If this bill were a step forward, we would support it by Margaret Flowers, MD If this bill were a step forward, we would support it. If we believed and evidence indicated that this bill could be “tweaked” into something better, we would support it. But this bill is a step backwards, a step away [...]

Stealth group, backed by drug and insurance companies, selects Arizona as testing ground for ballot initiative campaign against Medicare for All, government mandates

The “public option” and the wheelbarrow parable: Part 3 By Kip Sullivan, JD In the second part of this three-part series, I reviewed the evidence indicating the “public option” campaign as well as “option” proponents in Congress refused to adopt criteria that would have guaranteed that the “option” would be large enough to survive competition [...]

The “public option” and the wheelbarrow parable: Part 2 By Kip Sullivan JD It is way past time for “public option” advocates to take a stand either for or against an insurance industry bailout. Do “option” advocates support the individual mandate in the Democrats’ legislation (a requirement that all uninsured Americans buy health insurance from [...]

The “public option”and the wheelbarrow parable (Part 1 of 3) By Kip Sullivan, JD On July 8, 2008, Health Care for America (HCAN) announced its existence. The press release HCAN published that day described HCAN’s “vision” for health care reform in these words: Health Care for America Now offers a bold new vision for health [...]

Aetna, Cigna, Humana, United Health, and Wellpoint scored record profits totaling $12.2 billion. In 2008, Ron Williams, CEO of Aetna, received over $24 million in compensation, about $450,000 per week. His weekly compensation would be enough to pay the yearly salary of three family doctors, whose median income in the United States is $159,000 per year.

Letter to the President by David V. Clough, MD Dear President Obama: Health care reform is necessary for the maintenance of a productive society. Modern medicine has advanced so rapidly during 50 years since I began Family Practice that much of what I learned as a medical student and Resident is out of date and [...]

Do Not Resuscitate the ‘Public Option’ by Andy Coates Like initiating CPR on a patient who was dead in the field and remained dead on arrival, the effort to resuscitate the “public option” is mistaken and futile. Once upon a time, proponents of the “public plan option” sought a “Medicare-like” program that might enroll every [...]

The following letter was sent to the White House on Feb. 9, two days after President Obama announced his plans to convene a bipartisan summit on health reform on Feb. 25 in Washington. February 9, 2010 President Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear Mr. President, Physicians for a [...]

Paul Starr’s analysis of the stalled health insurance reform bill, “Underrating Reform”, suggests that the compromises and concessions made by the Democrats in Congress “to get something passed” in no way diminishes the legislation’s significance. I agree. But not for the reason you might think.