How does U.S. healthcare stack up against other nations?

How does U.S. healthcare stack up against other nations?

Q & A on Single Payer

Americans for single payer Universal Healthcare

Michelle Ewald I just don't get out of the 33 developed nations, 32 of them have some sort of universal health care. And the one that doesn't is the USA. There are even communist countries that have it as well. Not to mention, that there are some ignorant fools that will try to say that we have the the best health care system in the world. I have to laugh at that because America ranked 37 and the last time I checked France ranked number 1. The USA also has a very high infant mortality rate. I wish some of the opponents of universal health care would explain that to me.

Bill Davis Follow the money that controls Congress. There is a LOT of money at stake in healthcare. The ones who have a big piece of the healthcare pie want to keep it. SP won't happen until the voters wake up to the fact that they are being manipulated by political advertising paid for by the powers that be. Knowledge is power and by obscuring the facts and hiding the truth, they maintain their power over ignorant Americans who would rather watch a ball game than maintain their democracy by reading outside fox news and corporate controlled media.

Keep up-to-date on health care issues

Healthcare Reform 2.0

By Steffie Woolhandler, MD, MPH and David Himmelstein, MD
CUNY School of Public Health, Social Research, Fall 2011
So while the American people want an expanded and improved Medicare for All — that is, a single-payer system — corporations dead-set against single-payer reform have come to dictate the agendas of both political parties. Hence, the only way to win national health insurance is to build a popular movement to counter corporate power.
http://www1.cuny.edu/mu/forum/2011/11/09/dr-steffie-woolhandler-and-dr-david-himmelstein-on-their-recent-publication-“healthcare-reform-2-0″-in-the-fall-2011-issue-of-social-research/

Healthcare Reform 2.0 (12 pages):
http://www1.cuny.edu/mu/sph/files/2011/11/783_Woolhandler-Himmelstein_719-730.pdf

Comment:

By Don McCanne, MD
This brief primer (9 short pages plus references) on Healthcare Reform 2.0 will provide little new information for those who have followed the research and educational efforts of the leadership of Physicians for a National Health Program. Nevertheless, it should be downloaded to be used as an advocacy piece to explain to others why Healthcare Reform 1.0 (Affordable Care Act) will remain a failure, and why we have to move on to Healthcare Reform 2.0 (expanded and improved Medicare for All). By distributing this, electronically or in hard copy, you can become a part of the popular movement to counter corporate power.

A beautiful Speak Up comment printed the day my letter appeared

The issue should not be "more government versus less government," but government more looking out for its everyday citizens who need its protection, and less looking out for the rich and powerful entities that can afford to buy its protection.

DDN Published letter 10-29-11

This was printed in the Dayton Daily News 10-29-11

To see what I actually submitted, find my earlier post on this blog.

 

---------------------------------

 

I have noticed that the paper has been devoting far more space to health care, an important issue that affects everyone at one time or another. The trouble is that it is mostly bad news: People losing coverage, Republicans contesting the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, rising premiums for Medicare patients, etc.

I am disappointed that there still has been nothing regarding the movement for single-payer health care, also known as improved Medicare for all. It is a grass-roots movement in the truest sense of the word. There are so many powerful interests and so much money involved; universal, comprehensive healthcare in the United States will not come about unless the citizens demand it as they did to gain other rights we have today.

There are many reasons that providing improved Medicare for all would help our country and its citizens. One study found that replacing the PPACA with H.R. 676 would replace all the jobs lost in 2008. Several good books have been written on the topic. There are dozens of websites devoted to  the single-payer health care system. I suggest that if you want to stem the ever-rising cost of healthcare, the bankruptcies resulting from huge medical bills, the deaths that could be prevented if everyone had Medicare, that you learn about and support single payer.

 

-------------------- the following was all dropped.

 

Read books and visit spanohio.org, pnhp.org, and more listed at wndavis.blogspot.com.

Nobody is going to care for your health like only you can do by demanding a universal, comprehensive, fiscally conservative solution to our country’s healthcare crisis. Demand what many main-line churches, labor unions, county and local governments have endorsed.

