Guaranteed Healthcare

Would someone wake me when it's over?

You can't make this stuff up.

John Goodman, the architect of McMoron's healthcare "plan" had this to say today regarding the news that Texas leads the nation in the number of uninsured.

But the numbers are misleading, said John Goodman, president of the National Center for Policy Analysis, a right-leaning Dallas-based think tank. Mr. Goodman, who helped craft Sen. John McCain's health care policy, said anyone with access to an emergency room effectively has insurance, albeit the government acts as the payer of last resort. (Hospital emergency rooms by law cannot turn away a patient in need of immediate care.)

"So I have a solution. And it will cost not one thin dime," Mr. Goodman said. "The next president of the United States should sign an executive order requiring the Census Bureau to cease and desist from describing any American – even illegal aliens – as uninsured. Instead, the bureau should categorize people according to the likely source of payment should they need care.

"So, there you have it. Voila! Problem solved."

I (that's me, nyceve) have nothing to add except. . .

God help us.

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.

August 29, 2008 is the three year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

A CNA/NNOC Presentation
By: Colette Washington, Producer/Director

Three years after Hurricane Katrina, hope remains adrift for many families living in New Orleans, not to mention those 200,000 evacuees still scattered about the country unable to return home—or without a home to return to.  Empty foundations are all that remain where thousands of homes with severe structural damage have been demolished. 

Especially in the Lower 9th Ward, thousands more homes stand open and gutted as Gulf breezes pass though, keeping toxic mold at bay.  Humidity causes vegetation to grow over many abandoned homes with broken-out windows, wide-open doors, and nothing left inside but water-stained skeletal frames and haunting echoes of…“God please help us get out alive!”

Registered nurses, doctors, labor leaders, elected officials, and political activists sounded a call Tuesday at the Democratic Convention Tuesday for a broad national movement to enact comprehensive, single-payer Medicare for all in 2009.

With one important caveat, "we've got to win the election," Congressman John Conyers author of the single payer bill HR 676  told a large gathering at an event sponsored by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, Physicians for a National Health Program, and Progressive Democrats for America.

Who wouldn't walk to the end of the earth linked arm-in-arm with this great American?

Senator Kennedy has devoted his life to fighting for the American people. His simple idea is to bring guaranteed affordable, cradle to grave healthcare to all of us.

He never shies away from shaming his seemingly shameless colleagues who eagerly accept heavily taxpayer subsidized healthcare benefits while denying you and me--the American people what they have.

Always remember the Little Pink Card given on on Day One to every member of the United States Senate.

His candor is utterly refreshing.

Save for Sherrod Brown of Ohio, all 99 members of the United States Senate eagerly accept taxpayer subsidized health benefits.

Kennedy's favorite line which he repeats at every opportunity is, "the American taxpayer is paying 72% of the healthcare premium for every member of the United States Senate."

It's long overdue that this taxpayer generosity be ended. Each member of the U.S. Senate should be forced into the merciless for-profit individual market. They should experience the depraved world of pre-existing conditions, exclusions, waiting periods and denials,  the same grim reality as so many of the people they represent.

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!

With the Democrats convening in Denver for their national convention that begins Monday, a lot of people Sunday were talking about the arc of history and the civil rights movement that has led to the pending nomination of Sen. Barack Obama as the Democratic Party nominee for President.

But as we were reminded Sunday, our collapsing healthcare system is one of the key areas of unfinished business for the civil rights of all Americans.

I receive lots of letters like this.   Desperate American citizens turning to me for help.

 You were the only person I could think of that could possibly help  me. I
just got off the phone with a hysterical 26 yr old(my daughter) she is
living in NY working two jobs with no insurance coverage going to school and
has just been told by a clinic ther is a 2cm lump in her breast. This child
of mine is freaking out as are we about a possible 7000 dollar cost for a
mammagram and the biopsy. Her father and I don't have the moeny to pay for
this and we have tried to get family involved to see if together we may be
able to come up with the money. My question to you is, do you have any
information that I could give her about free or low cost places she might be
able to get access to? I am literally freaking out about this because I have
no way of coming up with this money. I am currently on Social security for
an injury I sustaiend at work and we are barely getting by month to month.
If you can give me any names of clinics or hospitals that cater to no
insurance I would be forever in your debt. I've only been with dailykos over
a year but I am an ardent follower of your murder by spreadsheet diaries.
Did not think I would ever be in this position though. Any help you could
give us would be so appreciated.

