Category Archives: Health Care

Truth Gets Its Boots On

Posted on August 25, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

From MediaMatters, Debunking The Latest Conservative Health Care Smear: “Death Book For Veterans”

Posted in Health Care | 17 Comments

There Really Are “Death Panels’

Posted on August 21, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

It turns out that there really are death panels. Only they are run by insurance companies.

Posted in Health Care | 7 Comments

Healthcare Heroes

Posted on August 19, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

Goal ThermometerDemocracyForAmerica.com has a list of “healthcare heroes”: Congresspersons who are standing up for the public option.

There are three members of Florida delegation listed there:

Corrine Brown (FL-03)
Robert Wexler (FL-19)
Alcee Hastings (FL-23)

Notably absent are Kendrick Meek (FL-17), who is running for Senator and you would think might want to get out in front on this but who is running to the right almost as fast as Charlie Crist, and progressive folk like Alan Grayson (Fl-8), Ron Kein (FL-22) and Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (FL-20).

Well, maybe Wasserman-Schultz isn't such a surprise. But Alan Grayson definitely is.

It is a sad thing that contributions often speak louder than polls. If you want to contribute to show these healthcare stalwarts that you appreciate their backbone, click on the thermometer on the right.

Posted in Health Care | 1 Comment

The August Air War Begins Early

Posted on July 31, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

Progressive groups target health care denier Ben Nelson (DINO-Neb.) in HealthCareCantWait.com.

Apparently they have a significant ad buy scheduled in Nebraska and are raising funds for more.

Posted in Health Care | 2 Comments

Health Care Wars — the Ground Game

Posted on July 27, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

I like this ad from Americans United for Change, “SNAIL”: Tell Congress to Pass Health Insurance Reform Now!:

I get why the GOP wants to stall health care reform: if it gets voted now, Obama wins. I accept that they don't care enough about uninsured (or pseudo-ensured) Americans to vote the way I think they should.

What I don't get is why observers think delay will do the GOP much good. What legislators have waiting for them when they get home is a lot of people who have lost their jobs — and thus their health care, and even more people nervous that it could happen to them. They are going to be bombarded with localized pitches, like this one which details the effects of the America’s Affordable Health Choices Act on Florida's 18th Congressional District:

America’s Affordable Health Choices Act would provide significant benefits in the 18th Congressional District of Florida: up to 22,000 small businesses could receive tax credits to provide coverage to their employees; 11,000 seniors would avoid the donut hole in Medicare Part D; 1,100 families could escape bankruptcy each year due to unaffordable health care costs; health care providers would receive payment for $110 million in uncompensated care each year; and 118,000 uninsured individuals would gain access to high-quality, affordable health insurance.

Our Congresswoman, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, is a particularly hard case with a relatively safe seat and she's unlikely to be moved by mere considerations of the benefits to local families. But that won't be as true elsewhere.

Posted in Health Care, Politics: FL-18 | 3 Comments

We Can Do Better than This

Posted on November 25, 2008 by Michael Froomkin

10 Lessons of Prostate Cancer – Well Blog – NYTimes.com

Insurance can cause more stress than cancer. The goal of your insurer — no matter how singular or complex your case is — is to try to turn you into a statistical cliché, a cipher, in the face of your very human flesh-and-blood disease. In the months after my diagnosis, as my wife and I struggled to find the right pair of highly-skilled hands to perform my potentially difficult surgery, wrestling with my insurer caused me more grief, stress and depression than my cancer did. In our modern health-care-industrial-complex — and I'm talking about the bureaucrats who try to herd you into the cheapest cattle car available, not the nurses and doctors who are on the front lines — the emphasis is neither on health nor care, but on the bottom line. It's our job, as patients, to resist with all our strength.

Posted in Health Care | 1 Comment