Rendell Encounters Rosie, the Single Payer Activist
April 12, 2007
On 4/12/07, Skostouf@aol.com
Following is background and an encounter I had with Gov. Ed Rendell on Wednesday, 4/4/07, at the Health Care Forum at F&M sponsored by the Lancaster based Progressives 4 PA.
Rosie
The panel included 2 physicians, an economist, an employee benefits executive, HelpFundPA Executive Director Chuck Pennacchio, and arriving late and leaving early, Gov. Ed Rendell. The governor breezed in when Chuck, the last of the 4 previous speakers, was wrapping up. He therefore missed the fact that the 2 physicians and the economist provided evidence supportive of the single payer plan (Family and Business Health Care Security Act of 2007, SB300) that Chuck so eloquently promoted. Rendell’s pejorative tone toward Chuck and those of us who support the Family and Business Health Care Security Act of 2007, as well as his contradictory statements regarding a single payer plan, was exactly the kind of rhetoric that gives politicians a bad name. Rendell exhibited contempt for the people and physicians but sheer adoration for insurance companies. At one point he joked, “I’d like to wake up tomorrow and comb my hair in a pompadour, but that’s not gonna happen. And passing a single payer health care bill isn’t gonna happen.” The governor accused those of us supporting the single payer bill of engaging in a Quixotic tilting at windmills. When he finished speaking, the governor entertained a few questions and then HAD to leave. Since I had not been given a chance to present my comments/questions, Rendell said I could talk to him on his way out of the building, so I did.
Here’s how that went— lightly paraphrased:
ROSIE: Governor, your political prowess is legendary. If you were to push SB300(single payer) it would have a good chance of passing.
GUV: It can’t work at the state level, only at the national level.
ROSIE: Have you read the bill (which Rendell has in the past said he’d sign if it passes the legislature), because if you had you’d realize that it will work in PA.
GUV: I’ve read it. It can’t work at the state level.
ROSIE: The Harrisburg Patriot and the Philadelphia Inquirer have endorsed our single payer plan.
GUV: It can’t work at the state level.
ROSIE: In your address tonight you stated that during a period of years when inflation rose 16%, health insurance premiums increased 75%. Why would you continue to reward these irresponsible insurance companies who have contributed to our health care crisis.
GUV: ( Not much by way of comment ; changing the subject) The health care plan proposed by presidential candidate John Edwards is a good one .
ROSIE: The Edwards plan is pretty good, and it does lead to a single payer plan.
GUV: Does not!
ROSIE: Does too!
GUV: Does not!
ROSIE: Does too!
Well, you get the idea. As we neared the door, I made one last comment referring to his earlier pompadour remark:
ROSIE: Governor, get yourself some Rogaine, grow that pompadour, and give us single payer health care!!!!!!!!!
For more on single payer see improved site: http://www.HelpFundPa.org
And now, for double-speak(1984) and Rendell-speak…from John Morgan……
Subj: Rendell-speak….single payer…and Rosie’s encounter w. the Guv!
Date: 04/12/2007 10:36:13 AM Eastern Daylight Time
From: Skostouf
To: Skostouf
from John Morgan’s http://www.thepennsylvaniaprogressive.com
Rendell’s Dishonesty on Health Care
Ed Rendell likes to say he’d sign a single payer, comprehensive health care bill providing universal coverage but he’s parsing his words. He’s being dishonest because he’s implying he supports such a bill when he does not. The Governor is actually doing everything within his power to stop Senate Bill 300, an actual single payer, comprehensive, universal health care bill, from being introduced and enacted into law.
We caught him lying his way through a health care forum last week in Lancaster when he claimed such a bill has no chance of being passed and that no such a bill has yet to pass anywhere. It did pass in California but they have the exact same obstacle to overcome as here: the Governor. The fact is that unless Ed Rendell wakes up and becomes a real Democrat fighting for the people he’ll never be able to able establish a legacy of taking care of the people much less be able to comb a pompadour.
The fact is if the Governor supports the single payer bill it can be passed and he can sign it into law. Rendell falsely claimed the bill has no Republican support but if he’d bothered to stick around or bothered to listen to the other participants at the forum, or allowed any of them to respond to the questions asked he would have discovered he was wrong about that.
Rendell sold out to the health insurance industry. He took $183,000 from their PAC’s and thousands more in individual contributions from executives of AmeriChoice and other companies preying on the citizenry. They’ve bought off the Governor and now he’s determined to give them what they want: a state requirement that every resident MUST purchase health insurance from one of their companies.
He isn’t telling you that part of the deal however. He’s going about giving lip service to the benefits of single payer while siding with the other side. Instead of realizing he doesn’t have to run for office again and being freed from any obligations he might feel indebted to and doing the right thing for the people of Pennsylvania he’s trying to screw everyone instead. Instead of making his final term in public office about taking care of the people he’s taking care of health insurance companies.
