One of my professors years ago was a round little man who liked to warn us, with a twinkle in his eye, “Making predictions is very difficult, especially predictions about the future.”  Will a bill pass, in what form, and then what will the long term implications be?  It’s hard to predict.
The incomparable Dr John [...]

Posted at MichaelMoore.com
November 19th, 2009
Health Care, Essential to Democracy
by Katie Robbins and Andy Coates
Two weekends ago, after the bait and switch of a vote on single-payer for a vote on an anti-abortion amendment, we felt wizened to the possibility of unknown threats in the legislative churn on health reform. As insurance and pharmaceutical companies, [...]

As we know, the House passed its health care reform bill on October 29, 2009 after many months of contentious debate. By a narrow margin, 220-215, the 1,990 page, almost 20 pound bill was passed. It laid out the most liberal health care reform that might be expected out of Congress this year, since any [...]

Everyone is talking about health care reform and trying to decipher the differences between the bills in the House and the Senate. The “public option” is praised by some and derided by others. Politicians are influenced by the financial support of various interest groups who are lobbying furiously to retain or extend their turf.

At The New Republic blog Jonathan Cohn goes out of his way to attack Marcia Angell’s clear and courageous article at the Huffington Post.
Mr. Cohn begins with a disclaimer:
I’m a longtime single-payer supporter myself. If Angell could get her way, I’d be thrilled. But Angell can’t get her way.
This old saw is [...]

“The House Public Plan: Yes, It’s Worth It” write Jacob S. Hacker and Diane Archer in The New Republic. Jacob Hacker is Stanley B. Resor Professor of Political Science at Yale University. Diane Archer is director of the Health Care Project at the Institute for America’s Future and founder and past president of [...]

If you were to believe the hype that accompanied its release, you might think that it would be as important as Medicare and Social Security. The New York Times concluded that “This bill will take a long stride toward universal coverage while remaining fiscally responsible.” Nobel laureate economist Paul Krugman added: “The political environment is [...]

By Iyah Romm, Sylvia Thompson, MD and Elizabeth Wiley, JD, MPH
I want to cover everybody. Now, the truth is that, unless you have a single-payer system, in which everybody is automatically covered, then you’re probably not going to reach every single individual. ~ President Barack Obama, July 22, 2009
As future physicians, ensuring that every single [...]

By Kip Sullivan, JD
Executive summary
Both the Senate and House versions of the proposed “public option” require that corporations with expertise in health insurance “administer” the “option.” This fact received no attention until October 24 when the Washington Post reported that the “option” would “likely” be run by insurance companies. Several bloggers attempted to assure readers [...]

Book Review
“The Cancer Generation: Baby Boomers Facing a Perfect Storm,” by John Geyman, M.D. Common Courage Press, 2009. Softcover, 303 pp., $18.95.
By A.R. Strobeck Jr.
In “The Cancer Generation,” Dr. John Geyman, physician and professor emeritus of family medicine at the University of Washington, focuses on the baby boomer generation in the United [...]