Guaranteed Healthcare

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It's time to stop talking about make believe death panels, and talk about the real ones.

Six of California's biggest insurance companies have rejected more than one in five claims the past seven years -- according to data the insurance giants, Blue Cross, PacifiCare, Kaiser Permanente, Health Net, Cigna, and Aetna report to the state Department of Managed Care.  Full release below...

After years of shredding our public health infrastructure and ill advised minimal preparations for the next great global pandemic, the spreading swine flu threat is at last making clear the very real calamity that could be just around the corner. If not today, surely from the next epidemic.

The Obama administration's call on Congress Tuesday to allocate $1.5 billion for combating the virus is a start, but only a start. The RNs of the National Nurses Organizing Committee and California Nurses Association (NNOC/CNA) believe that far more is needed in federal action, in regulatory crackdown on insurance practices that potentially inhibit those who are infected from seeking help, and in global coordination.

From SARS to avian flu to the swine influenza, the only question has not been if, but when.

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Photos, video, and graceful writing are coming from others, but I wanted to give a quick report on today’s Ohio barnstorming.  We are a troupe of 12 nurses or so travelling Ohio making sure RNs have a voice in this historic moment our nation is staring at.

Of course we had to begin the day with a photo op in front of the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.  We’re America’s RN Union, so we need iconic photos across the country.

During this incredible election, we have seen the nasty and toxic side of the American character forced to the surface.

It has rarely been worse than the words uttered just this morning at a “Stop Obama” rally perpetuated by one Mark Phillips, a conservative activist and sometime Fox News commentator. 

Nurses from Nevada and around the country  continued rolling through Western Nevada today as part of the “Drive for Healthcare Voters” tour, visiting the small towns of Gardnerville and  Fallon.

Day 2 of the tour was intense and emotional, as our healthcare outreach led to many conversations with voters about what is going through in their own lives. 

Our first stop was at Woodett's diner, the main joint in Gardnerville.  15 nurses, one gigantic wrapped bus with our report cards printed in 10-foot high letters, and a newspaper photographer.  Yep, we were a scene.  Nurses in scrubs fanned out in pairs and spoke to about 50 voters in our visit. 

 Obama: Bailout won’t delay health reform

Atlanta Journal Constitution slams John McCain’s radical experiment in healthcare policy, saying he “would essentially destroy the foundation on which the current health insurance system is based and replace it with a dubious plan to let the marketplace work its magic.”

Healthcare is also destroying the agricultural sector.

In a season of wild stories, here’s the next one: Governor Arnold is facing a recall, just as his state is falling apart and some crucial healthcare bills are waiting to be signed.  This new threat to his term opens a window of opportunity to push some of those bills through.

He's got no one to blame but himself.  There’s a ridiculous case of budget gridlock hitting California right now…the budget is historically late, key bills are stalled, the most vulnerable among us are threatened, and there is not a single Republican willing to support the budget proposed by either Republican Governor Schwarzenegger or the legislative Dems. 

Into this tinderbox, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association (CCPOA) has just thrown a match.  They’ve started the process to recall Arnold Schwarzenegger, an accidental governor who assumed office when his processor was recalled.

You would think that hospitals would be leading the drive for HR 676 and single-payer, European-style reforms, wouldn't you?  I mean doctors have finally flipped to support getting rid of the health insurance companies...shouldn't hospitals be next?  They're the ones who have to create an entire bureaucracy to fight with the insurers.

Well...good news....they are.  This piece from James Barba, CEO of a hospital in New York State, is a significant development, and one that I suspect we'll be hearing more like:  

Seattle PI & John Conyers Rock the Healthcare Boat!
John Conyers yesterday...and the Seattle PI today...ask us the same question: are you ready to rock the boat on healthcare and fight for genuine reform?

The answer is yes from a growing number of people....editorial boards across the country, 450+ labor organizations, 59% of physicians, the national nurses movement, and—I suspect—a majority of delegates to the Dem convention.

As we go into Denver, here’s a look at where we are in the fight for Guaranteed Healthcare, courtesy of America’s RN Union—the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee—which is working closely with the Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) to unify party support for HR 676, the bill to end our healthcare crisis through an expanded and improved “Medicare for All.”

I’ll sum it up: among Democrats at least, there now seems to be a common vision of guaranteed healthcare, thanks to progressive influence over the party platform. 

At the same time, the movement has to deal with lobbyist-driven fake reform groups undermining the national desire for genuine reform, and with a healthcare crisis that is worse than ever.  On a national stage, Conyers’ bill HR 676 continues to gather support, while Obama repeats that he would support single-payer, if he were starting from scratch.

What do you think about the landscape?  PDA and CNA/NNOC will be in Denver all week advocating for better healthcare--come say hi, or, heck, contact your member of Congress and tell them to get onboard with HR 676!

Well I guess the healthcare apolcalypse is upon us:

Infomercial king Billy Mays, known for screaming about the wonders of cleaning solutions Kaboom!, OxiClean, and other household products, is now starring in a commercial for what he calls "the most important product I've ever endorsed:" health insurance.

That’s right.  The man who brought you the Bloomin’ Onion Maker and the Samurai Shark is now selling health insurance.  

In today’s roundup from the movement for guaranteed healthcare, Progressive Democrats of America lead the charge to put real healthcare reform in the Democratic platform, a Hawaii activist reports on single-payer organizing at Obama platform meetings, a Massachusetts RN warns that the healthcare mess in their state was created when “moderates” cut a deal to protect insurance profits, and Senatorial candidate Jeff Merkley endorses HR 676…though he also endorses the terrible Wyden bill, from his future fellow Oregon Senator.
 
Oh and health insurers keep laughing to the bank, with Aetna reporting another few hundred million in profit. 

It’s all below! 

This is one of those updates on the movement for guaranteed healthcare that is difficult to write, both in terms of the gravity of the situation, and the need for Washington to act accordingly.

The numbers are staggering, and barely made it into the US media: 101,000 Americans died preventable deaths last year due to our insurance industry-dominated health care system, according to a new study by the respected Commonwealth Fund.
 
That is shocking, lobbyist-induced genocide.
 
The good news is that, despite the best efforts of the insurance industry and their Washington allies, the movement towards guaranteeing healthcare on a Medicare for All or “single-payer” model is clearly strengthening.  The latest advocates?  Doctors, who just this decade have joined nurse, in solidly supporting Universal Medicare, a fact which will fundamentally alter healthcare politics.