Archive for topic “healthcare”

Jane Hamsher makes the case for killing the Senate bill

Jane Hamsher: “We have never mandated that the public pay eight percent of their income to a private company. That is obscene.”

Way to go, Jane! Remember, dear reader, sign the petition to kill the Senate bill here.

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Tell your friends: 10 reasons to kill the Senate bill

Check out this masterful cheat-sheet on the Senate bill, put together by the crack staff over at FiredogLake. Then sign the petition: Kill the Senate bill!

Top 10 Reasons to Kill Senate Health Care Bill

  1. Forces you to pay up to 8% of your income to private insurance corporations — whether you want to or not.
  2. If you refuse to buy the insurance, you’ll have to pay penalties of up to 2% of your annual income to the IRS.
  3. Many will be forced to buy poor-quality insurance they can’t afford to use, with $11,900 in annual out-of-pocket expenses over and above their annual premiums.
  4. Massive restriction on a woman’s right to choose, designed to trigger a challenge to Roe v. Wade in the Supreme Court.
  5. Paid for by taxes on the middle class insurance plan you have right now through your employer, causing them to cut back benefits and increase co-pays.
  6. Many of the taxes to pay for the bill start now, but most Americans won’t see any benefits — like an end to discrimination against those with preexisting conditions — until 2014 when the program begins.
  7. Allows insurance companies to charge people who are older 300% more than others.
  8. Grants monopolies to drug companies that will keep generic versions of expensive biotech drugs from ever coming to market.
  9. No re-importation of prescription drugs, which would save consumers $100 billion over 10 years.
  10. The cost of medical care will continue to rise, and insurance premiums for a family of four will rise an average of $1,000 a year — meaning in 10 years, your family’s insurance premium will be $10,000 more annually than it is right now.

Background information on each point:

  1. Hardship Waiver And Restrictions On Immigrants Buying Insurance Undercut Arguments For An Individual Mandate, by Jon Walker
  2. What’s in the Manager’s Amendment by David Dayen
  3. MyBarackObama Tax by Marcy Wheeler
  4. Emperor Ben Nelson: All Your Uteruses Are Belong To Me by Scarecrow
  5. The Senate Bill is Designed to Make Your Health Insurance Worse by Jon Walker
  6. Best way to “Fix It Later” Is With No Individual Mandate Now by Jon Walker
  7. The Senate Health Care Bill is Built on a Mountain of Sand by Jon Walker
  8. The Devil in Anna Eshoo’s Details by Jane Hamsher
  9. Liveblog of the Dorgan Reimportation Amendment by David Dayen
  10. Answering Nate Silver’s 20 Questions on the Health Care Bill by Jon Walker

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After manager’s amendment, Dean says go to conference

Howard Dean: “Let's See What They Add To This Bill And Make It Work”

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Howard Dean: This healthcare bill will “put this country on a trajectory which is a disaster.”

Howard Dean: “This is my life's work!”

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We must not buy federally-mandated insurance! No single-payer, no sale! No public option, no sale!

A special comment from Keith Olberman, December 16, 2009


Any law that requires an individual to pay money to a private corporation or face criminal penalty is a bad law and must be struck down. I could write pages and pages about the healthcare issues with this bill, but you need look no further than that single, salient point for solid ground to strike down this terrible bill.

In case you missed it, below you can find former Vermont Governor Howard Dean, MD and his take on the Senate bill. He is leading the “kill it” charge and drawing a lot of ire from Senators and The White House. To me, that seems to indicate that he is on the right track.

Howard Dean: “You can't vote for this bill in good conscience.” December 15, 2009


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The health care debate, retold via massive swine

John Green's Thought Bubble: Health Care Overhaul (Summarized Via Massive Pig)


All I can say to this is hell yes! I’ve been saying nearly the same exact thing and putting it nearly as succinctly in private conversations for years. I swear! Ask any of my annoyed friends and family, they will vouch for me. But I never vlogged it and I certainly never developed a motion graphic for it like the awesome thought bubblers of the Smart Bubble Society. I really think the grapic interpretation sells it. Remember, folks, health care is a right, not a privilege. Single-payer or bust!

Via Graham Walker, MD

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Does the swine flu vaccine matter?

Democracy Now: Shannon Brownlee - Does the Vaccine Matter?


If you are looking for a reality check on the media frenzy surrounding the swine flu, here you go. Shannon Brownlee’s latest article in the The Atlantic gives a less-frantic look at H1N1 (swine) flu than you will get most places, though it doesn’t really get into issues of additives in vaccines (immunologic adjuvants, etc.) and other, broader worries about vaccination. For more on the swine flu “emergency”, this is essential. While you are at it, you should check out CBS’ coverage of the overestimation of the number of swine flu cases by the government.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t get vaccinated. I am saying you should have all the information before you do so.

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Quotable: John Boehner

It would seem that the halls of Congress are even farther detached from the streets of these United States than one might think.

I’m still trying to find the first American to talk to who’s in favor of the public option, other than a member of Congress or the administration…I’ve not talked to one and I get to a lot of places…I’ve not had anyone come up to me — I know I’m inviting them — and lobby for the public option. This is about as unpopular as a garlic milkshake.Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio)
House Minority Leader

Well, mantra #4 applies here, but we are gonna try like hell anyway. Tweet Boehner directly, join a Facebook group of people that want to introduce themselves to Boehner so he can meet Americans who support a public option and then call his office directly at (202) 225-6205 and let him know that you support AT LEAST a public option. Remember, a single-payer system is the cat’s pajamas.

I’ve tweeted; I’ve Facebooked; I’ll be on the phone as soon as I hit publish here. Now you do the same. Game on!

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Lighter Note: Protect Insurance Executives!

Will Ferrell and the Funny or Die crew take a look at the health care issue.

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Quotable: Rep. Anthony Weiner

The health insurance industry shouldn’t exist at all.Rep. Anthony Weiner
(D) New York

This is from the September 11, 2009 episode of HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, unavailable online thanks to your friends at Time Warner, parent company of HBO.

Weiner goes on to make the most eloquent, and brief, argument for single-payer (Medicare for all) health insurance that exists: private insurance doesn’t do anything; there is no value-added. The industry only exists to siphon-off profit from our collective health needs. That seems like an unnecessary appendage in my health care system and a perfect place for a non-profit, government-run solution to step in and save us billions.

[Ed. 10/2/09] Finally found a clip of the interview, though it is on Weiner’s Facebook page. Sorry if you aren’t a member. You don’t need to be his friend to view it.

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