http://www.pnhp.org/news/ en Copyright 2010 Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:47:43 -0600 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=3.2 How about that! A conservative Republican who has decided that single payer is the best way to go. Wow! http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/november/a_conservative_repub.php http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/november/a_conservative_repub.php Quote of the Day Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:47:43 -0600 From the very start, the two most important goals for reform allegedly were to cover everyone and to control health care costs. But the precondition that reform be based on an expansion of private health plans within our dysfunctional, fragmented financing system immediately eliminated universal coverage as a goal. It proved to be impossible to balance all of the variables in this dysfunctional system to ensure that everyone would be covered. So they gave up. http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/november/misguided_fixation_o.php http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/november/misguided_fixation_o.php Quote of the Day Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:49:49 -0600 How can we continue to support a fragmented, dysfunctional financing system that allows some of our veterans (not to mention tens of thousands of others of us) to die merely because we have placed a higher priority on nurturing the private insurance industry than we have on improving access for everyone through a more effective health care financing system? Our veterans. How can we let them down like this? http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/november/uninsured_veterans.php http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/november/uninsured_veterans.php Quote of the Day Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:23:29 -0600 eHealth is ready to become the nation's broker for private health insurance. Watching the two minute video at the "Ready to Connect" link above will demonstrate just how ambitious their plans are. http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/november/ehealth_is_ready_to_.php http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/november/ehealth_is_ready_to_.php Quote of the Day Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:16:26 -0600 The fact that single payer got so far along in the House is a testament to the strength of our single payer movement. The huge number of calls by single payer advocates in support of single payer and the Weiner amendment in recent days have been noted by several members of Congress. http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/november/rep_weiner_withdraw.php http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/november/rep_weiner_withdraw.php Quote of the Day Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:18:54 -0600 There is no person more qualified to discuss health system design than William Hsiao. http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/november/harvard_professor_wi.php http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/november/harvard_professor_wi.php Quote of the Day Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:11:01 -0600 Of the many flaws in the very expensive and highly inefficient model of health care reform that Congress has selected, one of the more important is the financial impact that it will have on middle- and upper-middle income individuals and families. Let's look at the example of a family of four with a very good income: $102,100. http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/november/cbo_on_premiums_and_.php http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/november/cbo_on_premiums_and_.php Quote of the Day Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:08:35 -0600 Drew Altman is a very intelligent and very well informed advocate of a health care system that works well for all of us. His only handicap is that, as President and CEO of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, he must maintain his reputation as a highly credible but impartial voice on health care reform. That requires diligently negotiating his way through the minefield of Washington politics. http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/november/drew_altman_on_ameri.php http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/november/drew_altman_on_ameri.php Quote of the Day Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:40:57 -0600 The version of the House health care reform bill released last week would further expand Medicaid eligibility to individuals with incomes up to 150 percent of the federal poverty level. This expansion was prompted by the self-imposed requirement to avoid any deficit spending as a result of this legislation. It will cost the government less to enroll these individuals in Medicaid than it would cost to provide them with subsidies to purchase private health plans. http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/november/expanding_medicaid_t.php http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/november/expanding_medicaid_t.php Quote of the Day Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:20:16 -0600 What happened to that public option that the liberals promised us when they decided not to try to enact the golden standard of a single payer national health program? You know, that government program, like Medicare, designed to be less expensive, more efficient and more equitable, and that each of us could choose in place of private health plans. Really, what happened to it? http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/october/cbo_report_on_the_pu.php http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/october/cbo_report_on_the_pu.php Quote of the Day Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:16:49 -0600 What the... !? http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/october/weiner_single_payer_.php http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/october/weiner_single_payer_.php Quote of the Day Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:42:44 -0600 I'll be brief because I want to make only one very simple point: An ethical health care system is designed to take care of patients. What could be more obvious? If the health care system is doing its job in taking care of patients then the health care system itself is being taken care of. Special interests legitimately involved in health care delivery will do just fine. http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/october/the_ethics_of_health.php http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/october/the_ethics_of_health.php Quote of the Day Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:28:09 -0600 The best private insurance available today - employer-sponsored health plans - have an actuarial value of 80%. That means that the insurance pays 80% of the covered costs of health care and patients are responsible for the other 20%. Patients also are usually responsible for out-of-network services and for services and products that are not benefits of the plans. http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/october/the_actuarial_squeez.php http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/october/the_actuarial_squeez.php Quote of the Day Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:21:58 -0600 In simple accounting terms, profit represents the difference between gross revenues and the cost of producing and marketing the products or services sold. So what is the product that the private insurers are selling us? Administrative services. http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/october/is_health_insurers_.php http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/october/is_health_insurers_.php Quote of the Day Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:26:06 -0600 The five reform bills passed by House and Senate committees will not control health care costs, and yet these are to be merged into one bill - that will not control health care costs. http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/october/kitzhaber_on_health_.php http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/october/kitzhaber_on_health_.php Quote of the Day Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:30:58 -0600