You are hereHealthcare
Healthcare
Waiting for Supreme Court ACA Decision, Vermont Can Lead the Way
National solidarity initiative launched to support grassroots effort
to establish human rights-based universal healthcare system in
Vermont
BURLINGTON, VT - As the country waits with bated breath for the Supreme Court’s ruling
on the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Vermont continues to lead the way by implementing
state-level, human rights based universal healthcare.
“Act 48 here in Vermont stands in contrast with the insurance company bailout represented
in the ACA,” said Vermont Workers’ Center Director James Haslam. “Healthcare is a public
good, and we’re on the road to realizing our human right to healthcare here in Vermont
through a grounds-up people’s movement.”
The Vermont Workers’ Center and its allies around the country just launched anationwide
solidarity initiative called Vermont Can Lead the Way to build national public support for the
Vermont Can Lead The Way
http://www.workerscenter.org/vermontcanleadtheway - U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders Dear Friend, We are seeking individual Endorsers of the Vermont Workers’ Center’s Healthcare Is a Human Right campaign. We hope you can lend your name and public support for our groundbreaking work. Over the past four years, the Healthcare Is a Human Right campaign and our growing grassroots people’s movement has led to Vermont becoming the first state to pass universal healthcare legislation. Act 48 declares that healthcare is a public good and should be grounded in human rights principles. The importance of this victory cannot be understated. If Vermont can actually implement universal healthcare, they can lead the way for states across the country to do the same. As you are reading this letter, people in Maryland, California, Oregon, New York, and Maine are working together on using strategies from the Healthcare is a Human Right campaign in their states. It is already happening. What we need now is your support to make sure universal healthcare actually becomes a reality in Vermont! As we head down the road to implementation of this new system the next year will be critical. Giant healthcare profiteers and other big monied corporate interests have begun an all out fight to derail the effort. “Astroturf” front groups such as Vermonters for Health Care Freedom and Campaign For Vermont have already begun to take their message of fear to the airwaves as they easily buy up Vermont’s small media market. They want to confuse and scare people in Vermont so they back away from actual implementation of this ground-breaking healthcare plan. We will never be able to outspend these groups in an air war. But, we can out-organize them on the ground! We can overcome their messages of fear with the hope and promise of a transformed healthcare system, based on human rights. A healthcare system that ensures that everyone will have the healthcare they need when they need it. All of us have the same right to healthcare. And we are fighting for that right. As national insurance companies and lobby groups target Vermont, we need national support! Our victories in Vermont can be a catalyst for change in the time of the 99% movement and help pave a path in this country away from profiteering and inequity and towards human rights and healthy communities. With your help we will win universal healthcare. And, we will keep winning bold action beyond that to eliminate poverty, reverse the climate crisis and make democracy a reality for everyone. We want to show massive support from people all over the country! We have a goal of reaching 1,000 endorsers by September 3rd, Labor Day. Your endorsement is critical in this effort. Here are two things you can do: 1) Add your name to our Endorsers list. We will list on our website, present to our legislators, and use to show insurance companies that we are part of a national movement that won’t let them stamp out the spark of health care justice! 2) Make a donation to the Vermont Workers’ Center to ensure we can continue to organize people and make healthcare a reality in Vermont! We will be following up with you. Thank you, again, for showing the nation that we care about each other! In Solidarity, James Haslam Peg Franzen If your Organization would like to Endorse, please click here.
“The Vermont Workers’ Center is doing exactly the kind of grassroots organizing that needs to happen across America. At a time when the middle class is shrinking and poverty is growing and the very wealthy have never had it so good, we need a movement that demands economic justice for millions of working families. The Vermont Workers’ Center is in the forefront of building that movement and I congratulate them for their fine work.”
Director, Vermont Workers' Center
President, Coordinating CommitteeBecome an Endorser!
I want to be an Endorser and Donate to the Healthcare is a Human Right campaign. My contribution is going to support on the ground organizing in Vermont leading to universal healthcare becoming a reality!
I want to be an Endorser of the Healthcare is a Human Right campaign. My name is helping to show the nation that we care about each other and that universal healthcare is here to stay!
Help Us Lead The Way!