I circulated his petition last year and voted for him in November. Now I regret having done that. It’s a good thing he isn’t running again because as the word gets out about his dishonesty regarding this issue he’ll be losing considerable support. I believed the Governor when he told us he’d sign a single payer bill. I mistakenly thought that meant he supported true health care reform. He doesn’t and he isn’t. His words cannot hide his actions and his actions speak louder than his words. When he announced his plan and the CEO of Highmark was standing beside him we all knew this was nothing more than a corporate welfare program for the health insurance industry.
Rendell said his plan covers mental health but it doesn’t. His own proposed bill says only that all benefits are “limited.” It says nothing about comprehensive care. It also requires health care providers to continue establishing and documenting their indigent care practices which acknowledges his plan doesn’t provide universal coverage. Don’t believe anything Rendell is telling you about his plan or his support for different plans. Read the bills and see for yourself what’s covered and what isn’t.
People are suffering and dying every day at the hands of the insurance industry. These corporations are legally required to serve their shareholders rather you, the insured. That is the fundamental flaw in this system. Our legal system mandates they deny you care so they can maximize profits, that’s how capitalism works. The reason we have government is to take care of the people where private business cannot and health care should be one of those fundamental government operations. Where lives are at stake, where safety nets are crucial, government needs to be there to insure care and treatment, not private business.
The single payer system proposed here is not socialized medicine. No doctors, nurses, aides, or any other care provider would be employed by government. They all remain privately employed. Hospitals and other providers remain private businesses. What we change is the collection of premiums and the disbursement of payments to providers. Instead of these private companies in business for profit or to enrich their financial reserves at your expense, a single state agency collects payroll taxes and a personal income tax (in lieu of a premium) from individuals then uses those funds to pay doctors and hospitals for your treatment. The 20-25% of current health care costs being spent on advertising, CEO salaries and agent commissions is enough to cover all the uninsured. It’s time for a real solution to this crisis and a real solution can never be achieved unless we deal with the biggest obstacle to universal coverage: the insurance companies.
Rendell loves to talk and talk and talk about cutting waste from the system. He goes on and on about emergency rooms and nurses not being allowed to sew stitches, about hospital acquired infections and all that. What he neglects to mention is the biggest single waste of health care dollars: the vast bureaucracy of adjustors, auditors, claims specialists, actuaries, etc. duplicating each others efforts in hundreds of different insurance companies. That’s the largest source of waste in the system and the Governor’s plan does not deal with that problem. Until you do Guv, STFU.
Fattah announces his health plan
January 27, 2007
Posted on Fri, Jan. 26, 2007
Fattah proposes checkups yearly for the uninsured
“Health care is going to be a priority,” the mayoral candidate said of his latest policy initiative.
By Marcia Gelbart
Inquirer Staff Writer
Mayoral candidate Chaka Fattah wants Philadelphia doctors and other medical professionals to provide free yearly checkups for every uninsured Philadelphian. He also wants city workers, union and nonunion, to get health coverage from the same insurance provider.
He even wants to recast himself as Philly’s own Richard Simmons, leading residents in morning stretches.
“We can’t do the things I want to do” – generate new jobs and expand education programs – “unless our citizens are healthy,” Fattah said yesterday at St. Christopher’s Hospital, where he unveiled a wide-ranging assortment of health-care proposals, the third in a series of policy initiatives released by his campaign. “I’m here to say that health care is going to be a priority of a Fattah administration.”
This makes him the first among five Democratic mayoral rivals to address health care in detail as the campaign for the May 15 primary heats up.
Health insurance costs here, as in other cities, have been skyrocketing. The the cost of insuring city employees is projected to grow by $147 million in the next five years.
“This is one of the key financial issues that is facing the city, and the next mayor is going to have to tackle it, and tackle it fairly quickly,” said Rob Dubow, executive director of the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority, the city’s fiscal overseer.
Fattah proposes lowering costs by using competitive bidding to select a single health insurer to cover the city’s 23,000 municipal employees, and possibly enlarge the pool to include Philadelphia School District workers and others.
Most city employees are now insured by various providers who have contracts with the city’s four municipal unions. Right now, the health-care cost per employee is $12,623.
“Every mayor wants to consolidate stuff to control costs,” said Bob Wolper, a longtime consultant for AFSCME District Council 33, which represents the city’s blue-collar workers. Doing so would hardly be easy, he said.
“The tradition for public-sector workers over the years has been to get a good benefits package in lieu of [higher] wages,” he said, “and so people will be leery about tearing it apart and starting from scratch.”
District Council 47 president Tom Cronin, whose members are mostly white-collar municipal workers, declined comment for now on Fattah’s plan, except to call it “a serious proposal.”
