Health Care for All
Top Stories
Tepid Reforms Mean Progressives Must Mobilize
April 1st, 2010
Health-care reform is historic, surely the most significant social legislation passed since Medicare. But it is a flawed and conservative bill, akin to the reforms Mitt Romney championed as the Republican governor of Massachusetts. It gives the insurance companies millions of new customers with no public option or Medicare buy-in to help put a lid on costs. It sustains the outrageous law that prohibits Medicare from negotiating bulk discounts for prescription drugs. It sustains the exemption of insurance companies from antitrust laws. This reality — a historic reform that isn't strong enough to get the job done — is characteristic of the Obama administration, a progressive-centrist government in a moment that demands fundamental reform.
Featured Issues
Taking the Long View on Health Care Reform
How historic is the health-care reform bill that President Obama signed into law? The bill only begins the long task of taking back control of the health-care system from rapacious insurance and drug companies. We must work to include a real public option and to eliminate the insurance industry's antitrust exemption. Leaders, activist groups and citizens must continue the fight to improve the health-care legislation's protections and fix its flaws.... more »
Yes, They Made History
Yes, we did. Finally, President Obama can use those words. The passage of health care reform provided the first piece of incontestable evidence that Washington has changed. Congress is, indeed, capable of carrying through fundamental social reform. No longer will the United States be the outlier among wealthy nations in leaving so many of its citizens without basic health coverage. In approving the most sweeping piece of social legislation since the mid-1960s, Democrats proved that they can govern, even under challenging circumstances and in the face of significant internal divisions.... more »
Defining Moment
At long last, we saw this president leading, as only a president can. And we saw him leading as a progressive Democrat, finally admitting that no common ground with today's Republicans is possible, narrating stories we all can recognize about the human tragedy that is our current health care system. We watched Obama master the mechanics of legislative politics, cobbling together a majority one vote at a time. And we observed the Republican right reduced to sputtering frustration. What a splendid shift from the Obama who less than a month ago went imploringly to reason with the House Republican Caucus.... more »
The Case
Conservatives Blocked Reform
Conservatives have blocked real reform—protecting the greedy practices of the insurance companies, which
put profits before people. more »
Why Health Care For All
The number of people in this country without health insurance is growing. And the likelihood of losing—or not being able to afford—good health care is striking fear in the hearts of many family breadwinners. more »
The Facts
The Case for Public Plan Choice in National Health Reform
Public plan choice, when public and private insurance compete side by side to attract enrollees on a level playing field, rewards plans that deliver better value and health to their enrollees. According to opinion polling, most Americans want public and private insurance competing side by side so that they can choose the best option for themselves and their families. Both should have a chance to prove their strengths and improve their weaknesses in a competitive partnership. Read the report from Prof. Jacob Hacker.more »
More Uninsured Children
In 2006, 11.7% of children, or 8.7 million kids, went without health insurance. That's up from the previous year, when 10.9%, or 8 million children, were uninsured.
The News
Liberals Urge Senate Vote on House Republican Budget
April 28th, 2011
TARP expected to cost U.S. only $25 billion, CBO says
November 30th, 2010
The Case
The Battle for Vermont's Health -- And Why It Matters for the Rest of the Country
You can't see them. They're hidden from view and probably always will be. But the health insurance industry's big guns are in place and pointed directly at the citizens of Vermont. Health insurers were not able to stop the state's drive last year toward a single-payer health care system, which insurers have spent millions to scare Americans into believing would be the worst thing ever. Despite the ceaseless spin, Vermont lawmakers last May demonstrated they could not be bought nor intimidated when they became the first in the nation to pass a bill that will probably establish a single-payer beachhead in the U.S.more »
The Success of Romney's Health Care Pander
Not only has Romney escaped any serious harm for his (huge) role in setting the template for “Obamacare,” but his constant denunciations of the law have given him credibility with actual conservatives, who now endorse the former Massachusetts governor’s logic on Romneycare. It’s simply incredible to me that conservatives would buy Romney’s ridiculous logic. But it seems that they trust Romney enough on health care repeal to let the issue slide. Which should put a damper on liberal hopes that, if elected, Romney won’t try to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. For as much as the public is skeptical of politicians, presidents genuinely try to fulfill the promises they made as candidates. If you want to know how Mitt Romney will govern, all you have to do is listen to him. And in that case, a President Romney would cater to the rich, return to the bellicose foreign policy of George W. Bush, and dismantle the social safety net, Obamacare included.more »
Latest from our Bloggers
jan
31
2012
8:44 am
8:44 am
On the menu this morning:
- MORNING MESSAGE: China Cheats—Push May Come To Shove
- Trade Battles with China
- Florida Vote: From SuperPACs to Super Crash
- More Mortgage Fraud Settlement Fears
- Freddie Mac's Bets against Homeowners
- Unemployment Compensation Fight
- Breakfast Sides
jan
10
2012
1:51 pm
1:51 pm
President Obama will host a forum on insourcing jobs Wednesday. The forum will feature leaders of several companies who have already shifted jobs back home and are encouraging others to do the same. According to the White House, more »
jan
5
2012
9:25 am
9:25 am
On the menu this morning:
dec
20
2011
12:13 pm
12:13 pm
It's adorable that Politifact's "lie of the year" is being touted as some kind of overwhelming proof that the Republicans didn't vote to end Medicare when they all voted to replace it with an inadequate voucher program. Does everyone know that the Republicans stuffed the ballot box?