I want to be an Endorser and Donate to the Health Care is a Human Right campaign. My contribution is going to support on the ground organizing in Vermont leading to universal healthcare becoming a reality!
|
|
I want to be an Endorser of the Health Care is a Human Right campaign. My name is helping to show the nation that we care about each other and that universal healthcare is here to stay! |
|
Featured Endorsers |
|
|
|
This Memorial Day Let’s Start Caring for Our Nation’s Veterans: No More Ducking the Real Cost of US Wars!
By Dave Lindorff
Whether he ever said it or not, I’m going to borrow from a quote often attributed to Abraham Lincoln and alter it a bit to say: “American politicians must love war veterans -- they keep making so many more of them.”
Nearly $200 Billion in Savings if Minnesotans Demand Single-Payer Solution for Families, Businesses
Challenging Obamacare
Challenging Obamacare
by Stephen Lendman
Last November, the Supreme Court agreed to hear challenge arguments against Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) - aka Obamacare.
From March 26 - 28, oral arguments on PPACA’s constitutionality will be heard, especially certain provisions. A decision is expected by June.
Ad Time's a Terrible Thing to Waste: Strange But True Twists In Limbaugh Scandal
By Linn Washington, Jr.
The continuing exodus of advertisers from the Rush Limbaugh radio show following his vulgar rants about a female law school student is generating many strange twists.
One exodus-related twist is the filling of the air-time ad void on Limbaugh’s program with public service announcements.
Ironically, that void is now being filled by public service announcements from entities Rush loves to hate like the federal Environmental Protection Agency – the entity responsible for regulating the toxic polluters Limbaugh’s always so quick to defend.
One of the stranger twists in having PSAs fill the paid-ad void on Limbaugh’s program is broadcasting PSAs from the United Negro College Fund.
The Witch-Burners are Alive and Sick in Kansas: Stand Up for Dr. Kristin Neuhaus against the Kansas Theocracy's Anti-Abortion Ji
By Dave Lindorff
A few hundred years ago in colonial Massachusetts, the theocratic fascist men who ran that society had a way of dealing with free-thinking women in their midst: they burned them at the stake or drummed up hordes of frightened and unthinking neighbors to stone them to death.
Most of us today imagine that if we had lived in those dark times, we would have stood up against such an outrage. Now is the time to find out.
'But That Would Be Torture!'
By Dave Lindorff
I just received an object lesson into how easily we Americans are able to compartmentalize our principles and our sense of basic human decency.
My father, David Lindorff Sr., who is 89 (and an occasional contributor to ThisCantBeHappening!), recently took a bad fall, hitting the back of his head on the bedpost and suffering a concussion that has temporarily left him with some periods of confusion. In the rehab facility where he was recovering, he would sometimes, when he was tired and half-asleep, get confused about his location, and would try to climb out of the hospital bed he was in, putting him at risk of another serious fall.
Fifty Medical Doctors for Single Payer Urge Supreme Court to Strike Down Individual Mandate
Fifty medical doctors who favor a single payer health insurance system today urged the US Supreme Court to strike down the individual mandate.
In a brief filed with the Court, the fifty doctors and two non-profit groups – Single Payer Action and It’s Our Economy – said that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) individual mandate is unconstitutional.
The individual mandate is the provision of the ACA that requires Americans to purchase health insurance from private insurance companies if they do not otherwise have coverage.
The doctors are challenging the government’s claim that the individual mandate is necessary to reach Congress’ goal of universal coverage.
Why We Shouldn’t Be Surprised That Susan G Komen for the Cure is Anti-Women
By Douglas A. Berg
Nancy Goodman Brinker, a pioneer of “cause marketing”, founded Susan G. Komen For the Cure in 1982, reportedly as the fulfillment of a deathbed promise made to her sister, a victim of breast cancer. In 1994, Brinker founded In Your Corner, Inc., a for-profit company that markets health products and information. In 1998, Brinker sold In Your Corner to AstraZeneca, the third largest pesticide manufacturer in the world, primarily through Syngenta, a giant global agribusiness company it owns jointly with Novartis.
Five California Democrats Just Killed Single-Payer Health Coverage
Did you hear about it from a single one of the groups that went ape shit over duh Public Option pretense? Do we care that many people will die early because of this?
Help California Pass Single-Payer Healthcare on Tuesday!
Have Everyone You Know in California Call These Senators!
The California Senate is just 2 votes short to pass its single payer health care bill, SB 810 - the California Universal Healthcare Act, before the end of this legislative session on Tuesday.
Four Democratic Senators have not voted either way on this bill. Its author, Senator Mark Leno, can bring the bill up for reconsideration, as long as he knows that he has two more votes!!