While the use of a single provider could lower expenses, other parts of Fattah’s plan would cost money, such as renovating the city’s district health centers and expanding their hours into the evenings and weekends.
The plan included no item-by-item cost analysis, but Fattah said the entire initiative would cost $27 million to $36 million a year.
Some of the proposals would cost nothing. For instance, he envisions an all-volunteer network of medical professionals to give free annual checkups to the city’s 140,000 uninsured residents.
This idea drew a cautious welcome from the head of a doctors’ group. “I think if it were organized, and if it were distributed fairly, physicians might be willing and able to provide services in kind as it were,” George M. Wohlreich, director and chief executive officer of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, said last night.
Other ideas on Fattah’s list have been under way in the Street administration, such as removing lead paint from buildings citywide. And one proposal reads as if written by Street, a fitness buff: If elected, “Fattah will begin each of his quarterly visits to the 10 Councilmanic districts with an exercise event, during which he will lead people from the neighborhood in a morning exercise activity.”
Phila Health Center 3-5 month wait
January 9, 2007
Press release
Contact: Brady Russell,
Organizer, 267.971.1680
Report: It takes too long to see a city doctor
Low-income workers and the uninsured call for an accessible public primary care system
(Philadelphia – 1/9/2006) – The medically uninsured are waiting as long as five months to get into City run District Health Centers for the first time, according to a new report by the Philadelphia Unemployment Project [P.U.P.] called “Waiting: 3-to-5 months for first appointments at District Health Centers.” This morning, members of the Philadelphia Unemployment Project [P.U.P.] gathered outside of Health Center #2 with their supporters to release the report and call on the city to do more for people without insurance.
“We want the Health Centers to have enough staff so people can be seen,” said Irma Sumler, a member of P.U.P’s Health Care Committee and user of Health Center #3. “We also want the hours extended every night and regular hours on Saturday. The people working without insurance can’t afford to take off to go to the doctor.”
According to the most recent data from the Philadelphia Health Management Corporation’s Community Health Database [http://www.phmc.org/chdb/], nearly 140,000 people are living without health insurance in Philadelphia. Nationally, 82% of them are in families headed by workers, and 59% of uninsured workers work full-time.*
“People assume that if you’ve got a full time job, then you don’t have a problem with health care. The truth is that most uninsured people have jobs. We can see that in entry level jobs people don’t get the benefits that provide health care. How can you look for work or expect to work if you don’t believe you have a way to protect the health of you and your family?” Andre Butler, chair of the P.U.P board and Health Center #10 user, said.
Sumler said she continued using the Health Center even after she got onto Medicare and no longer had to. She said she likes going to the health centers, but added that she’s seen services diminish as staff have moved on or retired, “They used to be a one-stop shop for everything you needed, which is how it should be.”
The “Waiting” report compiles the results of several dozen calls made by PUP members and staff on two different occassions (first in the Summer and then in the Fall), calling all the health centers to ask for a first appointment for an uninsured, Philadelphia resident. While a few people were offered appointments within a month, that was only sporadically. Over two-thirds of the callers were offered appointments at least three months out, some as late as five months out.
The results come as no surprise to long-time supporters and users of District Health Centers. Sue Rosenthal, chair of Health Center #10’s Community Board, issued a statement on behalf of all the Community Board chairs, “We – the chairs of the eight Philadelphia Health Center Community Boards – are deeply disturbed by the results of your research … It is our hope your report will galvanize the Administration to relieve the unnecessary misery and danger caused to Health Center patients by the Administrations unconsionable delays.” Rosenthal explained that the City failed to hire for the new positions approved for the Health Centers in the 2006 budget and did a poor job of refilling empty positions.
Richard Weisshaupt, Senior Attorney at Community Legal Services, said: “The kind of wait times documented by PUP are simply not acceptable — we would not tolerate such delay in other City services essential to public health and safety, like police and fire. Hopefully, the uncovering of this scandal will be the first step towards fixing this terrible problem.”
Currently, each District Health Center has a different night of the week that it stays open later than 4:30 PM. Only Health Center #2 has Saturday hours, which run from 8AM to Noon. All residents of Philadelphia may access District Health Centers, whether or not they have insurance. To find a Health Center near you, call, (215) 685-6790.
###
The Philadelphia Unemployment Project [PUP]is a membership organization of unemployed and low-wage workers. It began in 1975 to help meet the needs of the unemployed during that year’s recession. PUP has remained a leader in the struggle for economic justice in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania.
Rendell to push health coverage
December 12, 2006
From today’s Philly Inquirer. Sounds like a proposal to support nurse practitioners and not a supporter of single payer.
He plans a major initiative to insure more people and to make care more efficient.
