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Health Care Coverage in the Courier-Journal

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The current state of America’s health care system has received some coverage recently in the Louisville Courier-Journal.

On January 30th, The Louisville Courier-Journal published an article by Laura Ungur entitled ‘Support swells for universal health care’. Here’s an excerpt:

A possible groundswell

A 2002 report by the Institute of Medicine, which advises the federal government on health issues, said 18,000 adults die each year because they lack health insurance. Overall, the United States has a lower life expectancy than several countries, including Canada and the United Kingdom, that have national systems.

“The health-care system is in a deepening crisis,” said Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard University and co-founder of Physicians for a National Health Program. “The public is quite fed up.”

There are signs that the idea of a national system has increasing support here:

A poll last year by the Pew Research Center found that 65 percent of Americans favor national health insurance, even if it means higher taxes.

Read the whole article here.

On February 17th, The Courier-Journal also published an editorial letter by Dr. Garrett Adams, Kentucky Coordinator for Physicians for a National Health Program, entitled ‘Health care: the single payer vision’. You can read the editorial in full either on the Courier-Journal’s site or on our Voices page.

Steffie Woolhandler to Speak in Louisville September 14 and 15

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If you ever had a question about health care reform, these are events you don’t want to miss!

Steffie Woolhandler
Steffie Woolhandler

Steffie Woolhandler, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard University, will speak on Single Payer Health Care in Louisville:

Steffie Woolhandler is a cofounder of Physicians for a National Health Program.

The vast majority in our nation now believe we need health care for all. On that we agree. The question is: “What policy, what system will achieve universal, high quality, health care for everyone.”

Dr. Steffie Woolhandler

Thursday, Sept. 14, 7:00 PM
Centennial Room
Louisville Free Public Library
4th and York
(Map)
– – – – –

Friday, Sept. 15, 8:30 AM
KMA General Session
Kentucky International Convention Center
(Map and Directions)

Steffie Woolhandler advocates a single payer system and explains why. She believes we need to stop repeating our errors and “get it right.” She’s done the research, and she has the data at her command.

We’ll make time for Q and A. You won’t want to miss it! Admission free. Public invited.

Dr. Woolhandler co-authored a study on medical bankruptcies published in the journal Health Affairs. You can listen to her interview on that topic here.
Dr. Woolhandler’s section is from 1:20 to 17:30 (in minutes and seconds).

Dr. Woolhandler’s interview on the Massachusetts Health Care Plan can be heard here, beginning at 10:30 minutes for about 10 minutes.

Attention Physicians, PNHP-KY members:

Dr. Woolhandler will address the General Session of the Annual Meeting of the Kentucky Medical Association, Friday morning, Sept. 15, at the KMA General Session focusing on the uninsured, beginning at 8:30. Her talk is entitled, “Improving the Coverage of the Uninsured and of the Middle Class.” See the KMA website for more information.

The session will be held at the Kentucky International Convention Center (Map and Directions). Plan now to be there. Tell your colleagues. This is a wonderful opportunity for Kentucky physicians to learn the advantages of a single payer national health plan.

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United Methodist Church

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General Board of Global Ministries
The United Methodist Church
In Support of HR 676

The National Healthcare Crisis: Americans are Dying for Health Care

TAKE ACTION:
Call or Write your Congressperson today!
Ask for support of H.R. 676
Sign the Petition to Congress to support H.R. 676
By going to http://www.cnhpnow.org/petition2.php.

THE PROBLEM:

70% of American small businesses have no health care
45% of individual bankruptcies are due to health care bills
75% of uninsured Americans have jobs but no health care
44 million Americans have NO health insurance
80 million have only partial health care benefits
40 million are only insured during part of each year
Thousands of businesses are cutting health benefits to employees
Women and children suffer particularly because of this crisis

THE SOLUTION:

H.R. 676, The United States National Health Insurance Act, a bill before Congress that will cover every American for every health care need, including affordable prescriptions, dental, optical, and all mental and physical health costs. H.R. 676 will cost taxpayers less than what we pay now. Health care will become a right and not just a privilege for those who can afford it.

