1. Florida, Vermont, Hawaii, Maine Make Sweeping Health Care Changes

"Florida Legislators Pass H.M.O. Plan for Medicaid
If signed into law as expected, the bill will make Florida, with one of the largest number of Medicaid patients and a high rate of uninsured, one of the biggest states to jump almost entirely from a traditional Medicaid payment system into managed care. The wholesale shift would begin in July 2012. The bill, a compromise between the House and the Senate versions, would allow the state to decide how much to spend on Medicaid each year, share in the profits of managed-care companies if they exceed 5 percent and penalize networks that reneged on contracts (Alvarez, 5/6)."

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/07/us/07florida.html?_r=1

"As soon as 2017, Vermont could become the first state to provide and pay for insurance for most of its residents under a plan passed by the Legislature Thursday. But it must first clear several significant hurdles, including persuading the federal government to allow the state to assume responsibility for Medicare and Medicaid enrollees and finding a way to pay for the program. The bill outlines a planning process for implementing what is often referred to as a “single-payer’’ system (Conaboy, 5/7)."

Source: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20110505/NEWS03/110505022/Health-care-reform-bill-way-governor

"Hawaii's New Medicaid Plan Is Aimed At Improving Care
State officials unveiled yesterday a new way of providing and coordinating health care for Medicaid patients, particularly the chronically ill, starting in January. Called "medical home model," the program integrates primary health care, behavioral care and social services for Medicaid recipients ... A key component is an electronic health records system to allow easy access to a patient's medical records wherever the patient goes in Hawaii. One in 5 Hawaii residents is a Medicaid recipient, state officials said (Fujimori, 5/7)."

Source: http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/hawaiinews/20110507__States_new_Medicaid_plan_is_aimed_at_improving_care.html

"Maine. A bill that proposes overhauling the state's health insurance regulations moves to the Senate after narrowly passing in the House. The House yesterday voted 76-72 in favor of LD 1333, which would allow out-of-state insurers to sell health care insurance in Maine and allow insurers to vary premium ratings based on factors such as geographic area and age ... Democrats pushed against the bill, arguing it would increase premiums for older residents and those in rural areas, and said the process was rushed, according to the paper (5/6)."

Source: http://www.mainebiz.biz/news47904.html 2. CBO Says GOP Medicare Plan Would Double The Cost Of Health Care For Seniors

By Rick Ungar
"How much of an increase?

Accordingly to the CBO estimates, the program would result in seniors paying twice as much for their care – a sum that would total more than $12,510 a year.

Here’s how the CBO sees it going –

The GOP proposal, which would begin in 2022, involves providing a ‘voucher’ – or as Ryan likes to call it, ‘premium support’ – to seniors to help pay for their health insurance. The average American would receive a check for $8,000, representing roughly what the CBO estimates Medicare would have to fork out for the average beneficiary in 2022. In addition to the government’s costs, the CBO estimates that seniors, in 2022, would lay out about $6,150.00 in out-of-pocket costs in the Medicare system. That totals an average cost of health care for participating seniors, in 2022, to be $14,770.

Under the GOP privatization plan, the cost to purchase the health insurance policy would cost about $20,520 per year – leaving the seniors out of pocket in the amount of $12,510 or more than twice what they would pay in 2022 should the Medicare system we currently have continue."

Source: http://blogs.forbes.com/rickungar/2011/04/07/cbo-says-gop-medicare-plan-would-double-the-cost-of-health-care-for-seniors/ 3. Majority of Massachusetts Voters Prefer Universal Single Payer Care

By Walter Heath
"The following non-binding ballot question was asked of 220,865 Massachusetts voters in the November, 2010 general election: “Should the state representative from this district be instructed to support legislation establishing health care as a human right regardless of age, state of health, or employment status, by creating a single payer health insurance system like Medicare that is comprehensive, cost effective, and publicly provided to all residents of Massachusetts?”
192,230 Massachusetts voters (87%) voted on the question, a fact which speaks volumes about continuing interest in this issue. Sixty-two percent of voters (119,275) instructed their state representative to support a single-payer health insurance system such as Medicare. The voters polled constitute a random cross-section of Massachusetts life: rural, small town, suburban and urban."

Source: http://californiaonecare.org/majority-of-massachusetts-voters-prefer-single-payer/ 4. California Single Payer passes through Senate Health Committee!

May 5th, 2011 by Sylvia Moore
"Facing possible extinction for the first time in four years, the single payer bill SB 810 pulled through, passing the Senate Health Committee on Wednesday on a 5-3 vote, state Sen. Mark Leno’s office reported. Up until a couple of days ago, committee chair Sen. Ed Hernandez had been undecided, putting the bill in jeopardy. But intense pressure from single payer advocates across the state and a massive phone campaign finally secured a “yes” vote from Hernandez. In addition, hundreds of single payer supporters descended upon the Capitol in Sacramento to attend the hearing.

THANKS TO ALL who called Hernandez to change his mind!

SB 810 will now move forward to the Senate Appropriations Committee. It’s imperative that we keep calling and writing our legislators so we can get the bill through the entire Senate a fourth time, then on to the Assembly, and finally to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk. Along with Vermont – which is poised to pass its own single payer bill – we have the chance to show the rest of the country that single payer works, and is the best and most fiscally responsible way to solve our healthcare crisis. Full care for all, for less!"

