http://www.pnhp.org/news/ en Copyright 2009 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:42:35 -0600 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=3.2 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 This study confirms that being insured not only improves the control of chronic diseases, it also improves the diagnosis in individuals who are not even aware of their disorders. Insuring the uninsured can delay or even totally prevent the disastrous complications of these chronic disorders. http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/october/insurance_promotes_a.php http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/october/insurance_promotes_a.php Quote of the Day Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:08:57 -0600 As the nation attempts to identify ways of slowing the excessive growth in our health care costs, it is only natural that we would look at the great variability in health care spending that does not seem to correlate with health care outcomes. John Wennberg and his colleagues, in producing the Dartmouth Atlas, have confirmed that these variations are very real, though more recent refinements have demonstrated that the differences are not quite as great when corrected for other factors. http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/october/dartmouth_variations.php http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/october/dartmouth_variations.php Quote of the Day Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:35:18 -0600 How many people do you know that request health care that they know they don't need but they want to have "because it's covered"? In over thirty years of my very busy family practice, I cannot recall one single patient with such a request. Yet the thrust of this Regence BlueCross BlueShield campaign is to blame the patient for requesting too much health care. http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/october/regence_blames_the_p.php http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/october/regence_blames_the_p.php Quote of the Day Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:40:34 -0600 Although the individual private insurance market is infamous for discriminating against individuals with a potential for high health care costs, regulations largely prohibit group plans from singling out individuals for exclusion. http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/october/guardian_gets_rid_of.php http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/october/guardian_gets_rid_of.php Quote of the Day Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:05:22 -0600