Sincerely,

William N. Davis, II

SPANOhio.org Region 7 Coordinator
7231 Hardwicke Pl.
Dayton, OH 45414
937-264-0377
Spanoh.region7@gmail.com

2011 Election - Ohio Issue 3

Adding such a sloppily and ambiguously worded amendment into our Constitution would jeopardize or invalidate dozens of already existing Ohio laws, threaten public health, and invite hundreds of lawsuits for which Ohio taxpayers would foot the bill.Law professors in Ohio also agree with the newspapers that whether conservative, liberal, or middle of the road, while Issue 3 would have zero impact on what the Tea Party calls ‘Obamacare’, it would have devastating consequences for Ohio.
The Youngstown Vindicator put it most succinctly:  “It is not just futile political posturing, it is wasteful and potentially destructive.”
For more information on the proposed amendment, visit the coalition’s website at www.votenoissue3.com 
ENDORSING NEWSPAPERS:  
Cleveland Plain Dealer                          Columbus Dispatch
Cincinnati Enquirer                                       Akron Beacon Journal
Toledo Blade                                               Canton Repository
Athens Messenger & Athens News  Youngstown Vindicator


VOTE NO ON ISSUE 3 NOVEMBER 8TH!

Letter to the Dayton Daily News

To the Editor,

I ran into Ellen Belcher some months back at a League of Women Voters event.  I asked her about better coverage in the Dayton Daily News on healthcare issues.  I have noticed that the paper has been devoting far more space to this important issue that affects everyone at one time or another.  The trouble is that it is mostly bad news:  People losing coverage, Republicans contesting the PPACA, rising premiums for Medicare patients, etc.

I am quite disappointed that there still has been nothing regarding the movement for Single Payer healthcare also known as Improved Medicare for All.  It is a grass-roots movement in the truest sense of the word.  There are so many powerful interests and so much money involved; universal, comprehensive healthcare in the United States will not come about unless the citizens demand it as they did to gain other rights we have today. 

There are many reasons that providing improved Medicare for all would help our country and its citizens.  One study found that replacing the PPACA with HR 676 would replace all the jobs lost in 2008.  Several good books have been written on the topic.  There are dozens of websites devoted to the facts and support of a Single Payer Healthcare system.  I suggest that if you want to stem the ever-rising cost of healthcare, the bankruptcies resulting from huge medical bills, the deaths that could be prevented if everyone had Medicare, that you learn about and support Single Payer.  Read books and visit spanohio.org, pnhp.org, and more listed at wndavis.blogspot.com.

Nobody is going to care for your health like only you can do by demanding a universal, comprehensive, fiscally conservative solution to our country’s healthcare crisis.  Demand what many main-line churches,  labor unions, county and local governments have endorsed.

Sincerely,

William N. Davis, II

SPANOhio.org Region 7 Coordinator

7231 Hardwicke Pl.

Dayton, OH 45414

937-264-0377

Spanoh.region7@gmail.com

Misadventures as a BOE Administrator - my work for bread

I couldn't find this answer anywhere else, so I'm posting it for future lost administrators.  Maybe I couln't find it because the solution was too obvious for all except an old mainframer.

Problem: creating ODBC Connection from 64bit WS2008 - Windows Server 2008 running Business Objects Enterprise, BOE XIr31, to another server running Intersystems Cache.

Solution: The Cache driver install used for BOE XIR31 is ODBCDriver_x86.exe in the ODBCInstallKit.zip.

DUH!?

I hope a few people stumble on my blog for Single Payer.  It's the only logical, fiscally conservative solution to our crisis in healthcare delivery.

Not only do people die from lack of care, many are never born alive

"The grief of a stillborn is unlike any other form of grief: the months of excitement and expectation, planning, eager questions and the drama of labor -- all magnifying the devastating incomprehension of giving birth to a baby bearing no signs of life."
- The Lancet editor-in-chief Dr. Richard Horton and senior editor Dr. Zoe Mullan, reporting a study showing at least 2.6 million fetuses die each year after the 28th week of pregnancy, in large part because women do not receive adequate medical care. (Source: Los Angeles Times)

Eighth Annual SPAN Ohio Conference

Visit http://www.spanohio.org/ for conference program and registration information.