Letters like this are pornography.

 Today we celebrate Obama-Biden

On November 5th, 2008, the fight  for the heart and soul of America, and the re-education of team Obama-Biden begins in earnest.

Our vice presidential nominee may be the Chairman of the Foreign Relation Committee, but he doesn't have a clue about healthcare reform.

To make the plan less prone to attack from those who fear "socialized" medicine, Biden said, "I don't want a whole new bureaucracy."

By Donna Smith, American SiCKO, National Co-Chair, Progressive Democrats of America Healthcare NOT Warfare campaign, and communications Specialist, CNA/NNOC

DAY 1:  Over the past three weeks, the road to the DNC convention in Denver has taken me from Cleveland to Pittsburgh and now on a drive from my home in Chicago to just outside of the Mile High City.  The history swirling around Barack Obama's nomination combined with the commitment to bring guaranteed publicly funded, privately delivered healthcare to every person in America is a powerful draw for me.  I want to compel the party of opportunity for all and equality for all to stand tall and firm and proud in this moment and right through the election in November. 

And who doesn't enjoy a good ol' road trip (except for the $4/gallon gasoline) every so often?  So off we went, leaving the Loop and bound for Denver via Iowa and Nebraska and through a wholeot of corn fields.

Harry and Louise, that is.

And shame on the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), the American Hospital Association (AHA), the Catholic Health Association (CHA), Families USA, and the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) for sharing a podium with AHIP, an organization responsible for 18,000 deaths a year and whose only purpose is to generate profits for the insurance industry.

The ad speaks for itself. It's nonsensical pablum.  But what's worse is that the message (of reform), or whatever it is, is being co-opted by AHIP.

AHIP Welcomes New Pro-Reform Ad Feaaturing Harry and Louise

Ignagni Joins Ad Sponsors at Press Conference

Washington, DC – America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) today welcomed a new ad campaign by a broad stakeholder coalition that urges the next president and Congress to put health care reform at the top of the national agenda.
 
Sponsored by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the American Hospital Association, the Catholic Health Association, Families USA and the National Federation of Independent Business, the ads feature the fictional characters Harry and Louise.
 
Appearing with the sponsor organizations at a news conference at the National Press Club, AHIP President and CEO Karen Ignagni applauded their focus on cooperation and consensus building.
 
“We fully support this campaign because the seeds of workable reform are planted in efforts like this: diverse stakeholders from across the spectrum working together to find common ground,” Ignagni said.
 
“Over the past two years, AHIP’s Board of Directors has developed a range of comprehensive policy proposals to ensure that all Americans have access to affordable, high-quality health care.  Our plan is coverage you can afford, coverage you can keep, coverage for all Americans,” said Ignagni.
 
“While offering solutions is important, we know that real progress will not happen unless stakeholders reach out and work together. That’s why we are pleased to be here to lend our support as the AHA, the American Cancer Society, the Catholic Health Association, Families USA and NFIB come together to launch this new campaign,” said Ignagni.

Debbie Cook – California’s 46^th District

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- California’s 46th congressional district stretches along the Pacific coast from Costa Mesa to the Palos Verdes Peninsula.  The district’s U.S. Congressional Democratic Congressional candidate is Debbie Cook, the second our “healthcare heroes” featured during this countdown to the November general election.

Debbie has been on the front lines for her community for many years but it was issues like the healthcare crisis, energy and what she terms a convergence of issues that compelled her to run for Congress. “How can we not do our best to tackle these things?” she asked.  As a candidate, Debbie hears her future constituents calling for sensible and meaningful action, and as a seasoned public servant she is ready to oblige.

I'm starting a periodic  journal highlighting some of our grim American health news.

This will help me stay focused as we fight for the election of Barack Obama.  But make no mistake, electing Obama is just the first step in what will be a long and intensely diificult battle for guaranteed, affordable and hopefully single-payer healthcare.

That said, what follows are some current realities about life in the richest country on the planet.

 Before I address what Paul Krugman had to say this morning, I urge you to hear what Elizabeth Warren has to say about healthcare and bankruptcy.

This morning Paul Krugman writes about health care in the The New York Times

He asks: Can it happen here?

That he must ask such a question is chilling.

That we as a nation continue to have a discussion which revolves around the concept of whether a human being in pain is entitled to be relieved of his suffering is horrifying.

Sen. McCain ought to spend less time talking about Paris Hilton and how many magazine covers feature Sen. Obama and pay more attention to our healthcare nightmare.