Click HERE to link to the PHNP web page for more details.
Dennis Kucinich on DemocracyNow!
explains why he switched his vote and voted for the main health care reform bill - HR 3590. Watch the video and read the transcript with Congressman Kucinich and Ralph Nader.
Congressman Dennis Kucinich of Ohio announced on Wednesday he would switch his vote on the Democrat-led healthcare reform bill and support the legislation even though it does not create a public option. Kucinich’s decision came two days after he spoke with President Obama aboard Air Force One Dennis Kucinich on DemocracyNow!
Senator Bernie Sanders (Independent-Vt.) withdrew his amendment, calling for a single-payer health care system after Republicans forced a time-consuming reading of the 767-page bill that would have further stalled the overall health care debate.
Senator Sanders then talked for 30 minutes about Medicare For All, Single-Payer for 30 minutes on the US Senate floor. This historic video is a must view for all health care reform advocates.
Senator Sanders' Speech - Presentation Charts
Growth of Physicians and Administrators - PowerPoint - PDF
International Comparison - PowerPoint - PDF
US - Highest Cost - Bad Mortality - National Geographic Article
The United States spends more on medical care per person than any country, yet life expectancy is shorter than in most other developed nations and many developing ones. Lack of health insurance is a factor in life span and contributes to an estimated 45,000 deaths a year. Why the high cost? The U.S. has a fee-for-service system—paying medical providers piecemeal for appointments, surgery, and the like. That can lead to unneeded treatment that doesn’t reliably improve a patient’s health. Says Gerard Anderson, a professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health who studies health insurance worldwide, “More care does not necessarily mean better care.” —Michelle Andrews
Single Payer Action held a news conference. The group seeks a single
payer health system and calls on Congress to defeat health care reform
legislation * Russell Mokhiber, Single Payer Action * Dr.Margaret
Flowers, Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) * Dr. Carol
Paris, Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP)
Health Care Debate Headed to Senate Floor Saturday, November 21, 2009
The Senate has begun debate on health care reform legislation. Tomorrow night (Saturday), a cloture vote is expected on the motion to proceed to the bill. Sixty votes are needed and if cloture passes then debate on the bill will occur after the Thanksgiving recess. http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/11/21/senate.health.bill.expect/index.html
House Bill HR 3962 passed the House Saturday, November 14, 2009
September 3, 2009 - "Sick and Wrong
RollingStone Magazine on our health care system
"Let's start with the obvious: America has not only the worst but the dumbest health care system in the developed world. It's become a black leprosy eating away at the American experiment — a bureaucracy so insipid and mean and illogical that even our darkest criminal minds wouldn't be equal to dreaming it up on purpose."
July 15, 2009 - Censored By ABC, Obama's Longtime Doctor Speaks Out (video)
The doctor who served as Obama's personal physician for 22 years speaks out about how ABC disinvited him from their healthcare forum two days before the prime-time event where he was planning to ask about single-payer healthcare.
71 Percent of Voters Want The Health Care System Changed
"A robust majority - 71 percent - of registered voters said they wanted the system changed or rebuilt. That sentiment was shared across political parties, with 82 percent of Democrats, 73 percent of non-partisans and 55 percent of Republicans supporting a major overhaul." - SF Gate Article (California)
Baucus’s Raucous Caucus: Doctors, Nurses and Activists Arrested Again for Protesting Exclusion of Single-Payer Advocates at Senate Hearing on Healthcare
Advocates of single-payer universal healthcare—the system favored by most Americans—continue to protest their exclusion from discussions on healthcare reform. On Tuesday, five doctors, nurses and single-payer advocates were arrested at a Senate Finance Committee hearing, bringing the total number of arrests in less than a week to thirteen. We speak with two of those arrested: Single Payer Action founder Russell Mokhiber and Dr. Margaret Flowers of Physicians for a National Health Program.
May 7: MSNBC's Ed Schultz talks with Dr. Margaret Flowers, who was advocating for a single-payer system when she was escorted out of a Senate hearing and put into jail, and Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., who was present when this occurred.
Health Care Update- Friday, May 8 at 7:30 p.m.
The legislature has passed one major bill to help more Coloradans afford health care coverage. Another bill, aimed at implementing single-payer coverage in Colorado, has been put aside for now.
We'll talk with the sponsor of that bill, Rep. John Kefalas, and also journalist T.R. Reid, about his latest observations on the health care crisis.
SEIU Endorses State Single-Payer Efforts - March 19, 2009 "Concurrently, SEIU and CNA / NNOC jointly endorsed measures to allow states to adopt single-payer, or an expanded and updated Medicare for all, as a comprehensive, cost effective healthcare reform."
US Health care costs to top $8,000 per person
Health care costs will top $8,000 per person this year, consuming an ever-bigger slice of a shrinking economic pie, says report by the Department of Health and Human Services.
Single Payer in the News
Democratic Representative to Advance Statewide Insurance By Pat Ferrier, Loveland Connection
DENVER - Democratic Rep. John Kefalas will introduce
legislation in January to provide health-care insurance coverage for
all Colorado residents.
Kefalas, attending the Colorado Health Care Summit 2008 in Denver
Friday, said health-care reform remains his top priority and is a
100-day priority for President-elect Barack Obama.
Kefalas, who is still working on his draft legislation to be ready when
the Legislature comes back into session in January, said it also may
include a single-payer system.
Employee health costs: Bosses paying more for less -The Denver Post 10/31/08
The cost of employer-provided health care benefits in Colorado
jumped 13.7 percent this year, the biggest rise since 2004, according
to a new survey by the Lockton Benefit Group. Part of the health
insurance rate hike is being passed on to employees” two-thirds of the
companies surveyed said they will pass along some costs” the report
being released today showed. Almost 39 percent of companies in the
survey have policies with deductibles of $500 or more, compared with
the national average of $300. "Each year, the cost-shifting gets worse
and worse," said Bill Lindsey, president of the Lockton Group in
Denver, referring to higher premiums, deductibles and out-of-pocket
payments being passed through to employees. Kansas City, Mo.-based
Lockton is the largest privately owned insurance broker. "Employers are
passing on health costs, and at some point, we are going to reach the
breaking point," Lindsey said. The survey showed that merit pay raises
for 2009 are projected at 2.9 percent, compared with 3.5 percent last
year. Meanwhile, the projected employee health premium is up 8.8
percent for the same period. The survey was based on responses from 125
companies. Click Here to read more.
Doctor's Orders: Health Coverage for Everyone - Yes Magazine Article by Daina Saib
An agenda that puts people first: Health Care - featuring our own Rocky White, MD and George Swan
"Those lining up to support single-payer health care include medical professionals, business people, and many Republicans.
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July 15, 2009 - 