By Amy Worden and Angela Couloumbis
Inquirer Harrisburg Bureau
HARRISBURG – Gov. Rendell next month will unveil a plan to greatly expand health-care coverage for the uninsured while attempting to rein in spiraling health-care costs, a move he said was sure to produce “widespread squawking.”
In what is likely to be a key initiative of his second-term agenda, Rendell yesterday offered few details about the two-pronged proposal, except to say it was aimed at providing medical coverage to roughly one million uninsured Pennsylvanians and targeting providers with cost-containment measures.
Speaking at his annual year-end interview with Capitol reporters, the governor said he felt compelled to act because of the increasing number of uninsured residents in Pennsylvania.
“It used to be that health care was a poor people’s issue,” he said. “… But now, retirees who thought they had health care that was guaranteed for life are seeing that health care vanish and disappear. Workers, each time their contract is up, having to co-pay more and more for their own health care… . So even if I am a worker who has health-care coverage, I’m worried.”
It was unclear how much of Rendell’s proposal could be completed through the regulatory process or executive order, and what elements would need legislative approval.
Hinting that a possible battle with the General Assembly was looming, Rendell challenged all parties involved to find the “intestinal fortitude to look down the barrel of the special interests” to support the proposal.
“This plan will mete out pain to everybody in the health-care delivery system – everyone,” said Rendell. “It will step on everyone’s toes. It will make everyone tighten their belts. It will make everyone have to do things more effectively and efficiently.”
The governor did tick off several cost-cutting measures he said he would include in next month’s proposal, including implementing measures to reduce infections that patients might get while in the hospital; changing regulations to allow nurse-practitioners to handle some duties now performed under the supervision of doctors; and adding new sections within hospital emergency rooms, staffed by nurse-practitioners, to treat minor ailments and injuries.
Referring to the expanded insurance coverage, Rendell made it clear yesterday that his proposal would not follow Massachusetts’ universal health-care plan, set to go into effect next spring, which works through government funding and pooled contributions from employers.
Rendell said his insurance proposal would follow the model of how he expanded the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) this year “with pay-ins depending on your income level.”
“I’m not proposing a single-payer system,” he said. “A single-payer system means that [a private employer] doesn’t need to have its own health-care plan because everyone goes into one statewide plan, but then everyone pays significant taxes to fund that plan.
“We think that is less achievable and less workable,” he said.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 1.3 million Pennsylvania residents – 10.5 percent of the state’s population – lacked health insurance in 2005.
Several groups representing hospitals and doctors said yesterday that they did not want to weigh in on the governor’s plan until they could review the complete proposal.
In general, however, most agreed that changes needed to be made – the debate would be over what those changes should be.
“Any systemic reform is going to involve a lot of different stakeholders and no doubt there will be robust debate of every piece of it,” said Andrew Wigglesworth, president of the Delaware Valley Healthcare Council, an association of hospitals and health systems in Southeastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.
Chuck Moran, director of media relations for the Pennsylvania Medical Society, said some of the group’s members had participated in committees Rendell had put together during the last year to study the health-care issue. Those members, he said, “have been sworn to secrecy.”
But Moran said the society believes physicians and nurse practitioners must be “partners,” and that any concerns about expanding the powers of nurses “usually involve invasive procedures, and what kinds of medication they can prescribe.”
Others, such as Roger Baumgarten, spokesman for the Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania, pointed out that there is a shortage of nurse practitioners in Pennsylvania.
“We look forward to seeing how that is addressed as well,” he said.
Rendell said studies show that nurse practitioners can handle 70 percent of what doctors do, so there was no reason not to use nurse practitioners more widely.
“I want to free nurse practitioners to virtually do anything that they are capable of doing and unlock all the regulations and restrictions and put them back into the game,” he said. “You don’t open up brain surgery to nurse practitioners, but those things that academics believe they can do, they can do.”
Rendell used himself – and the state’s insurance plan – as an example to illustrate how health-care costs can be cut. He said he was recently notified that if he wanted to continue taking the brand-name anti-cholesterol drug Zocor, he would have to pay $160 per prescription, compared with $10 for the generic version.
“I panicked because I’ve done so well on Zocor and my doctor had me read the generic that they had specified, and in the end, my doctor said don’t worry, it’s exactly the same,” said Rendell. “The point is, we are doing things that businesses should be doing. And we want to make it easier for businesses to do those things.”
Contact staff writer Amy Worden at 717-783-2584 or aworden@phillynews.com.
Single payer video from Calif
December 9, 2006
While about single payer in California, you may find this an interesting video explaining single payer.