The United States National Health Insurance Act (HR676) establishes a new American national health insurance program by creating a single payer health care system. The bill would create a publicly financed, privately delivered health care program that uses the already existing Medicare program by expanding and improving it to all U.S. residents, and all residents living in U.S. territories. The goal of the legislation is to ensure that all Americans, guaranteed by law, will have access to the highest quality and cost effective health care services regardless of one’s employment, income, or health care status.

Link to original

Wake County Democratic Party Resolution On Universal Health Care

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20. Resolution: Universal Healthcare

Adopted by Precincts: 01-14,15,23,27,48 02-03; 04-01;05-02;07-12;12-06 19-01,04,05,08 and 20-08

WHEREAS, Forty-five million Americans lack healthcare insurance or other access to proper medical treatment, and

WHEREAS, many of these Americans – and even many who have some form of health insurance – face financial ruin in the event of medical emergency; and

WHEREAS, A large portion of every dollar Americans spend on healthcare goes for paperwork, stock dividends, advertising and executive salaries; and

WHEREAS, many medical professionals struggle to maintain their practices because of actions of managed healthcare and the failure of the federal government to properly reimburse them for their services to Medicaid and Medicare patients; and

WHEREAS, The system of managed care that has developed over the past several decades has proven itself both detrimental to the health of the patients it serves in many cases, and damaging to the United States’ healthcare system; and

WHEREAS, The Declaration of Independence states that the right to life is an inalienable right, it follows that proper, timely and affordable healthcare is essential to securing that right; and

WHEREAS, The failure of the private, for profit healthcare system to secure this right for the American people is of such a scale as to require the intervention of the government to protect the right to life,

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, That the Wake County Democratic Party calls on Congress to approve legislation now before it (H.R. 676) establishing a single payer universal healthcare system in the United States.

Link to original

Assembly Of The Episcopal Urban Caucus

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RESOLUTIONS PASSED AT THE 2005
ASSEMBLY OF THE EPISCOPAL URBAN CAUCUS
Newark, New Jersey

4. U.S. National Health Insurance

RESOLVED, that the EUC endorses HR 676, the United States National Health Insurance Act (also called “Expanded and Improved Medicare for All”) which would create a simple payer health care program; and be it further,

RESOLVED, that the EUC work for endorsement of HR 676 by the Episcopal Church and encourage ecumenical and interfaith cooperation with the goal of obtaining passage of HR 676 by the Congress and its signing by the President; and be it further,

RESOLVED, that the EUC send a copy of this resolution to Congressman John Conyers (D-MI), to our members of Congress, and to the Government Relations Office of the Episcopal Church.

Link to source

NAACP Supports HR 676, Single Payer Health Care

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NAACP LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES FOR THE 108TH CONGRESS

In accordance with our mandate to secure the enhancement and protection of civil rights for all Americans, the NAACP Washington Bureau has identified several legislative issues that are important to our membership and that we will be pursuing vigorously over the next two years. These issues are outlined below. For further information on any or all of the issues listed below, please feel free to contact the Washington Bureau at (202) 638-2269, or look for our “Action Alerts” on the web at www.naacp.org.

(31) UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE ACCESS: Our nation’s health care system is failing millions of Americans every year. It costs too much, covers too little and excludes too many. Currently, one seventh of all Americans, 42 million people, lack insurance and suffer unnecessary illness and premature death. In fact, despite being first in spending, the World Health Organization has ranked the United States 37 th among all nations in terms of meeting the health care needs of its people.

For ethnic minority Americans, the picture is even bleaker. Despite the numerous advances that have been made in health care over the decades, racial and ethnic minority Americans continue to suffer disproportionately from many severe health problems and have higher mortality rates than whites for many treatable health conditions. For example, diabetes strikes African Americans 70% more often than Caucasian Americans; Hispanic Americans twice as often as whites. The diabetes rate for Native Americans is even higher, striking members of this community 180% more often than Caucasian Americans. Furthermore, African Americans are 40% more likely to die from coronary heart disease and 35% more likely to die from cancer than whites.

In order to address the lack of adequate access to health care overall, Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) has introduced H.R. 676, the United States National Health Insurance Act (USNHIA)?.