Dave Weigel flagged this back on December 7th:
more »
dec
16
2011
12:44 pm
12:44 pm
In case you were wondering whether the Village would be dizzy with excitement over the Ryan-Wyden plan, here's NBC's First Read:
*** Wyden gives Romney cover: When he was asked about the new Paul Ryan (R)/Ron Wyden (D) Medicare proposal at last night’s debate, Romney said, “I hope people understand just how big today is for this country.” And if he’s the nominee, he won’t be kidding. Wyden partnering with Ryan on a plan to give seniors a choice between Medicare and a privatized system -- which just happens to be Romney’s own plan -- gives the former Massachusetts governor LOTS of cover on Medicare.
Earlier this week, we mentioned that President Obama hasn’t been performing well among seniors, and that Democrats are hoping that the Paul Ryan plan would help them narrow that margin. Consider this: At a time when Olympia Snowe or Susan Collins is hesitant to partner with the White House on any kind of legislation, specifically health care, here comes Ron Wyden embracing Paul Ryan. We know in political circles (especially in Chicago) Democrats have to be furious right now.
*** Why? The bipartisan stamp of approval: This is a potentially gigantic move. We know some Democrats think they can STILL run against the Romney-Ryan plan, but the bipartisan stamp of approval in push-backs from someone that isn’t viewed as someone who is simply a centrist Democrat trying to survive in a red state, is a pretty good response. And get this: Democrats are trying to win a special congressional election -- on Medicare! -- in Wyden’s home state of Oregon….
Even the liberal Ron Wyden ...
more »dec
15
2011
3:06 pm
3:06 pm
Many of the big supporters of the Health Care reform have said that the idea was to eventually apply apply its logic to Medicare. That is, that Medicare would eventually be a subsidy system with "choice" among private insurers and perhaps a public option (as long as the industry says it's ok.) I don't know that people understood that to be the eventual goal of the health care reforms, but evidently that was understood by many of those who were most enthusiastic about it.( In fact, a lot of people understood the opposite --- that the health care reforms would eventually lead to single-payer.)
Last night Democratic Senator Ron Wyden took a step toward making that "dream" a reality. He and Paul Ryan announced that they have teamed up to promote a plan to make Medicare a voucher plan by 2022, (just as the second half of the baby boom enters the system.) One might have thought the prudent thing would be to wait and see how the health care reforms work before throwing the sickest population into the mix, but apparently we just "know" it's the way to go.
more »dec
13
2011
9:06 am
9:06 am
Each morning, Bill Scher and Terrance Heath serve up what progressives need to effect change on the kitchen-table issues families face: jobs, health care, green energy, financial reform, affordable education and retirement security. Bill Scher returns Wednesday.
MORNING MESSAGE: Let's Talk Serious Economic Recovery
dec
12
2011
8:57 am
8:57 am
On the menu this morning:
- MORNING MESSAGE: Tell Obama To Stop Protecting Bankers
- Bair: Pain Relief for Mortgage Headache?
- Business Try To Milk Payroll Tax Deal
- Krugman Calls It A Depression
- Occupy Update