Calling All Penna Single Payer Advocates
November 29, 2006
This is a chance for state health care leaders who wish to push for single payer health care to meet with other leaders across Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania health leadership committee action conference #2
December 15, 2006 – 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm
West Chester University, Pennsylvania
Over 35 leaders of health care reform oriented organizations, from all corners of the Commonwealth, attended the first action meeting in Harrisburg last month. A tremendous amount was accomplished including the formation of a 501(c)(4) advocacy organization:
Health Education and Legislative Progress Fund of Pennsylvania, Inc. – the “HELP Fund”
We set as our goal a fund raising target of $1 million to support a well organized and staffed campaign to achieve passage of the Balanced and Comprehensive Health Reform Act* by Thanksgiving 2007.
This is the opportunity for every organization, large or small, to join together to assure health care reform that works for families and business.
West Chester University – Graduate Business Center
1160 McDermott Drive, West, Chester PA 19380
Directions: From the PA Turnpike (Eastbound or Westbound)and from PA 76 (The Schuykill), Take the King of Prussia Exit to Route 202 S, toward West Chester. Travel approximately 13 miles south to the Boot Road Exit (next exit beyond Route 30/Frazer, Exton exit), turn left onto Boot Road. At second traffic light (in front of a fire station), turn right onto Greenhill Road. Travel about 1/2 mile to McDermott Drive on the left (there is a daycare – Chesterbrook Academy on the corner). Turn left onto McDermott Drive, the WCU, GBC is the second building on the right (directly behind the daycare). Nadine Bean can help the lost through her cell phone number: 610-220-1345
Hotels: Hampton Inn, Great Valley, 635 Lancaster Avenue,Frazer PA (at Route 202 & 30) – (610) 699-1300; Sheraton Great Valley, 707 Lancaster Avenue, Farzer PA (also at @Rts. 202 & 30) – (610) 524-5500; Microtel Inn & Suites, 500 Willowbrook Lane, West Chester PA (just south on 202 from the GBC), (610) 738-9111.
* For information about the Balanced and Comprehensive Health Reform Act – www.pahcsc.org
Questions and RSVP please – 412-749-1882
Western PA Coalition for Single-Payer Healthcare–Update
November 13, 2006
From our friends in Western PA. A wonderfui accout of their efforts. If you want more information about what they are doing, please contact Sandy Fox at sm2fox@yahoo.com (412) 421-8233
I want to update you on a couple of recent events.
First, on Thursday October 26th the Pittsburgh Interfaith Impact Network (PIIN) had it’s annual Public Action, which was held at Petra International Ministries in the East Hills. An estimated 700 people attended. Issues presented included single-payer universal healthcare, dedicated funding for mass transit, local workforce development, safe and affordable housing, and civil rights for immigrants. The single-payer issue was presented first. I discussed the problem of the uninsured and underinsured, the solution of single-payer, and barriers to this solution (influence of insurance and pharmaceutical industries; ideological differences, i.e. those who believe healthcare is a privilege, not a right; and fear of change). State Senator Jim Ferlo, who had originally planned to attend and give brief comments in support, was unable to attend due to an unexpected call back to Harrisburg for a vote on lobbying legislation (which passed–yea!). Chad Kluko (Democratic candidate, US House of Reps, 18th Congressional District), Titus North (Green Party candidate, US House of Reps, 14th C.D.), and a representative from Mike Doyle’s office (Democratic incumbent, US House of Reps, 14th C.D.) responded to the question “Are you willing to support a single-payer model of healthcare reform?” Each was given 30 seconds to elaborate and gave strong statements of support for federal single-payer legislation, referring to HR 676, the US National Health Insurance Act introduced by Rep. John Conyers. I noted to the audience that Melissa Hart, Tim Murphy, and Jason Altimire had declined the invitation to attend. The Governor arrived later and was asked the same question by Rev. Welch, the President of PIIN, along with questions on two other issues. Rev. Welch preceded the question with a statement to the Governor that “The answer to all three questions is ‘yes.’ The Governor said he supports national single-payer healthcare reform. He expressed doubt that the state legislature would pass single-payer legislation, but indicated that if they did, he would sign it. He also said that in the meantime, he would recommend alternative healthcare reform measures, which he did not elaborate upon.
Second, on Tuesday October 31st, the Pennsylvania Commission for Women sponsored a presentation at Magee Women’s Hospital called “WOMEN OF THE CABINET SPEAK OUT: The Status of Women’s Health in Pennsylvania–Where We’ve Been and Where We’re Going.” The moderator was Leslie Stiles, Executive Director of the PA Commission for Women. The panelists were all from the Governor’s cabinet, as follows: Nora Dowd Eisenhower, Secretary of the Dept. of Aging; Rosemarie Greco, Director of the Office of Health Care Reform; Diane Koken, Insurance Commissioner; and Estelle Richman, Secretary of the Dept. of Public Welfare.
