Health Care
The Cost of Care
Posted January 19th, 2010 by sdybiecFrom National Geographic:
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.”
The Hardest Call
Posted December 19th, 2009 by sdybiec
December 19, 2009
Here are three opinion pieces from liberal and conservative voices: two in favor of the health care legislation and one against -- but barely against.
The moment Ted Kennedy would not want to lose
By Victoria Reggie Kennedy
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My late husband, Ted Kennedy, was passionate about health-care reform. It was the cause of his life. He believed that health care for all our citizens was a fundamental right, not a privilege, and that this year the stars -- and competing interests -- were finally aligned to allow our nation to move forward with fundamental reform. He believed that health-care reform was essential to the financial stability of our nation's working families and of our economy as a whole.
Read more here.
The Hardest Call
By David Brooks
The first reason to support the Senate health care bill is that it would provide insurance to 30 million more Americans.
The second reason to support the bill is that its authors took the deficit issue seriously. Compared with, say, the prescription drug benefit from a few years ago, this bill is a model of fiscal rectitude. It spends a lot of money to cover the uninsured, but to help pay for it, it also includes serious Medicare cuts and whopping tax increases — the tax on high-cost insurance plans alone will raise $1.3 trillion in the second decade.
Read more here.
Pass the Bill
By Paul Krugman
A message to progressives: By all means, hang Senator Joe Lieberman in effigy. Declare that you’re disappointed in and/or disgusted with President Obama. Demand a change in Senate rules that, combined with the Republican strategy of total obstructionism, are in the process of making America ungovernable.
But meanwhile, pass the health care bill.
Read more here.
Maddow: Public Option Dying Because Of Dems' Political Collapse
Posted August 18th, 2009 by sdybiecThe Democrats' collapse of political will has Maddow outraged. She makes one of the strongest 8-minute cases for health care reform yet.
"Make me do it" was the advice of Franklin Delano Roosevelt to reformers when faced with legislation he desired but did not have the votes for in Congress.
Of all people, President Obama respects and understands the power of grassroots organizing. It's not enough to trust that he will follow through on his promises, we have to be in a position to insist that he does.
Rally for Comprehensive Health Care ReformThis Saturday
Posted July 23rd, 2009 by PathadlerJoin UAPA this Saturday at the State House!
Join up with AFSCME and other partners this Saturday as we call on members of the Ohio Congressional delegation to support HR 3200, America's Affordable Health Choices Act as it comes to a vote in the House of Representatives next week.
Saturday, July 25, 2009, 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Ohio State House North Plaza
(Broad Street between High and Third)
Rallly Partners Include Progress Ohio, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Council 8, Ohio Civil Service Employees Association (OCSEA), Ohio Association of Public School Employees (OAPSE), and AFSCME Retirees Chapter 1184.
For more information, contact Aryeh Alex at aalex@afsmce.org, or 513.478.5928
Ohioans call on Representatives Driehaus, Space, Boccieri and Tiberi to vote yes on HR 3200, America's Affordable Health Choices Act. The bill is a uniquely American solution to the health care crisis. HR 3200 includes the choice of a public health insurance plan that will compete with private insurance companies to keep them honest and lower costs.
The Tiller Murder Wasn't a Lone Killer's Sick Plot; It Came Out of the Radical Anti-Abortion Movement
Posted June 2nd, 2009 by PathadlerBy Jill Filipovic
Alternet.org
Posted June 2, 2009
George Tiller, a Kansas physician, was shot to death in church on Sunday. He was one of only a handful of doctors in the United States providing late-term therapeutic abortions for women in need -- women whose pregnancies threatened their lives or their health, and women who learned that they were carrying fetuses with severe abnormalities. Women traveled across the country to see Tiller when their own physicians and local medical providers couldn't help them. For many women, Tiller was, as one of his patients put it, "the one shining light in the worst week of my life".
He was also a major lightening-rod in the abortion wars. Anti-choicers harassed his patients, day in and day out. They bombed his clinic. They shot him once before. They filed lawsuit after lawsuit and even convinced local prosecutors to launch criminal investigations and trials (none were successful). They published his home address and the full names of his family members on their websites. They posted information about anyone who did business with him, from where he got his coffee to where he did his dry cleaning.
They had him and his staff wearing bullet-proof vests to work every day. Tiller drove an armored car and protected his home with a state-of-the-art security system. And, to better enable stalking and harassment, they posted his daily comings and goings -- including the fact that he attended services every Sunday at Reformation Lutheran Church, the place where he was ultimately shot and killed.
Read the rest of the story here.
Celeste to discuss autism insurance bill
Posted March 4th, 2009 by gmcluckieThe Autism Speaks student chapter at The Ohio State University will host Rep. Ted Celeste and advocate Doug Krinksy for a discussion of a bill to ensure insurance coverage for autism and a review of autism advocacy in Columbus. The meeting will be held Friday, March 6, at 5 p.m. in 167 Campbell Hall, 1787 Neil Ave., on the Columbus campus. HB 8 would require private health insurance companies to cover the screening, diagnosis, testing and treatment of autism. The meeting is open and free to the public. Public parking is available after 4 p.m. at the Neil Avenue garage, accessible from Neil Avenue just north of 12th Avenue.
Contact: Jessica Beauvais,Jbeauvais@ehe.osu.edu
Join UAPA at our next general membership meeting on Thursday, May 8
Posted May 5th, 2008 by jbrough313
Columbus Dispatch columnist Joe Blundo recently asked, Why does it take Oprah's Big Give to help the sick in America? That's a good question! Rising co-pays, decreased benefits and denied claims are symptomatic of an unhealthy healthcare system. Join UAPA at our next general membership meeting as we explore the healthcare crisis that's plaguing this country and how all of the presidential candidates think it can be repaired.
Our special guest speaker will provide the answers on the state of health care in our country. Activist Dr. Alice Faryna will be speaking on "What's the Prognosis for Healthcare? An analysis of the presidential candidates' health care plans."
The meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. at the Upper Arlington High School, 1650 Ridgeview Road. Please join us for what is sure to be a beneficial and timely presentation!
Please note the change from our usual Sunday schedule.
UAPA meeting and guest speaker: What's the Prognosis for Health Care?
Posted April 15th, 2008 by jbrough313
Join UAPA at our next general membership meeting on Thursday, May 8.
Columbus Dispatch columnist Joe Blundo recently asked, Why does it take Oprah's Big Give to take care of the sick in America? Good question! Find out the answers about health care in our country from activist Dr. Alice Faryna. She will be speaking on "What's the Prognosis for Healthcare? An analysis of the presidential candidates' health care plans." The meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. at the Upper Arlington High School, 1650 Ridgeview Road.
Dr. Faryna is a graduate of the University of Rochester School of Medicine. She is board certified in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology. Additonally, she had a clinical practice in Marion, Ohio, at the Smith Clinic. She was an Associate Professor of Medicine, Wright State University School of Medicine 1977- 1990, and served as Medical Director for Medicare Part B Ohio and W. Va., 1990-1998. She has been an activist for health care reform since 2004.
Please join us for what is sure to be an informative and timely presentation!
Please note the change from our usual Sunday schedule and that this presentation is free.