Most of us have family or friends in California. Many of these Californians may not know how important it is to call and email these 4 Senators over the weekend, and first thing Monday. We can help. Alert your California contacts that they must take action right away. They don't need need to live in the districts - these Senators hold the key to all of California's health care.
The Senators need to hear loud and clear how important it is for Californians to get SB 810 passed. Call each Senator listed below and ask them to vote yes on SB 810.
The Senators who must be contacted are:
Senator Alex Padilla (District 20 - Pacoima/LA area) can be contacted
by email at Senator.Padilla@sen.ca.gov
In Sacramento at 916-651-4020
Or in Van Nuys at 818-901-5588
Senator Michael Rubio (District 16 - Fresno/Bakersfield area) can be contacted
by email at Michael.Rubio@sen.ca.gov
In Sacramento at 916-651-4016
Or in Bakersfield at 661-395-2620
Senator Juan Vargas (District 40 - San Diego) can be contacted by
email at Juan.Vargas@sen.ca.gov
In Sacramento at 916-651-4040
Or in Chula Vista at 619-409-7690
Senator Rod Wright (District 25 - LA area) can be contacted
by email at Senator.Wright@sen.ca.gov
In Sacramento at 916-651-4025
Or in Inglewood at 310-412-0393
Single payer in California is a huge step forward for healthcare. These four State Senators hold the key to our Healthcare. Have everyone you know in California call and email them.
In solidarity,
Tim Carpenter, National Director
Donna Smith, Co-Chair, PDA Healthcare NOT Warfare Campaign
Dr. Bill Honigman, PDA Healthcare for All Co-Chair
Kurt Bateman, PDA Healthcare for All Co-Chair
Judy Hess, PDA and Regional Coordinator, Campaign For a Healthy California
No Healing: Ann Kristin Neuhaus Faces Her Past Every Day as Kansas Chases the Ghost of George Tiller
More than 1000 Global Physicians Demand Freedom for Bahraini Medics
Saturday 26th November – International Day of Action to support the medics
Location:Freedom Plaza to the Embassy of Bahrain.
Time:Meet in Freedom Plaza at 11:30 am or the UDC metro station at 12:00 pm for a march to the Embassy of Bahrain
Over 1,000 medical workers from 30 different countries have signed a petition calling for an immediate dropping of all charges against the 20 Bahraini medics facing up to 15 years in jail.
On Monday, Nov. 28, the 20 will face a civilian court after international outrage forced the prosecution to backtrack on the original sentences. In what is a clear case of political persecution, the medics face trial for treating injured protesters.
In an attempt to support the medics, physicians around the world will be handing the petition to different Bahrain embassies and consulates on Saturday 26th November.
26 states file Supreme Court health care appeal
By MARK SHERMAN
WASHINGTON (AP) - The 26 states that have sued to overturn President Barack Obama's health care overhaul have filed a Supreme Court appeal pressing for a speedy ruling to the "grave constitutional questions" surrounding the law.
The appeal is similar to one from the National Federation of Independent Business that asks the justices to strike down the entire law, not just the main requirement that individuals purchase insurance or pay a penalty beginning in 2014.
The states also object to the expansion of the federal-state Medicaid program and a requirement that states offer their employees a certain level of insurance coverage or pay penalties.
Some Resonance Please!
By Charles M. Young
America is Diseased: Mocking the Dying, Profiting off the Work of Uninsured Artists
By Dave Lindorff
The first thing that needs to be said to the heartless boneheads who, at the last Republican presidential debate, cheered at the idea of letting a hypothetical 30-year-old cancer victim who hadn’t bought health insurance die, is that this is no mere hypothetical situation. The second thing that needs to be said is that most such people in real life don’t “refuse to get” health insurance. They either cannot afford it (and their employer doesn’t provide it), or they are rejected by insurers because of pre-existing conditions.
War Spending: The Idea Whose Name Cannot be Mentioned at The Times
By Dave Lindorff
When you are the New York Times, or in this case, one of the only real liberal columnists working for the Times anymore, there are apparently some things you just cannot mention.
How else to explain how a seemingly intelligent economist like Paul Krugman can scorch the Republicans in Congress and President Obama for failing to deal with the crisis of joblessness and deepening economic collapse in the U.S., but never once mention the endless and pointless wars into which the country is pouring hundreds of billions of dollars a year?