H.R. 676, the United States National Health Insurance Act creates a single-payer national health care system in all America; a federally financed but privately delivered health care system. Under the USNHIA, all residents in America and the US territories would receive health care coverage, and have their choice of physicians and providers. Health care in America would no longer be an employer based health insurance system, i.e., you would receive health insurance and health care services regardless of your ability to pay, your employment status, or your health status. Under USNHIA all Americans would be guaranteed, by law, access to affordable and accessible high quality health care services.

City Council Of Baltimore

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EIGHTH DAY
FOURTH COUNCILMANIC YEAR – SESSION OF 1999-2004
J O U R N A L
CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE
March 17, 2003

In Support of Federal Legislation – (HR 676) The United States National Health Insurance Act (“Expanded and Improved Medicare For All”)

FOR the purpose of expressing support for Representative John Conyers, Jr.’s legislation that seeks to ensure that all Americans, guaranteed by law, will have access to the highest quality, cost effective, health care regardless of an individual’s employment, income, or health care status; and urging the Maryland State Delegation to the 108 th Congress to secure final passage of the legislation.

Recitals

The United States National Insurance Act establishes a national health insurance program by creating a single payer health care system. The bill creates a publicly financed, privately delivered health care program that expands and improves upon the existing Medicare program and makes it available to all residents of the United States and the U.S. territories. Persons enrolled in the program would not be subject to co-pays or deductibles.

The legislation addresses the needs of the over 42 million uninsured and over 40 million under-insured Americans who do not benefit from the current inefficient, costly, and fragmented health care delivery system. It is expected that the United States National Health Insurance Act will reduce overall annual health care spending by $109 billion – the average cost to an employer for an employee earning $35,000 per year will be reduced to less than $100 a month and a family who pays $5-7,000 a year in health insurance will pay less than $50 a month. Total household expenditures would drop from $326.7 billion to $65.9 billion annually.

National Health Insurance will cover all medically necessary services, including primary care, in-patient care, out-patient care, emergency room care, prescription drugs, durable medical equipment, long term care, mental health services, dentistry, eye care, chiropractic, and substance abuse treatment. Patients will have their choice of physicians, health care providers, hospitals, clinics, and group practices.

To ensure conversion to a non-profit health care system, private health insurers will be prohibited from selling coverage that duplicates the benefits of the National Health Insurance program. They will not, however, be prohibited from selling coverage for any additional benefits not covered by the Act such as cosmetic surgery and other elective and medically unnecessary surgery and treatments.

The National Health Insurance Act will set annual reimbursement rates and provide an annual lump sum allotment to each existing Medicare region that will then administer the program. Payments to health care providers will include fee for service and global budgets. The conversion to this not-for-profit health care system is expected to take place over a 15 year period and will be financed through the sale of U.S. Treasury bonds.

The United States Congress will establish annual funding appropriations for basic operating costs of the program that will operate under the auspices of the Department of Health and Human Services and be administered by the former Medicare offices. All current expenditures for public health insurance programs will be enveloped by the National Health Insurance program. Other funding for the program will come from modest payroll taxes on employers and employees and a higher health income tax on the wealthiest 5% of Americans.

There is no reason for anyone in this country to go without the basic health care coverage that sustains life when the industry has evolved to the point that vanity-driven, elective, medical procedures have become the lunchtime indulgence of middle-class America.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE, That this Body supports Representative John Conyers, Jr.’s legislation that seeks to ensure that all Americans, guaranteed by law, will have access to the highest quality, cost effective, health care regardless of an individual’s employment, income, or health care status; and urges the Maryland State Delegation to the 108 th United States Congress to secure final passage of HR 676.

AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to the Mayor, the members of the Maryland State Delegation to the 108 th United States Congress, the members of the Baltimore City Delegation to the 2003 Maryland General Assembly, the Baltimore City Health Commissioner, and the Mayor’s Legislative Liaison to the City Council.

Councilmember Holton made a motion, which was duly seconded, that the Rules be suspended.

The roll was called on the motion, resulting as follows:
Yeas – President and Councilmembers Cain, Garey, Branch, Carter, Young, Curran, Harris,
Mitchell, Pugh, Welch, Holton, Rawlings Blake, Spector, Abayomi, Reisinger, Stukes – Total 17.
Nays – Councilmember Stancil – Total 1.
Out of Chambers – Councilmember D’Adamo – Total 1.

