[Peace-discuss] [cchcc-l] What's going on with health reform? An overview.

[C. G. ESTABROOK]

[It seems better to oppose the administration's attempts to increase the profits 
of the insurance companies and work for what we really want. As Kucinich points 
out, there are strong single-payer movements is several states, including ours.]

	Kucinich: It’s High Time for Single-Payer Health Care
	By MIKE LILLIS 2/8/10 5:15 PM

As Republican leaders are urging President Obama to scrap the Democrats’ health 
care reform legislation and start the process from scratch, they’ve found an 
unlikely ally in Rep. Dennis Kucinich. The Ohio Democrat — a perennial 
presidential candidate — wants President Obama to consider government-sponsored, 
single-payer health coverage in lieu of the insurance industry-based reforms 
being proposed by Democratic leaders.

In a letter to Obama today, Kucinich argues that single payer is “the only 
health care [system] that has consistently proven to address each of the 
criteria you have outlined for a satisfactory heath care plan.”

As you know, Medicare for All increases quality, provides coverage for everyone, 
and controls costs.

The Ohio liberal is urging Obama to include a single-payer advocate as part of 
the bipartisan health reform summit the White House will host on Feb. 25.
Indeed, Kucinich offered himself to be that advocate.

http://washingtonindependent.com/76105/kucinich-its-high-time-for-single-payer-health-care

Allison Jones wrote:
> Dear Friends,
> 
> Staff of the Champaign County Health Care Consumers (CCHCC) attended a
> national health advocacy conference in Washington, DC at the end of January,
> where we learned a lot about health reform. I want to share with you the
> most important things that we learned.
> 
> Below is a VERY brief overview of the information I would like to share with
> you. Over the next few days, I will be sending you additional messages that
> provide more information on each of the points outlined below. But I thought
> I would start with just a brief, simple overview. I know some of you will
> have lots of questions, and I hope our subsequent e-mails will help answer
> some of those questions.
> 
> Here is a very brief overview of what CCHCC learned in Washington, DC:
> 
> 1. The Massachusetts special Senate election did change the legislative
> landscape for health reform - it would now be near impossible, given the
> political dynamics, to pass another health reform bill through the Senate,
> because the 60 vote filibuster-proof Democratic majority is gone.
> Reconciling the House and Senate bills and getting that reconciled version
> through both chambers is not a political possibility. A new strategy is
> needed.
> 
> 2. The President and leaders in Congress understand that doing nothing is
> NOT an option. Your advocacy efforts ARE working!
> 
> 3. Legislatively, the best way forward is to have the House pass the Senate
> version of health reform, PLUS have both chambers pass budget reconciliation
> legislation, in which some "fixes" would be made to the Senate bill.
> 
> 4. The budget reconciliation process is nothing new or unusual, and is a
> perfectly appropriate way of making changes to the Senate health bill.
> 
> 5. The Senate bill has many VERY good provisions that would go into effect
> THIS YEAR and would help millions of Americans and thousands of CCHCC's
> constituents. Some of these provisions may surprise you (they surprised me!
> We've been so focused on witnessing the ugly legislative process and all the
> compromises made along the way, that it's been hard to focus on positive
> developments).
> 
> 6. Stay tuned for action alerts calling on you to contact legislators to
> tell them that "doing nothing is not an option. Pass the Senate bill plus
> budget reconciliation and make health reform a reality!"
> 
> Stay tuned for more messages where I will provide more details about the
> items above, and look for opportunities to take action!
> 
> I hope this message gives you a sense of how we can move forward on national
> health reform.
> 
> Let me take this opportunity to thank you for your ongoing support, and to
> let you know that I truly believe that, with all of us staying active, we
> can make health reform happen this year!
> 
> Best wishes and thank you,
> Claudia Lennhoff, CCHCC Executive Director
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Champaign County Health Care Consumers
> 44 E. Main Street  Suite 208
> Champaign, IL 61820
>  
> Phone: (217) 352-6533
> Fax:   (217) 352-9745 
> E-mail: cchcc at healthcareconsumers.org
> Web:    www.healthcareconsumers.org
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 
> Support health care justice - donate to CCHCC today! Visit our website to make a tax-deductible contribution today. 
> http://www.healthcareconsumers.org/index.php?action=Donation
> _______________________________________________
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