As many as 60 million Americans lacked health insurance at some time in 2009. That staggering number represents 1 in 5. As disappointed as I am that the public option and an expansion of Medicare have been compromised away, along with a single-payer system which was compromised away before negotiations began, I’m not willing to [...]
Posts Tagged ‘health care reform’
Half a loaf or kill the bill?
Posted in Politics, tagged health care reform on December 16, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
A gift for Joe?
Posted in Politics, Uncategorized, tagged health care reform, health insurance corporations, Joe Lieberman, Medicare, Medicare buy-in, public option on December 15, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
It’s the season for giving, and Joe Lieberman of Connecticut may find that his gifts may be something less pleasant than he might like. Since he announced yesterday that he will filibuster health care reform unless both the public option and the Medicare buy-in are dumped, an effort has begun to support an opponent for [...]
Large type for challenged readers
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Dana Perino, GOP, GOP fail, GOP hypocrisy, GOP leadership, GOP obstruction, health care bill, health care reform, John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, Republican hypocrisy, Senate Republicans on November 25, 2009 | 2 Comments »
The Republicans have made a lot of political hay about “the massive” health care reform bills — comparing them to Tolstoy’s novel War and Peace, often cited as the world’s longest novel. Once again, their political hay is full of little more than hot air. It’s easy to expand something written by increasing the margins, [...]
Needed: Primary Care Physicians
Posted in Current Events, Ideas, Politics, Uncategorized, tagged emergency medicine, health care reform, primary care medicine, primary health care, urgent care on November 17, 2009 | 2 Comments »
One aspect of the health care discussion hasn’t gotten nearly enough attention. This nation is woefully short of primary care physicians. And, assuming something passes that brings at least some of those currently uninsured into the health care system, providing that care via primary care docs will be a huge challenge. The reality is that [...]
Is anyone listening?
Posted in Current Events, Politics, Uncategorized, tagged government-run health care, health care debate, health care insurance, health care reform, health care system, health insurance, health insurance reform, Medicare, Medicare for Everyone, Medicare Part E on November 7, 2009 | 1 Comment »
My current Congressman is a conservative Republican… not so conservative that he falls into the wingnut category, but close. I’m what someone called a faint blue light in a sea of red. So I make a point to communicate with him fairly regularly, if only to remind him that he also represents people with views [...]
Speaking up works
Posted in Current Events, Politics, Uncategorized, tagged health care reform, opt-out public option, public option on October 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
In the months since President Obama was inaugurated, many people who voted for him have been disappointed that change hasn’t happened more quickly, that some of the cherished changes haven’t happened yet.
Sen. Reid has just announced that he is sending a consensus health care reform bill to the Congressional Budget Office for scoring. The good [...]
Several pieces worth reading and considering — UPDATED
Posted in Current Events, Ideas, Politics, tagged conservatism, GOP, health care reform, liberalism, loyal opposition, Politics, Republican Party on October 2, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Over the past year, I’ve repeatedly said that we need a strong two-party system and that the GOP’s current incarnation isn’t helpful to the democratic system of give-and-take. I’ve wondered why the party seems to lack adult participation. I recommend several recent pieces for your consideration.
First, a Tom Friedman op-ed piece that’s nearly a month [...]
Some people need to get out more
Posted in Politics, tagged health care reform, John Boehner, Michele Bachmann, Mitch McConnell, Republican hypocrisy on October 1, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Rep. John Boehner has made the outrageous claim that he hasn’t come into contact with a single person who supports the public option. Maybe he should spend less time in the tanning booth and more time talking to real people. If he’s serious, I know lots of people he could talk to — people ranging [...]
Is the public option really dead?
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged health care reform, public option, Sen. Chuck Shumer, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, Sen. Kent Conrad, Sen. Max Baucus, Senate Finance Committee, Senate Health Education Labor Pension Committee, Senate HELP committee on September 29, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Two amendments that would have included a public option in the Senate Finance Committee bill went down to defeat today. But is it really dead? All three House bills include a public option. Assuming that they will be combined to one bill to be debated by the full House of Representatives, the House bill will [...]
Public Option nears vote
Posted in Current Events, Politics, Uncategorized, tagged health care reform, health insurance reform, House Republicans, public option, Senate Republicans on September 27, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Next Tuesday, several amendments will be debated and voted on in the Senate Finance Committee. After a summer filled with town hall meetings, at which angry participants objected to any form of government involvement with just about anything, a most interesting CBS/New York Times poll was released on Friday.
Yes, support for a public option seems [...]