The President declared the Rules “Suspended”.
Then Councilmember Holton made a motion, which was duly seconded, that the Resolution
be adopted.
The roll was called on the motion, resulting as follows:
Yeas – President and Councilmembers Cain, Garey, Branch, Carter, Young, Curran, Harris,
Mitchell, Pugh, Welch, Holton, Rawlings Blake, Spector, Abayomi, Reisinger, Stukes – Total 17.
Nays – Councilmember Stancil – Total 1.
Out of Chambers – Copuncilmember D’Adamo – Total 1.

The President declared the Resolution “Adopted”.

Link to PDF of resolution.

Health care: the single payer vision

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By Dr. Garrett Adams, M.D., M.P.H.
State Coordinator – Physicians for a National Health Program — Kentucky
From The Louisville Courier-Journal February 17, 2006

America has wonderful hospitals, clinics, and doctors. We conduct brilliant research. But there is a missing link: access to health services.

Some day, however, financial barriers to health care in America will be removed, and, finally, we will provide health care for all. Every resident will have affordable, high quality comprehensive health care. Infant mortality rates will fall, immunization rates and life expectancy will rise, and the World Health Organization will rank the efficiency of American health care first, instead of 37th. Health care will be disengaged from employment, freeing millions of health care hostages to pursue jobs they want, rather than jobs they take for health benefits.

Self-employment and entrepreneurship will become financially feasible. American business and manufacturing again will be competitive with countries that have national health plans. Without health benefits as a hiring issue, small businesses will compete equally with large ones for good employees. Medical bankruptcies — now half of all bankruptcies, and especially affecting the middle class — will vanish. Ninety-five per cent of Americans will pay less for health care than they do now.

Malpractice issues will diminish. Physicians will spend more time with patients and people will choose physicians and hospitals freely, rather than being forced into a market network. Money will not change hands between patients and providers, again improving doctor-patient relationships and leading to fewer claims. Since 60 percent of current settlement costs are for future medical care and everyone already will have medical care, settlements will go down and professional liability insurance costs will go down proportionately. Overhead in doctors’ offices will plummet because of vastly simplified billing to a single payer. Primary care physicians will be valued and reimbursed accordingly.

There will be no Medicaid crises, no unreimbursed care for doctors, hospitals or other providers, and no cost-shifting. Health-related issues associated with natural disasters, such as hurricane Katrina, or pandemic influenza, will be managed seamlessly.

A national electronic medical record system will detect medical errors quickly. Half a million Kentuckians are uninsured, 85,000 in Jefferson County. The dire straights of unhealthy Kentuckians have been dramatically portrayed in The Courier-Journal. Uninsured people forego doctor visits and necessary medicine; they postpone medical attention until illness is far advanced, more expensive to treat, and some cannot be helped.

Eighteen thousand Americans — six 9/11 bombings — die every year because they cannot afford medical care.

Privatization of traditional Medicare is a Trojan horse bringing more pain to a critically ill American health care system. Health insurance companies increase profits by raising premiums, reducing benefits, shifting costs to consumers, and providing coverage for only the healthiest.

The Medicare Prescription Drug Act specifically prohibits negotiation for volume discounts and requires private administration. It is an example of the difficulties of mixing profit-taking with health care delivery. It provides lucrative profits to insurance and pharmaceutical industries; but a high cost is borne by the American people. Dr. Oliver Fein, New York City internist, says: “I was outraged when one of my patients required hospital admission after stopping her medications, because she couldn’t afford the $45.57 co-payment demanded by [her new plan].” Health Savings Accounts, tax credits, consumer-directed health care, voucher sytems, etc. are Band-Aids for a failed experiment in health care delivery; they cannot control costs effectively, and they will not provide comprehensive universal affordable health care.

We have the highest health costs in the world, more than twice that of other developed nations that provide care to all of their citizens. We spend more, but we get less. We have the money now to provide excellent health care for everyone. A bill in the U.S Congress, HR 676, describes the details of a single payer national plan. The majority of American citizens support a national health program, and data indicate that the majority of physicians do so as well. We need non-profit single payer health care reform now.

