americans with a ‘Double Whammy’
By Noam N. Levey for Los Angeles Times Wendy Matney hesitated to tell her family not to call 911. “It seemed almost selfish to say, ‘Please don’t call because we can’t afford this,’” said the 39-year-old home health aide, who has a form of epilepsy that causes frequent, sometimes violent, seizures. Matney has been to […]
Single-Payer Reform—“Medicare for All”
By Steffie Woolhandler, MD and David U. Himmelstein, MD for Jama Network The prospect of single-payer “Medicare-for-all” reform evokes enthusiasm and concern. Proponents maintain that a single-payer system would be the simplest route to universal coverage; every US resident would qualify for comprehensive insurance under a public, tax-financed plan that would replace private insurers, Medicaid, and Medicare. Others are […]
Doctors To Test AMA’s Opposition To Medicare For All
By Bruce Japsen for Forbes Some physicians from within the American Medical Association want the national doctors group to consider dropping its opposition to a single payer version of “Medicare for All.” The AMA’s stance on “Medicare for All” and other proposals to expand insurance coverage will be debated next month at the doctor group’s […]
Why I Got Arrested For #MedicareForAll
So many lives are lost every day to our broken health system. By Mary Gerisch for Common Dreams A few weeks ago I was in handcuffs, one of six People’s Action members arrested at Sen. Mitch McConnell’s office in Washington, D.C.. We engaged in a peaceful protest after we asked Mitch to step out of […]
Private Health Insurance Stocks ‘In Free Fall’ as Medicare for All Gains Momentum
“Insurance industry stocks dropping as the Medicare for All movement heats up—we’ve got some serious people power on our hands!” said National Nurses United By Jake Johnson for Common Dreams With comprehensive Medicare for All legislation now introduced in both chambers of Congress and bolstered by surging grassroots support, health insurance stocks are “crumbling” as […]
Insurance companies are supposed to be heartless. That’s why we need single-payer
Letters to the Editor in the Los Angeles Times To the editor: Michael Kinsley is arguably correct when he writes regarding the denial of coverage for people with preexisting conditions: “The insurance companies are not behaving like heartless monsters. They are behaving like insurance companies.” Well, they may or may not be monsters, but insurance […]