In the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale, The Emperor’s New Clothes, two weavers promise an Emperor a new suit of clothes invisible to those unfit for their positions or incompetent. When the Emperor parades before his subjects in his new clothes, they all pretend they see the new finery, fearing exposure as the incompetents that they are. It takes a child to cry out, “But he isn’t wearing anything at all!”
Three nurses unions merged on Monday to form the largest-ever labor organization for U.S. medical professionals, which is expected to wield greater clout in collective bargaining and the national
healthcare debate.
Originally Published at pdamerica.org By Donna Smith, Co-chair PDA Healthcare NOT Warfare campaign
TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION: Ask your Senators to support Sander's Amendment 2837
The idea of a Medicare for All type, single-payer healthcare system will be heard on the Senate floor. Late last evening, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont filed Senate Amendment No. 2837, and there are two additional original co-sponsors of this amendment, Senator Roland Burris of Illinois and Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio.
Submitted by nechfamily on Tue, 12/01/2009 - 4:10pm
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
By Jane Zhang, The Wall Street Journal
BRISTOL, Tenn. -- On her 32nd birthday just over a year ago, Monique "Nikki" White had such severe pain from lupus, a disease in which the immune system attacks healthy tissue, that she couldn't open her presents. Three weeks later, as skin lesions spread over her body and her stomach swelled, she couldn't sleep.
"Mama, please help me! Please take me to the E.R.," she howled, according to her mother, Gail Deal. "OK, let's go," Mrs. Deal recalls saying. "No I can't," the daughter replied. "I don't have insurance."
Back when it was the largest private health plan in the country, Aetna downsized its membership by millions but boosted profits during an overhaul of its business several years ago.
Now it looks to be making a similar -- but smaller -- move with a planned price increase for many of its customers in 2010.
* See related content
* Earlier about Aetna
The company figures it will lose between 600,000 and 650,000 members next year because of the price hikes.
Meet Jeremy Devor, a technician with an associate degree in engineering, who lives in Salem, Illinois, a town of about 8,000 people 254 miles south of Chicago. It’s a land of corn fields, few jobs, and an unemployment rate of twelve percent. In a good year, Devor’s job at a ten-person engineering firm gives him an income of about $46,000. This year, though, he figures he will pull in about $44,000, what with the recession taking its toll on overtime pay. That’s 32 percent above the poverty line for his family of seven.
Devor is the kind of person reformers must have had in mind as they’ve pushed toward changing the health system—a middle class, middle American. But if the bills were to take effect now, Devor wouldn’t get much help. “I already had doubts the legislation would do anything,” he said. “The legislation, it seems, is not going to help me. It’s more of the same.”
Submitted by nechfamily on Fri, 11/13/2009 - 4:21pm
Published on PNHP Blogby John Geyman MD on Thursday, Nov 5, 2009
If you were to believe the hype that accompanied its release, you might think that it would be as important as Medicare and Social Security. The New York Times concluded that “This bill will take a long stride toward universal coverage while remaining fiscally responsible.” Nobel laureate economist Paul Krugman added: “The political environment is as favorable for reform as it’s likely to get. The legislation on the table isn’t perfect, but it’s as good as anyone could reasonably have expected.”
Submitted by nechfamily on Fri, 11/13/2009 - 4:17pm
Published by The Huffington Post
Physician, Author, Senior Lecturer, Harvard Medical School
Well, the House health reform bill -- known to Republicans as the Government Takeover -- finally passed after one of Congress's longer, less enlightening debates. Two stalwarts of the single-payer movement split their votes; John Conyers voted for it; Dennis Kucinich against. Kucinich was right.
Of all the torrent of words that followed House passage of its version of healthcare reform legislation in early November, perhaps the most misleading were those comparing it to enactment of Social Security and Medicare.
There's no polite way to put it. If you're one of millions who voted Democrats into Congress and the White House last year to enact universal health care, you've been played and betrayed.
In the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale, The Emperor’s New Clothes, two weavers promise an Emperor a new suit of clothes invisible to those unfit for their positions or incompetent. When the Emperor parades before his subjects in his new clothes, they all pretend they see the new finery, fearing exposure as the incompetents that they are. It takes a child to cry out, “But he isn’t wearing anything at all!”
Three nurses unions merged on Monday to form the largest-ever labor organization for U.S. medical professionals, which is expected to wield greater clout in collective bargaining and the national
Originally Published at 
BRISTOL, Tenn. -- On her 32nd birthday just over a year ago, Monique "Nikki" White had such severe pain from lupus, a disease in which the immune system attacks healthy tissue, that she couldn't open her presents. Three weeks later, as skin lesions spread over her body and her stomach swelled, she couldn't sleep.
Back when it was the largest private health plan in the country, Aetna downsized its membership by millions but boosted profits during an overhaul of its business several years ago.
Meet Jeremy Devor, a technician with an associate degree in engineering, who lives in Salem, Illinois, a town of about 8,000 people 254 miles south of Chicago. It’s a land of corn fields, few jobs, and an unemployment rate of twelve percent. In a good year, Devor’s job at a ten-person engineering firm gives him an income of about $46,000. This year, though, he figures he will pull in about $44,000, what with the recession taking its toll on overtime pay. That’s 32 percent above the poverty line for his family of seven.
If you were to believe the hype that accompanied its release, you might think that it would be as important as Medicare and Social Security. The New York Times concluded that “This bill will take a long stride toward universal coverage while remaining fiscally responsible.” Nobel laureate economist Paul Krugman added: “The political environment is as favorable for reform as it’s likely to get. The legislation on the table isn’t perfect, but it’s as good as anyone could reasonably have expected.”
Well, the House health reform bill -- known to Republicans as the Government Takeover -- finally passed after one of Congress's longer, less enlightening debates. Two stalwarts of the single-payer movement split their votes; John Conyers voted for it; Dennis Kucinich against. Kucinich was right.
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