GARRETT ADAMS, M.D., M.P.H.
State Coordinator
Physicians for a National Health Program — Kentucky

Un Plan de Salud Universal

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Proponen un plan de salud Universal
Por: Marilyn Córdova-Winchell

La crisis de la falta de seguros médicos ya envuelve a 43 millones de personas que no cuentan con seguros médicos pero bajo el plan propuesto llamado PNHP (por sus siglas en inglés, Médicos por un Programa Nacional de Salud) el cual comenzó en 1987 por un pequeño grupo de doctores los cuales tratan de promover un cambio en el sistema de salud al proponer un plan que cubra a todos dándole a las personas la libertad de escoger aún a sus doctores.

Doctor Edgar López

Foto: Marilyn Córdova-Winchell

El Dr. Edgar López, retirado cirujano plástico, residente de Louisville por 28 años lucha arduamente por un sistema de salud universal.

Sus reclamos cuelgan de hechos reales que tienden a asombrar a los lectores mientras citan el número de los 45 millones de Americanos sin seguro médico y en los resultados de las estadísticas 18.000 personas mueren diariamente en la nación o 100.000 por lo publicado en el estudio del New England Journal of Medicine 336, número 11 y todo por motivos de salud los cuales no son atendidos por la falta de recursos económicos que no les permiten contar con seguros médicos. De acuerdo a lo publicado en el artículo llamado “El Lado Inhumano del Cuidado Médico en los Estados Unidos de América”. escrito por Vicente Navarro, profesor de Normas Públicas, Sociología y Política de Estudios en la Universidad de Johns Hopkins, planteó que el número de 100.000 es “tres veces más grande que el número de personas que mueren por SIDA”.

Lo que se propone el nuevo plan es permitir 300 billones de dólares anualmente para cubrir a quienes no tienen seguro médico al cortar los gastos de administración, los cuales devoran un 31 por ciento de cada dólar que va a asuntos de cuidado médico. Y en lugar de eso ver una organización sin fines de lucro, como el sistema de pago individual en beneficio de todos. Pero su misión parece estar dañada por mentes que adjudican que tal plan solo creará un tipo de estado médico creado por mentes comunistas.

El nombre del plan en propuesta está bajo la petición HR 676 el cual intenta llenar la necesidad de millones de personas sin posibilidades de tener cobertura de salud y propone un plan de salud subsidiado por el gobierno a través de impuestos en un programa similar al de Europa y Canada, por medio del sistema de pago individual. En un esfuerzo por que éste plan sea aprobado en los Estados Unidos, doctores, líderes religiosos y trabajadores unionados han unido sus fuerzas para conseguir personas que endorsen el programa y proveer la información necesaria al público para mover una acción definida.

El no tener una buena cobertura agranda el problema

Este es uno de los objetivos que tiene el doctor Edgar López , el luchar por un plan de salud que en verdad beneficie a la gente. López, quien es un cirujano plástico ya retirado y miembro de la organización de Médicos por un Programa Nacional de Salud, el cual ha vivido por 28 años en Louisville, explica su furor al descubrir que muchas de las bancarrotas personales que existen hoy están mayormente vinculadas a los altos pagos médicos que tienen las personas con seguros médicos pero sin suficiente cobertura. Estas cuentas médicas empujan a las personas a la bancarrota. Un estudio hecho por la Universidad de Harvard y publicado en el Journal Health Affairs demuestra que el 50 por ciento de las bancarrotas personales son causa de cuentas medicas o problemas de salud. “Este es el problema número uno en este país además del problema de seguridad nacional. Los programas del Medicaid o del Medicare no son aplicables a la clase media trabajadora, pero ellos tampoco pueden darse el lujo de pagar 1,000 o 1,500 dólares en una cobertura de un plan médico, especialmente si tienen a un miembro de la familia con una enfermedad crónica que necesita constante cuidado médico” añadió López.

