As the debate over health care reform becomes all-out warfare between parties and within the Democratic party, Congress will adjourn shortly for its August recess with many of the key questions unresolved.  However, the bill as shaped by two or three House committees (H. R. 3200, America’s Affordable Health Choices Act) gives a point of [...]

by Kip Sullivan
It has become obvious that the Democratic leadership in Congress will not fight for a large “Medicare-like” program or “public option,” to use the lingo adopted early in 2009 by advocates of this idea. As I reported in an article posted on this blog on July 20, “public option” advocates originally claimed they [...]

The so-called public option has emerged as the single most divisive point in the health care reform proposals being shaped in various committees in Congress. Republicans have risen up to demonize it as a government takeover of health care on the slippery slope toward socialism. Within the powerful Senate Finance Committee, it is being called [...]

Together with an individual mandate described in the last post, an employer mandate is an essential part of all legislative health care reform proposals now being considered in Congress. The House bill requires employers with payrolls larger than $250,000 to contribute 72.5 percent of health insurance premium costs for full-time employees and 65 percent for [...]

We’ve been here before. With much fanfare, health insurance mandates were enacted by Massachusetts in 2006 and touted by many as an effective model to reform health care. After three years’ experience, here is what the “Massachusetts Miracle” tells us about mandates and their costs.
• only about one-half of the previously uninsured now have some [...]

As July starts to wind down and the August recess by Congress fast approaches, the debate over health care reform enters a late stage with increasingly bitter partisan differences over very divisive issues. Every day we hear about more Democrats siding with the Republicans, especially the Blue Dogs worrying about the high costs of plans [...]

Corporate America has highjacked the health care debate and threatens to make real health care reform impossible. Since corporate dollars trump individual votes, we have a corpocracy, not a democracy.
This is not a new story, but is still an under-recognized one. By a landmark ruling of the U. S. Supreme Court in 1886 (Santa Clara), [...]

by Kip Sullivan
The people who brought us the “public option” began their campaign promising one thing but now promote something entirely different. To make matters worse, they have not told the public they have backpedalled. The campaign for the “public option” resembles the classic bait-and-switch scam: tell your customers you’ve got one thing for sale [...]

History tells us that societal blind spots are common throughout the centuries from one society, culture or continent to another. An example in the late 1700s involves the first cancer hospital in the world. It was established in Reims, France, but was forced to leave the city in 1779 because of the public’s fear of [...]

The following comments are in response to a recent Quote of the Day by Don McCanne about the broken, employer-based health insurance system in the United States.
By Diana Stritzel
I just wanted to say that I really enjoy reading your articles and feedback on what’s going on about health care in the U.S. I don’t remember [...]