Health Care Reform Articles - February 7, 2011

The Network Of Spiritual Progressives

The following remarks were delivered by Dr. Claudia Fegan, past
president of Physicians for a National Health Program, to the
Louisville (Ky.) Urban League on Jan. 15. 2011

The time is always right to do what's right': Dr. King and health reform

By Claudia Fegan, M.D.

It is indeed an honor and a privilege for me to stand here today
celebrating the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. Garrett Adams, who gave me such a kind introduction, recently
learned that my father was the photographer who took the picture of
Emmett Till's body the night his mother requested the casket be
opened so that the public could see what they had done to her baby.
That photo became an icon of the civil rights movement.

I was only 7 years old the day my daddy stood behind Dr. King's
right shoulder and photographed the crowd that stood before him on
the Washington Mall as he gave his "I Have a Dream" speech. My
father, a steelworker, was also a documentary photographer. I
brought one of his photographs of Dr. King at that historic rally
with me today.

We learned much from Dr. King, even though he was taken from us too
soon. He taught us that "the time is /always/ right to do what's
right."

As we stand here today, there are 50 million Americans who are
uninsured. African Americans are represented disproportionately
among the uninsured. I am referring to the fact that while we
represent only 12 percent of the population, we are 20 percent of
the uninsured. /This is our issue./

http://www.spiritualprogressives.org/article.php/2011020212215961

OPINION FEBRUARY 7, 2011 An ObamaCare Appeal From the States Twenty-one governors representing more than 115 million Americans have written to Kathleen Sebelius asking for more flexibility on health-care reform. By MITCH DANIELS Unless you're in favor of a fully nationalized health-care system, the president's health-care reform law is a massive mistake. It will amplify all the big drivers of overconsumption and excessive pricing: "Why not, it's free?" reimbursement; "The more I do, the more I get" provider payment; and all the defensive medicine the trial bar's ingenuity can generate. All claims made for it were false. It will add trillions to the federal deficit. It will lead to a de facto government takeover of health care faster than most people realize, and as millions of Americans are added to the Medicaid rolls and millions more employees (including, watch for this, workers of bankrupt state governments) are dumped into the new exchanges. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703652104576122172835584158.html?KEYWORDS=MITCH+DANIELS#printMode February 4, 2011 Treating Chronic Pain and Managing the Bills By MICHELLE ANDREWS MAYBE the question is not who suffers from some type of chronic pain, but who doesn’t? “If you tally up everybody who has chronic, recurring back, headache and musculoskeletal problems, it includes almost everybody by the time people get into their 30s,” said Dr. Perry Fine, a professor of anesthesiology at the Pain Research Center and the University of Utah and incoming chairman of the American Academy of Pain Medicine. Given the prevalence of chronic pain — often defined as recurrent pain that lasts more than three to six months — you might expect that by now medical science would have figured out how to alleviate it and that health insurers would routinely cover its treatment. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/05/health/05patient.html?hpw=&pagewanted=print More Get Waivers Of Health Insurance Massachusetts regulators granted more exemptions last year to residents who said they could not afford the health insurance required by the state, waiving the tax penalty for more than half of those who appealed, according to state data. Of the 2,637 people who applied, 63 percent received an exemption with 107 cases pending, up from 44 percent the previous year. State officials said they excused the majority of waiver applicants in large part because of the protracted sour economy, which made insurance unaffordable for more people. Under the 2006 state law that requires most residents to have coverage, regulators have significant latitude to authorize waivers by taking into account factors such as a home foreclosure. http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/02/07/more_get_waivers_of_health_insurance/ Some House Republicans See Health Law As Prime Spot For Deep Budget Cuts TOPICS: HEALTH COSTS, INSURANCE, MARKETPLACE, POLITICS, HEALTH REFORM FEB 07, 2011 Even as GOP lawmakers advance their strategies, Dems see a plan of their own — they plan to cast Republicans as trying to take away patients' rights. Meanwhile, physicians take to the Hill to press for medical liability reforms, with lots of lobbying money streaming in. http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Daily-Reports/2011/February/07/politics.aspx