To find your state Senator, click on this link.
http://senate.ca.gov/
To find your Assemblymember, click this link.
http://www.assembly.ca.gov/defaulttext.asp

"The Democratic-controlled Statehouse in Massachusetts voted earlier this week to strip public employee unions of their collective bargaining rights, as part of the state's budget measure. It passed by a vote of 157 to 1.

That's precisely the same action taken by Republicans in Wisconsin, where it sparked a massive democratic outcry and weeks of rowdy protests.

The Massachusetts legislation would allow local municipalities to make unilateral changes to agreed-upon benefits, like health care, bypassing the need for union approval."

Source: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/04/29/massachusetts-dems-vote-to-strip-public-unions-of-bargaining-rights/

So instead of passing a single payer health-care bill that would halve the cost of care while covering everyone and thus save the state hundreds of billions, they decide to go the super-dumb way: Do what Republicans do. That is stripping of their bargaining rights on health insurance.

What a massively stupid move in a time when Democrats could really benefit from taking distance from Republican standpoints. This is why the Democratic Party gets ridiculed. They promise and come up with the best ideas when they are in the oppositions. But once they run legislature, they are almost exactly like the ones they oppose.

Also:
"According to The Associated Press, the budget also cuts $800 million from the state's Medicaid-like program MassHealth, and strips more than $65 million in aid to state agencies and municipalities."
Source: http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/04/28/mass_house_approves_304b_state_budget_proposal/

Again. Incredibly stupid decision making because politicians feat that the single payer health-care system could be too successful.

Maybe the unions will realize that both parties sold out and form a new Labor Party. Well that requires that those union voters begin to boycott hypocrites instead of following them like stupid lemmings. Look what it did in Vermont where we have the Vermont Progressive Party. They will soon have single payer health care.

An eye-opening analysis by Physicians for a National Health Program (PHNP):

"We support Vermont’s effort to bring relief from physical and financial suffering for its residents. We encourage Vermont to move forward with policies that would bring them as close as possible to a single payer system. We encourage the people of Vermont and of the entire nation to elect individuals who will enact the federal legislation that would ensure health care justice for all – a single payer national health program.

Why did the PNHP board believe that we had to make a statement on the deficiencies of the Vermont effort? It is simply because the citizens of our nation are not keeping their eyes on the ball. Supporters of reform have been distracted by efforts to try to made ACA [Affordable Care Act = federal Health Care Reform] work, and by state-level efforts to try to get us closer to single payer. The ball we need to watch is comprehensive affordable care for everyone through true single payer reform. All of us must direct our attention and efforts to that above all else, even though we should continue to support state efforts in the interim that would provide some temporary relief before we can get to the national health program that we need."
Source: http://www.pnhp.org/news/2011/april/vermont-health-bill-mislabeled-single-payer-doctors-group

Indeed, taking a closer look at the Vermont House health care bill (H.202), not much is left from the original single payer health-care concept. There is no mention of delivery and reimbursement which is so important to single payer. Instead, you will find sections that tolerate the presence of private insurers which is outrageous! Right? There is no way Vermont can save as long as private insurers reap all the benefits.

However, what PNHP fails to mention is that the government of Vermont said that this is only one of many bills that will path the way to true single payer health care. There are hundreds of local, state and federal health programs that need to be restructured or united before one can switch from the public-private mess to a well-functioning universal health care system. I recommend reading the summary of the bill, the Q&A and the article "SHUMLIN’S BILL: The Glass Is Half Full by Ethan Parkeon" (Link below) on the site Vermont for Single Payer. Vermont is the most progressive state in the union and they have laid out the plan. Single payer health care will be law of the land by 2017 or 2014 when Congress manages to pass a state waiver.

SHUMLIN’S BILL: The Glass Is Half Full:
http://vermontforsinglepayer.org/blog/2011/03/shumlins-bill-the-glass-is-half-full/

"Poison control centers are the target of federal budget cuts. House Republicans voted to cut more than 90% of funding and have just one national poison hotline. That would shut down 56 state and regional centers including the one in Illinois.

Every year the Illinois Poison Center in Chicago answers more than 90 thousand calls from families and healthcare professionals.
Kris Sherrill, with Southern Illinois Healthcare and the poison center, says those phone calls save lives and money.

"In 75% of the cases the Illinois Poison Center can take care of the situation right there and the person doesn't have to seek care at the emergency department," said Sherrill, "that's a huge savings."

A study cited by the Department of Health and Human Services says every dollar spent on poison control centers, saves seven dollars in health care spending.
House Republicans proposed cutting all but two million of the $29 million budget, closing the Illinois Poison Center and others across the country leaving only the one D.C.

"If they cut $27 Million then the next year they're gonna spend one billion because that's how much money poison centers save overall across the country," said Carol DesLauriers, Operations Director for the Illinois Poison Center.

Supporters of the proposal say there's no need for 57 similar call centers throughout the US, especially with today's technology.
But poison control centers say local relationships and knowledge of local toxins are invaluable resources."

Source: http://www.wsiltv.com/p/news_details.php?newsID=12747&type=top

By now we all know that the Republican Party couldn't care less about public health. Its aim is to privatize as many services as possible because it sees in private enterprise the ultimate cure for all of our problems. The right will never admit that there are things that the government can do better due to its size, philosophy and nature.