Here’s Krugman:
Appeals court strikes health insurance requirement
GREG BLUESTEIN
ATLANTA (AP) - A federal appeals court panel on Friday struck down the requirement in President Barack Obama's health care overhaul package that virtually all Americans must carry health insurance or face penalties.
The divided three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the so-called individual mandate, which is considered the centerpiece of the law, siding with 26 states that had sued to block the law. But the panel didn't go as far as a lower court that had invalidated the entire overhaul as unconstitutional.
Government attorneys can - and likely will - ask the full 11th Circuit to review the panel's ruling. They also can appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which many legal observers expect to have the final say on the issue.
U.S. Physicians Spend Nearly Four Times More On Health Insurance Costs Than Canadian Counterparts
ScienceDaily (Aug. 4, 2011) — U.S. physicians spend nearly $61,000 more than their Canadian counterparts each year on administrative expenses related to health insurance, according to a new study by researchers at Cornell University and the University of Toronto.
The study, published in the August issue of the journal Health Affairs, found that per-physician costs in the U.S. averaged $82,975 annually, while Ontario-based physicians averaged $22,205 -- primarily because Canada's single-payer health care system is simpler.
Reading Nietzsche in Starbucks
By John Grant
When the human waste of politics gets to piling up so deep you want to run screaming into the night, a good remedy is to fall back to the powerful historical minds and immerse yourself in some great writing. I ran into this dilemma last Sunday, after a morning of reading The New York Times about the continuing blackmail antics of Rep. John Boehner and Senator Mitch McConnell and their merry band of Teabag Republican cutthroats.
America's Big Speed-Up: No Wonder the Jobless Rate is Staying at Depression Levels
By Dave Lindorff
My wife Joyce and I were renting a car for the week this morning at a Hertz office just outside Philadelphia. There was a line of people either waiting to pick up a vehicle, or to return one.
The harried clerk behind the counter -- the only guy in the office -- was fielding calls while trying to serve the first guy in line, who was trying to rent a car for a vacation trip with his wife to North Carolina’s Outer Banks. No sooner would the poor clerk sit down at the computer to start typing in the information from the man’s driver’s license than the phone would ring -- a phone that was located on a desk in a cubicle behind him, requiring him to get up and run around to the back cubicle.
The man at the counter, and others in the line, sighed audibly.
The (T)'s Continue the "Screw You" to Soldiers/Vets and Families of
Now over a decade with two wars of choice and added to the previous decades of ignored issues and not fully funding the Veterans Administration, thus saving monies instead of increased costs to catchup with the needs, as to the results of our wars. Easier to lay blame on the agency rather then the country, the 99% who don't serve it, who collectively don't look in the mirror at their total lack of Sacrifice as they wave those flags!
Last night, 30 July 2011, the Congressional House (T)'s did exactly what many thought they would and now the Congressional Senate (T)'s, going into their oft used filibuster, follow the Houses lead, and their Supporters Cheer, a day after this:
DeJa-Vu: Long Past the Wars
A Country that is willing to 'Sacrifice', Not the U.S.!
As we've seen since Korea and especially from our long War of Choice, Vietnam and since! To easy to ignore the Veterans of and the few really concerned citizens, PTS, Agent Orange/Defoliant poisoning, Suicides, Gulf War Syndrome and so much more of the not so distant past and the now rising concerns of the present. Way to easy to lay blame on the Agency especially by congressional representatives, calling that conservatism, and the people, then to fund on the front end, knowing the long term results of our invasions and occupations will have costs similar to the ever growing defense costs, thus saving money long term than to Demand the Same Sacrifice demanded of the soldier, sailor and marine and their families, now over a decade of No Sacrifice and certainly No Demand For!
Senator Coburn to Vietnam Veterans: Shove It!!
Add in vitter trying to block the VA budget in the Senate {below} and the tepubs are continuing their decades long obstruction of Veterans Issues while laying blame constantly on the VA and their supporters love that, including veterans among them!!
Since the 110th congress and with Gen. Shinseki in they've been trying to play catchup with What Wasn't Done Nor Mentioned in the 108th and 9th while they rubber stamped two more wars of choice and with Still No Demand from the Country as to their own Sacrifice now over a decade, added to the previous decades!!
I'm sure though they still have a supply of those 'purple heart bandages' they so enjoyed, pointed directly at us in-country Navy personal, while sending those troops into these two conflicts!!