Otro reto que tiene la cobertura de planes médicos actuales, es el que la gente de altos recursos económicos pagan lo mismo en cargos mensuales por seguros médicos, que una personas con pocos recursos económicos. La PNHP ( por sus siglas en inglés) bajo su programa HR 676 propone en su plan el mantener el programa Medicaid y Medicare como hasta ahora ha colectado los fondos, pero para poder proveer el plan universal en el sistema de pago individual, éste le añadirá a las compañías un impuesto de un 7 por ciento y a los empleados un 2 por ciento de impuestos lo que borrará los pagos mensuales por planes médicos que pagan los empleados y los deducibles, sin añadirles ningún otro gasto de su bolsillo.

El número de bancarrotas médicas en el estado de California ha escalado a 62.386 de las 123,905 bancarrotas en el Estado. En Indiana el número de bancarrotas personales fue 55,177 y de esos 27,782 fueron declarados por bancarrotas médicas. En Kentucky de 28,782 bancarrotas Ð 14.215 fueron debido a cuentas médicas de acuerdo a las estadísticas del 2004. En la escuela de Medicina de Stanford, los Estados Unidos clasificó como el país número uno, con el porcentaje más alto de personas sin seguros médicos, en comparación con otras naciones industrializadas. “Este es el único país en el mundo donde la gente se hace rica del dolor de estas enfermedades y eso no debe ser así, eso es un abuso del sistema de seguros médicos. Y lógicamente es el deber del congreso de cambiar eso, y debe enfocar ésto con la misma importancia que enfoca asuntos de seguridad nacional y asuntos de política internacional. El congreso esta ignorando la crisis de seguros médicos” dijo López. Y añadió, “esto no es un problema político, pero desde el punto de vista social es una crisis humanitaria. La gente viene a este país que cuenta con mas recursos en el mundo y piensan que éste es el paraíso. Y sí uno quiere conseguir trabajo lo consigue en cualquier esquina, pero que uno no se enferme” dijo López aludiendo a lo que el llama la ineficacia de un sistema totalmente desequilibrado.

Testimony of Pediatrician Scott Tyson

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Testimony of pediatrician Scott Tyson at the Citizen/Congressional Hearing on healthcare in Aliquippa, PA – from the website www.kucinich.us where you can view a video of several of the participants in the hearing.

May 21, 2005

By Scott Tyson, Pediatrician and Small Business Owner

Hi. My name is Scott Tyson. I’m a pediatrician and small business owner in Allegheny County.

I’m here to ask that you do everything in your power to fix the disaster that is health care in Pennsylvania today. H.R. 676 is critical to the well being of our country, and I truly believe that this is the most important piece of legislation today.

Our health care system is in a shambles. More and more time is spent on processing care, not providing care. Due to the increase in costs, people have asked for a solution; and managed care was that solution. And this was the beginning of the end. Managed care paid physicians a fixed fee. The patients paid nothing more than the premium to their insurer and were promised by the insurer that they would not need to pay for their care. It was a system that was created by the insurer and began the destruction of the health care system.

As increases in costs slowed, the insurer took more and more control. Then, after getting concessions from physicians and hospitals, maximally, it became apparent that this was not enough to stop cost growth, due to technological advances. Costs began to rise again, and so the patient was blamed for over-utilization.

The next answer was to increase the cost to the patient by jacking up co-pays. Since there was only a finite amount that the co-pays could be increased, this answer was limited. The new answer is health savings accounts. This is essentially the exact same system that existed in the ’80s, except there is a huge deductible; costs and reimbursement are arbitrary and virtually impossible to understand. The insurers now ask that the patients bear the cost of the bulk of their care, as they did in the ’80s. Only today, there is no reason to charges, virtually no one knows the cost of procedures, and it is impossible to understand the complexity to the system. My only hope is that this newest solution is so fundamentally flawed, so complex, and so damaged that it might be the final critical step to force our country to a national health care system.

I believe today that you have before you a task that is essential to our well being. We need to save the health care system. We need to take control back from the insurers. Highmark made 300 million dollars profit this year, on top of a 2.3 billion dollar reserve. We need to save the health care system. We need to give it back to the patients and the physicians. Please ask that everyone nationally support H.R. 676. Speak to your friends, write to your local and national papers, your legislators, and recognize that, if things can change this much in ten years in the wrong direction, then they can change again. Only, this time, in the right direction.

Thank you for your attention.

[Applause.]