Setting aside the “zero cost sharing = appointments for stubbed toes” issue, and even setting aside the holy hell which would be raised by rich people and powerful corporations over the tax hikes (not to mention the entire health insurance industry over a move which would put them all out of business and by the…
Tag: health care
The Case Against Bernie Sanders
Sanders’s core argument is that the problems of the American economy require far more drastic remedies than anything the Obama administration has done, or that Clinton proposes to build on. Clinton has put little pressure on Sanders’s fatalistic assessment, but the evidence for it is far weaker than he assumes. Sanders has grudgingly credited what…
Meet the Unusual Plaintiffs Behind the Supreme Court Case That Could Destroy Obamacare
On March 4, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in King v. Burwell, a lawsuit designed by conservative advocates to destroy Obamacare. If the plaintiffs prevail, about 8 million people could lose their health insurance. Premiums are likely to skyrocket by 35 percent or more, threatening coverage for millions of others. Health policy experts…
Alabama Prisons Are Facing A Record-Breaking Tuberculosis Outbreak
“This is a very serious outbreak,” Pam Barrett, director of the tuberculosis control, told the Associated Press. “We think we’re at the end of it. The Department of Corrections is a hotbed of TB because of the living arrangements.” In June, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Center filed a…
Right vs. Left in the Midwest
MINNESOTA and Wisconsin share much more than bone-chilling winters: German and Northern European roots; farming; and, until recently, a populist progressive tradition stretching back a century to Wisconsin’s Fighting Bob La Follette and the birth of Minnesota’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. But in 2010 these cousin states diverged. By doing so they began a natural experiment that…
Florida Governor Inflates Cost Of Medicaid Expansion By 2,600% To Avoid Implementing Obamacare
Internal email messages uncovered by Health News Florida reveal that Gov. Rick Scott (R-FL) is knowingly citing inaccurate cost estimates to justify his refusal to expand Florida’s Medicaid program. Though the governor’s office is fully aware that the numbers are wrong, Scott continues to use them anyway, the documents show. Florida, which has one…
Romney Medicaid Remarks Raise Eyebrows
He used even more colorful language back in 2007, talking to Fox News host Glenn Beck. “When they show up at the hospital, they get care; they get free care paid for by you and me,” he said. “If that’s not a form of socialism, I don’t know what is.” But in addition to flip-flopping,…
Jackson Ripley, 12-Year-Old Coloradan Boy, Writes Letter To Romney Saying His ‘Plan For America Isn’t What We Need’
Last week Jackson Ripley was watching political news coverage with his mom about pre-existing health care when he suddenly got up and decided it was time to write a letter to Romney. The letter begins (Editor note: all text from letter remains unedited): Dear Governor Romney, I’d like to say congratulations on winning the republican…
Romney Says He Supports Popular Obamacare Provisions On NBC, Quietly Reverses Hours Later On Conservative Website
This morning on NBC, Mitt Romney said that “there are a number of things that I like” about Obamacare and suggested he would retain: 1. The guarantee that insurance companies couldn’t discriminate against people with pre-exisiting conditions, and 2. The provision that allows young adults to stay on their parents plan. Watch it: Just hours…
In Sharp Contrast To GOP, Dems To Highlight Health Care
News outlets are looking ahead to the Democratic convention, which begins Tuesday in North Carolina, and how the parties are prepping for post-convention politicking around health care. Politico: Dems Say They’ll Talk Health Care In Charlotte President Barack Obama’s health care reform law will take center stage at the Democratic National Convention next week, David Axelrod, Obama’s…
GOP team is wrong prescription for patients
One major concern for me and every American is the future of our nation’s health care system. The quality of that system affects us all, and we need details about the candidates’ approach to health care, not high-level talking points. I write this as a lifelong Republican and registered nurse. The foremost priority for me…
Preserving and Strengthening Medicare
In this week’s address, President Obama spoke to the American people about the critical need to strengthen and preserve Medicare for our seniors and future generations, because those who have worked hard throughout their lives should not lose their homes or life savings just because they get sick. Through the President’s Affordable Care Act, nearly…
Mitt Romney vs. stubborn facts
John Adams once said, “facts are stubborn things.” These days, another Massachusetts politician has found that saying to ring especially true. While it’s still unclear how Mitt Romney can be the CEO, chairman, president and sole shareholder of Bain Capital, a company that he claims no responsibility for, it’s become increasingly evident that candidate Romney…
Romney praises health care in Israel, where ‘strong government influence’ has driven down costs
Romney’s point about Israel’s success in controlling health care costs is spot on: Its health care system has seen health care costs grow much slower than other industrialized nations. How it has gotten there, however, may not be to the Republican candidate’s liking: Israel regulates its health care system aggressively, requiring all residents to carry…
Infographic: America’s High Health Care Costs
See this graphic and three more about the astounding American health care expenditure numbers. Infographic: America’s High Health Care Costs.
Our Broken Political System
Elected politicians would, at least theoretically, be expected to either represent such views or at least respond to them. But you can forget about that. On occasion, democratic pressure can build on representatives to either change a position or lose their jobs, making life sufficiently uncomfortable for them. But this is rarer than a red…
Administration Warns States Not To Roll Back Medicaid Eligibility
The nation’s top health official signaled Tuesday that states should not try to use the Supreme Court’s ruling on President Obama’s health care law to make it more difficult for low-income people to qualify for Medicaid. While the Supreme Court upheld most provisions of the health law in its landmark ruling last month, the justices…
Everything you ever wanted to know about Canadian health care in one post
The Canadian health care system was built around the principle that all citizens will receive all “medically necessary and hospital physician services.” To that end, each of Canada’s 10 provinces and three territories finance and run a statewide health insurance program. There is no cost-sharing for the health care services guaranteed under federal law. While…
Health Insurance Cutbacks Squeeze The Insured
“Every year my company changes the insurance. And instead of giving us three different choices for insurance plans they were changing to one, which was a high-deductible plan with no prescription coverage,” she said. Cooper was stunned. Her anti-rejection medicine costs way more than she could afford on her own — more than $1,000 a…
Top 10 Obamacare Benefits at Stake for Women
The Supreme Court is currently reviewing the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as “Obamacare.” This landmark piece of legislation signed into law by President Barack Obama drastically reforms the way health insurance works in our country. Below we outline 10 reasons why, as stated in the Center for American Progress report…