Healthcare for the Future

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

My name is Bill Davis and my church is helping me start a group for Health Care discussion.  Here is what we had in our Bulletin today.

Healthcare for the Future - Westminster member, Bill Davis is exploring the possibility of starting a new interest group for people to learn, pray and work toward a more fair and just healthcare system. For more information, call 937-264-0377 eves & weekends or email spanoh.region7@gmail.com with phone# and questions or concerns.

Would you like to join us?

This may be more appropriate and may be edited as deemed desirable for your situation.

Healthcare for the Future - Bill Davis is planning an interest group for people to learn, pray and work toward a more economical, effective and just healthcare system. For more information, call 937-264-0377 eves & weekends or email spanoh.region7@gmail.com with phone# and questions or concerns.

(Bill is a member of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Downtown Dayton and SPAN Ohio's Region 7 coordinator which includes Champaign, Clark, Darke, Greene, Miami, Montgomery, Preble & Shelby Counties)

Thank you for your help.

Sincerely yours,

Bill Davis

SPAN Ohio Region 7 Coordinator for Champaign, Clark, Darke, Greene, Miami, Montgomery, Preble, and Shelby counties

937-264-0377 eves & weekends

I am available to speak to groups of any size.  Please call to arrange a date.

Medical bankruptcies a continuing problem, study finds

By Kay Lazar, Globe Staff - boston.com

The 2006 Massachusetts law that required nearly everyone to buy health insurance has not significantly staunched residents' pain from medical bankruptcies, according to a new study.
A survey of Massachusetts residents who filed for bankruptcy in July 2009 found that 53 percent cited a medical cause, down from 59 percent who blamed a medical cause in a survey done in early 2007, before the state law had been fully implemented. But because of the small number of people surveyed, the difference was not statistically significant, according to the study in today's American Journal of Medicine.

Lead study author Dr. David Himmelstein said medical bills are still causing bankruptcies because health costs in the state have continued rising sharply. High premium costs, along with large co-payments and deductibles, often expose families with insurance to substantial out-of-pocket costs, said Himmelstein, a professor of public health at City University of New York.
"People think they have reasonable insurance until they try and use it," Himmelstein said. "You are carrying an umbrella and it starts to rain and you put it up and it's full of holes. For most people, it just hasn’t rained yet."
Himmelstein, who conducted the research while working as an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, is co-founder of Physicians for a National Health Program, an organization that pushes for national health insurance.
He said his findings suggest that the national health overhaul, which was largely modeled on the Massachusetts law and will take full effect in 2014, will not ease the number of medical bankruptcies, either.

To keep informed about health care issues, follow this link for articles like the one below.

http://www.pnhp.org/news/quote-of-the-day

Healthcare Reform 2.0

By Steffie Woolhandler, MD, MPH and David Himmelstein, MD
CUNY School of Public Health, Social Research, Fall 2011
So while the American people want an expanded and improved Medicare for All — that is, a single-payer system — corporations dead-set against single-payer reform have come to dictate the agendas of both political parties. Hence, the only way to win national health insurance is to build a popular movement to counter corporate power.
http://www1.cuny.edu/mu/forum/2011/11/09/dr-steffie-woolhandler-and-dr-david-himmelstein-on-their-recent-publication-“healthcare-reform-2-0″-in-the-fall-2011-issue-of-social-research/

Healthcare Reform 2.0 (12 pages):
http://www1.cuny.edu/mu/sph/files/2011/11/783_Woolhandler-Himmelstein_719-730.pdf

Comment:

By Don McCanne, MD
This brief primer (9 short pages plus references) on Healthcare Reform 2.0 will provide little new information for those who have followed the research and educational efforts of the leadership of Physicians for a National Health Program. Nevertheless, it should be downloaded to be used as an advocacy piece to explain to others why Healthcare Reform 1.0 (Affordable Care Act) will remain a failure, and why we have to move on to Healthcare Reform 2.0 (expanded and improved Medicare for All). By distributing this, electronically or in hard copy, you can become a part of the popular movement to counter corporate power.