I was pleased by the turnout from our group (about 10 -12), the Western PA Coalition on Single-Payer Healthcare. Thank you to all who came. We strategically scattered ourselves throughout the audience. Estimates vary of how many were in the audience, from 100 – 140, almost all women. Our presence was especially important given the message of the panelists and moderator, which said to me that this group is very much out of touch with the struggles of many families and individuals trying to get the healthcare they need. A few highlights:
Leslie Stiles, the moderator, paid homage to Highmark with her remarks “We are grateful to Highmark… wonderful corporation…”, applauding their work on the Education Kiosk for healthcare prevention that Ms. Stiles was touting, noting “Education is the key to healthcare prosperity.” A corporate representative from Highmark, who was in the audience, was identified for special recognition.
Diane Koken, the Insurance Commissioner, presented lower figures for the number of uninsured in PA (900,000 or 8% of the state pop. vs the almost 1, 400,000 or 11% of the state pop. that the Kaiser Family Foundation reports from the latest Census Report). Ms. Koken did note their numbers differ from other statistics, and while she did not elaborate on how her figures were arrived at, she expressed pride at the lower rate of uninsurance in PA relative to other states, stating “We are moving in the right direction.” She also expressed satisfaction at the passage of the “Cover all Kids” legislation and the lower waiting list for Adult Basic (now 60,000). She noted that one of the functions of her job is to evaluate what level of insurance company surplus is acceptable and to approve increases in health care premiums. She spoke at length about the increase in healthcare costs, which she attributed to a “number of interactive factors.” To reduce costs, Ms. Koken focused primarily on reducing medical errors, improving quality of care to save money, making information on healthcare prevention more available ( e.g., smoking cessation; diet, exercise, and nutrition), and shopping for healthcare and health insurance.
Rosemary Greco, Director of the Office of Health Care Reform, stated “We cannot have accessible, affordable, quality health care unless…” we make people accountable for their healthcare. She indicated that they recently completed their work with four advisory panels of 101 Pennsylvanians who looked at the healthcare problem and recommended to her Office that “we start with kids;” help small businesses; reduce hospital errors; “in our schools… healthy children initiative;” and consider utilization of advanced nurse practitioners in underserved areas to improve access to healthcare.
After about an hour and a half of listening to the moderator and panelists, the audience was allowed to respond. Ginny Eskridge, from our group, was the first one called on and quickly indicated her displeasure with the message and endorsed single-payer universal healthcare as the solution we need. In response, a signifcant amount of loud clapping erupted from around the room–a gratifying moment! The panelists seemed surprised and continued to be as the comments continued. I believe they expected affirmation, not disagreement, with their plans to address the healthcare problems. I was called upon next, and also expressed my distress with a number of their remarks, noting the lack of medication and mental health coverage with Adult Basic, and the Insurance Commissioners’ comments encouraging people to shop for insurance. I disclosed my own difficulty obtaining any other insurance than the Highmark plan I have due to preexisting conditions and cost, noting that 60% of my salary already goes to paying for insurance premiums and out-of-pocket expenses. I further noted that Highmark had cut all of my family’s medication coverage and first added, then increased, our deductibles. The Insurance Commissioner later responded back that she did not mean to shop for health insurance, that she meant other type of insurance (not true, given her statements about making sure you have coverage for long-term care, etc.). I also expressed my opinion that Highmark’s 2.8 billion dollar surplus exceeded reasonable limits and that the best way to reduce cost was to institute a single-payer system. I stated that at the PIIN event the week before, in front of 700 people, the Governor said he supported a national single-payer system and that he further said he would sign legislation for a state single payer bill if it came to him. I imagine this was news to his staff, though Rosemarie Greco commented that yes, she knows the Governor is supportive of this. Estelle Richman said it would take 7,000, not 700, to push this and that healthcare is not near the top of the list of priorities for the American people. To my shock, she said terrorism is the number one concern of people today, and listed the economy, and other factors before healthcare (which, if my memory serves me correctly, she put at 5th or lower). (Frankly, she sounded an awful like Senator Santorum at this point.) Ginny and I both spoke of our disagreement with this from the audience, but Secretary Richman was adamant. (In my opinion, the War in Iraq is at the top of the list for many, followed by domestic concerns, with healthcare at or near the top of this list). After I spoke, Allen Kukovich, Director of the Governor’s Southwest Regional Office, who had been sitting in the front row center of the auditorium, got up, came over to me, gave me his card, and told me to call him so we could meet and talk. (I plan to.) Meanwhile, another person was called upon to speak, and the moderator expressed gratitude for her remark to “change the tone” of the conversation. Rosemary Prostko, also with our group, was called upon towards the end, and commented on the difficulty for consumers in getting information on healthcare costs.
