KSPH Newsletter June 16, 2021
Kentuckians for Single Payer Health Care KSPH
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Events, news, opinion. In brief….
1. Kentucky Single Payer Meeting on Zoom, Thur., June 17, 2021, 5:00 PM
2. March for Medicare for All, Sat., July 24, 2021 in Louisville and 20 other cities
3. Single Payer Radio on 106.5 FM, Mon 2pm, Tue 7am, Wed 11am
4. Pitfalls of Medicare Advantage Plans, Investopedia
5. Time to Abandon Pay For Performance, comment by Adam Gaffney, MD, MPH
6. Liz Fowler is Back! And She’s Writing US Health Policy Again, by Kay Tillow
7. The Buffett-Bezos-Dimon-Gawande insurance fail?, comment by Don McCanne, MD
8. Build the Movement—Give to Kentuckians for Single Payer Health Care
…details below.
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1. Kentucky Single Payer Meeting on Zoom, Thur., June 17, 2021, at 5:00 PM
The next meeting will be on Thursday, June 17, 2021, from 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM.
If you are not on our zoom list, please email Kay Tillow at nursenpo@aol.com, and we will send you the information needed to access the zoom call.
We meet the first and third Thursdays of each month. The following meeting will be on Thur. July 1, 2021.
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2. March for Medicare for All, July 24, 2021 in Louisville and 20 other cities
Join us in Louisville to rally and march for improved Medicare for All.
Sat. July 24, 2021, 11:00 AM
Mazzoli Federal Bldg., 600 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Pl.
Cosponsors: Kentuckians for Single Payer Health Care, Physicians for a National Health Program-KY, Kentucky Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Greater Louisville Central Labor Council
Louisville details: http://kyhealthcare.org/posts/louisville-and-20-other-cities-plan-march-for-medicare-for-all-july-24-2021
National website:
https://m4m4all.org/
They are using this hashtag #m4m4all
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3. Single Payer Radio on 106.5 FM, Mon 2pm, Tue 7am, Wed 11am
Tune in to Single Payer Radio. Dr. Eugene Shively, Dr. Mike Flynn, and Mark McKinley host lively discussions on single payer and other health care topics.
Current program: Dr. Bob Wojda and Teresa Casey discuss healthcare services provided to the homeless through their work at Phoenix Health Center in Louisville. Podcast.
Upcoming interviews:
Dr. Henry Sadlo, Cardiologist
Ann Hagan-Grigsby, CEO of the Park DuValle Community Health Clinic
Please share on social media and tell your friends. Help expand the voices of the movement.
Single Payer Radio is aired each week; Mon 2pm, Tue 7am, Wed 11am, on 106.5 FM. At these times you can get the program on the internet, too. Go to www.forwardradio.org and click “listen live.” Programs are archived here: https://www.forwardradio.org/singlepayerradio
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4. Pitfalls of Medicare Advantage Plans
Investopedia
A Medicare Advantage Plan, also called a Part C or an MA Plan, may sound enticing. They are offered by private companies approved by Medicare.
Still, while many offer $0 premiums, the devil is in the details. You will find that most have unexpected out-of-pocket expenses when you get sick, and what they pay can differ depending upon your overall health. Here’s a look at some of the disadvantages of Medicare Advantage Plans.
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/010816/pitfalls-medicare-advantage-plans.asp
Kentuckians for Single Payer Health Care is eager to speak with those who have run into problems with Medicare Advantage–the privatized, for-profit Medicare that is so widely advertised.
Were you denied or charged more for Medigap because you had been on Medicare Advantage? We want to hear about it.
Call Kay at 502 636 1551 or email nursenpo@aol.com.
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5. Time to Abandon Pay For Performance
Time and Financial Costs for Physician Practices to Participate in the Medicare Merit-based Incentive Payment System: A Qualitative Study, JAMA Health Forum, May 14, 2021, by Dhruv Khullar, Amelia M. Bond, Eloise May O’Donnell, Yuting Qian, David N. Gans, and Lawrence P. Casalino
Comment:
By Adam Gaffney, M.D., M.P.H.
There is little evidence, in other words, that P4P programs substantively improve care — and growing evidence that they further inflate our already enormous administrative costs while sapping the time and energy of practicing doctors. For these reasons, P4P should not be included in a Medicare for All reform.
https://pnhp.org/news/time-to-abandon-pay-for-performance/
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6. Liz Fowler is Back! And She’s Writing US Health Policy Again
by Kay Tillow
June 7, 2021
So, if Americans are seeing their doctors less and spending fewer days in the hospital, why are we still spending more than wealthy countries on health care?
There is a battle raging over what must be done to cover everyone and rein in costs. Single payer, improved Medicare for All, advocates assert that the key is to remove profit-making insurance companies and hospitals from the system, slashing administrative waste to the point where savings can improve care for those who are covered and expand it to those who are uninsured.
https://ky.aflcio.org/news/counterpunch-liz-fowler-back-and-she-s-writing-us-health-policy-again
https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/06/07/liz-fowler-is-back-and-shes-writing-us-health-policy-again/
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7. The Buffett-Bezos-Dimon-Gawande insurance fail? A powerful policy lesson!
How Amazon, JPMorgan, and Berkshire Hathaway took on America’s health care system—and lost, Fortune, June 1, 2021, by Erika Fry
Comment:
By Don McCanne, M.D.
I contend that the Haven health reform effort of Warren Buffett, Jeff Bezos and Jamie Dimon, along with Atul Gawande, was a spectacular success, as an experiment in health policy. They proved beyond any reasonable doubt that the private sector is incapable of fixing our highly dysfunctional health care financing system. The only model that has shown promise is a single payer Medicare for All system. But you cannot set that up as an employer-sponsored system; it will have to be a public system for all the people.
https://pnhp.org/news/the-buffett-bezos-dimon-gawande-insurance-fail-a-powerful-policy-lesson/
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8. Build the Movement–Give to Kentuckians for Single Payer Health Care
The corona virus pandemic exposes our need for a single payer health care system. None of us will be safe until all of us have care.
Your donations can help to hasten that day. You may contribute on line here.
Or make out your check to PNHP-KY and mail it to KSPH, PO Box 17595, Louisville, KY 40217
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Issued by:
Kentuckians for Single Payer Healthcare
P. O. Box 17595
Louisville, KY 40217
(502) 636 1551
Articles do not necessarily represent the position of KSPH.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kentuckians-for-Single-Payer-Healthcare/276722622460445
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