When the event ended and we left the auditorium, the panelists gathered near a small group of us and Rosemarie Greco approached. I spoke with her and recommended they have an advocate for single-payer on their advisory panel. She said that part of the process is over, at which point I asked her if they would continue to have consumer involvement as their shaped their plans. She responded with some hesitation but said yes. I gave her my card, though I don’t expect her to contact me.
I have to say that the encounter with these members of the Governor’s cabinet was a learning experience. Regardless of whether we have a Democrat or Republican in office, we need to continue to advocate and press for single-payer reform. Currently, the only party that has adopted single-payer reform as part of its platform is the Green Party. So we have our work cut out for us. In many ways, Estelle Richman is right–the more people that come out for single-payer, the more likely we are to get it, and we need to continue to build our numbers. In the meantime, our 300+ people at the Hearing in May, the 700 at PIIN’s Public Action this October, and the hard work we have done in between, HAS made a difference. The difference in US Rep. Mike Doyle’s statements before the Hearing, at the Hearing, and at the Public Action (as read by his representative), is testimony to that, as well as the growing support from other elected officials and candidates.
My best to you all. Thanks for your patience if you have read this far. Let’s hope for good news with this election and continued growth in our movement as we work for single-payer universal healthcare reform!
We deserve U.S. health care
October 30, 2006
We deserve U.S. health care
Most citizens back national insurance. A bill in Congress would provide this.
By Adam Gilden Tsai
Imagine if Congress passed a bill requiring national public discussions regarding the state of health care in America. Then imagine that these discussions actually happened across our country, and that across the country there was actually a consensus that we need national health insurance to ensure that everyone has access to care. Finally, imagine that when the final report, to be presented to the President and Congress, is drafted, the report makes no mention of this consensus.
There is no need to imagine these things because they have actually happened. The same act that created the Medicare prescription-drug plan mandated the Citizens’ Health Care Working Group (www.citizenshealthcare.gov). The group, which included people from medical and public-health backgrounds, held meetings in cities across the country this year. The questions asked (and voted on) at each meeting were the same, and fell into several categories: what health-care services are important; how health care should be delivered; how best to pay for care; and what trade-offs Americans are willing to make to ensure access to quality affordable health care.
I attended the Philadelphia meeting in April, and there was a range of opinions on some of the topics discussed. Some people voiced a need for better coverage of services such as eye and dental care; others wanted more comprehensive end-of-life care; and still others felt we needed a more rigorous system of health education. There also were differences of opinion on financing issues. For example, some people believe that only the most basic level of benefits should be covered and that everything else should be paid for out-of-pocket, while others felt that anything deemed effective by providers and patients should be covered.
One thing, however, on which there was strong consensus at the Philadelphia meeting, and across the country, was that we need a national health-care system to ensure that everyone has access to care. In fact, when given a choice of 10 reform options, participants in most cities clearly favored a national health program by a ratio of at least 3-1. At meetings where participants were asked to rank the 10 options, national health insurance was ranked first 16 of 19 times (Billings, Mont.; Denver; Des Moines, Iowa; Detroit; Eugene, Ore.; Indianapolis; Jackson, Miss.; Kansas City, Mo.; Memphis, Tenn.; Miami; New York; Philadelphia; Phoenix; Providence, R.I.; Sacramento, Calif.; and Seattle). At two meetings, participants were not polled and options were not ranked.
Despite the clear public mandate, the Citizens’ Health Care Working Group’s report makes no mention of the vast support for a national health program. Instead, the group’s official recommendations include only generic suggestions such as promoting “efforts to improve quality of care and efficiency” and finding a way to protect “against very high health costs.”
From my experience, most supporters of a national health program favor a single-payer system, which retains the private delivery of health care by physicians and hospitals, but organizes payment under a single public agency. A 2003 study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that a single-payer national health-insurance program would save enough on administrative costs – more than $300 billion per year – to cover all of the uninsured and provide full benefits for everyone else.
Public opinion polls show that Americans favor a system of tax-financed health insurance by a 2-1 ratio, as opposed to our current system linking coverage to employment. A May 2006 Keystone poll found that 66 percent of Pennsylvanians favor the U.S. government guaranteeing health insurance to its citizens even if it means raising taxes. The main obstacle to universal health care is the health-insurance industry, which has made a mint covering healthy people who don’t use very much care while avoiding the sick patients who need coverage the most.
If our politicians are listening, they’ll realize we don’t need Wall Street-controlled health-insurance plans to provide us with health care. We need a streamlined system that can provide quality affordable health care for all. U.S. Rep. John Conyers of Michigan has introduced such a bill, the U.S. National Health Insurance Act, also known as House Resolution 676. We should all be pressuring our senators and representatives to support it.
Adam Gilden Tsai, MD, of Philadelphia, is a member of Physicians for a National Health Program (www.pnhp.org), a not-for-profit group that advocates for a tax-funded, privately delivered system of national health insurance.
Cover All Kids passes, but only a band aid
October 25, 2006
Press release: Gov. Rendell pleased his Cover All Kids program gets
overwhelming vote in both Chambers.
HARRISBURG — Governor Edward G. Rendell cheered the House of
Representatives’ overwhelming passage of House Bill 2699, his Cover All
Kids initiative, which will enable Pennsylvania’s hard working families
to purchase affordable health insurance for their children. The
Pennsylvania Senate also unanimously supported the bill early Tuesday
morning. Currently, 133,000 of Pennsylvania’s children are uninsured.
“Under my Cover All Kids program, parents will be able to afford to
insure their children families because the monthly cost will be based on
how much they can afford to pay,” said Governor Rendell.
Currently, CHIP is free for children from families with incomes under
$40,000 (family of four – 200 percent of the federal poverty level) and
available at a reduced cost for children with family incomes of $47,000
(family of four – 200 percent – 235 percent of FPL).
Under Cover All Kids 100 percent of the parents who currently cannot
afford to ensure their children will get assistance from the state to
ensure that the cost of health insurance for their children is
reasonable.
Under House Bill 2699 the monthly cost for parents is based on a sliding
scale:
* $36 a month per child for a family earning 200 percent – 250 percent
of FPL (under $50,000 for a family of four)
* $50 a month per child for a family earning 250 percent -275 percent of
FPL ($50,000- $55,000 for a family of four)
* $57 a month per child for a family earning 275 percent – 300 percent
of FPL ($55,000-$60,000 for a family of four)
Families that cannot find or afford private health insurance for their
children who are earning above 300 percent of the FPL ($60,000 a month
for a family of four) can purchase the coverage at the state cost based
on certain eligibility requirements. These families must show that
coverage was denied due to a pre-existing condition, or the cost of
private coverage totals more than 10 percent of the family’s annual
income, or cost of private insurance one and a half times (150 percent)
more than the state monthly per child cost for Cover All Kids.
If parents can purchase coverage for their children through their
employer but are unable to afford the full premium, the state will
provide assistance to the family to pay the premiums for private
insurance, rather than enrolling the child in CHIP – if the cost of the
private premium is less than the monthly cost to the state of the Cover
All Kids premium.
To discourage parents from dropping private coverage to take advantage
of the state subsidy, Cover All Kids a “go bare period” that requires
families show that their child has not had coverage for the last six
months, unless the child is two years of age or less. The “go bare
period” is not required for infants, or for children who have lost
coverage because a parent lost their job or they are moving from another
public insurance program.
The 2006-07 state budget includes $4.5 million for Cover All Kids, which
will be used to draw down additional federal funds This bill allows the
state to step up our outreach for existing programs for children, such
as CHIP and Medicaid (MA) to ensure every kid who qualifies is signed up
and covered.
Contact: Kate Philips, 717-783-1116
Langfitt Memorial Lecture Debate on Universal Health Care
October 24, 2006
12th Annual Thomas Langfitt Jr. Memorial Symposium
Innovative Approaches to Universal Health Coverage:
Massachusetts and Beyond
Wednesday, November 8th
6:00 PM
BRB II/III Auditorium (421 Curie Blvd.)
(Reception with wine and hors d’oeuvres to follow)
~~ RSVP by November 3rd~~
Stuart H. Altman, PhD, Dean of the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University and central architect of the new Massachusetts universal coverage legislation. One of the nation’s leading experts on health care policy and economics, Professor Altman is a member of The Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, Chair of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation sponsored Council on the Economic Impact of Health System Change, and was a senior member of the Clinton-Gore Health Policy Transition Team. In August 2003 Modern Healthcare named him among the 100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare.
Steffie Woolhandler, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and co-director of the Harvard General Internal Medicine Fellowship Program. Dr. Woolhandler has been one of the most passionate advocates for single-payer universal coverage since co-founding Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) in 1987. She has also been one of the most outspoken critics of the new Massachusetts universal coverage legislation.
Patricia Danzon, PhD, Professor and Chair of the Health Care Systems Department at Wharton. Professor Danzon is a renowned health care economist whose major research interests include the international pharmaceutical industry, health care economics and policy, managed care, and medical liability systems. She is also an associate editor of the Journal of Health Economics and an adjunct scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.
Moderated by Sandford Schwartz, MD, Professor of Medicine, Health Care Management, and Economics, and Nicholas Stine, 2nd-year Penn medical student.
The Langfitt Memorial Symposium is named for the son of the late Dr. Thomas W. Langfitt, a longtime and cherished chairman of neurosurgery at Penn and former president ofthe Pew Charitable Trusts. Sponsored by The Langfitt Family, the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics
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