Single-Payer Health Care: $570 Billion Cheaper

Staff / Truthdig Apr 15, 2012 Economist Gerald Friedman has what looks to be the silver bullet against the claim that single-payer health care is infeasible on economic grounds, showing how “Medicare for all” could save billions of dollars while improving millions of lives. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Paging Dr. Paul: The Sickness Is in the System

Helen Redmond / Truthdig Oct 20, 2011 Taking personal responsibility for one’s own health is an artful dodge that suggests the government has no responsibility to provide health care to its population. It is an ideological mantra that health insurance company PR spinmeisters relentlessly front-load to the public via the stenographic mainstream media.Paul’s prescription for the millions of uninsured is to leave health care to the magic and mayhem of the market -- and if you go bankrupt, it’s your own fault. And bankrupt Americans go. Dig deeper ( 7 Min. Read )

Employer-Provided Health Insurance Taking a Bigger Bite

Staff / Truthdig Jul 17, 2011 Newly published numbers from the Department of Health and Human Services show that American workers in 2010 paid average premiums of $4,940 for employer-provided health insurance to cover just themselves. (more) Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Sanders Lets Fly at GOP Senators

Staff / Truthdig Dec 17, 2009 Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent, was far from pleased with certain of his Republican colleagues Wednesday when his attempt to add a single-payer amendment to the Senate's health care reform legislation was met with stonewalling tactics from his GOP peers. Here, he lets it rip, slamming what he calls their bid "to bring the U.S. government to a halt." Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Senate Republicans Trotting Out the Delay Tactics

Staff / Truthdig Dec 17, 2009 President Barack Obama's hope of getting new health care legislation passed by Christmas may not be realized, especially if Senate Republicans, who seem intent on using whatever strategies they can to delay the vote until next year, have anything to do with it. That's not to say all Democrats are particularly thrilled with the way it's shaping up either. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Time for Our Second Bill of Rights

Bill Boyarsky / Truthdig Dec 2, 2009 In his powerful new book, “The Healing of America,” T.R. Reid asks, “Which inequalities will society tolerate? Is it acceptable that some people are left to die because they can’t see a doctor when they get sick? That question encompasses a more basic question: Is health care a human right?” It will be a historic moment when the federal government begins to accept responsibility for all Americans’ health. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

In a Reasoned Debate, Single Payer Will Come Out on Top

By Laura S. Boylan, M.D., and Joanne Landy, M.P.H. Aug 19, 2009 Single-payer advocates have been excluded from debate not because our premises or facts are wrong but because special interests, including the private health insurance industry and the big drug companies, have been allowed to define the limits of "politically feasible." Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Obama Jumps Into Health Care Fray

Staff / Truthdig Aug 12, 2009 So far, we've had the angry protests, the scuffles at suddenly volatile town hall meetings, and no resolution of the health care reform argument from our elected leaders, but President Barack Obama is now embarking on a campaign to try to sway public opinion on the issue using a series of town hall meetings across the country Updated. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

‘Left, Right & Center’: Health Care Gets Critical

Staff / Truthdig Jul 25, 2009 So we won't have a solution to the health care conundrum before summer's end -- and maybe not before the end of 2009, either -- but for millions of Americans, this issue is a top priority. Who's going to pay? Bob Scheer, Matt Miller and Tony Blankley cast their votes on this week's show. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Obama Gives Health Plan a Town-Hall Pitch

Staff / Truthdig Jul 2, 2009 While Congress was away, President Obama made another play to boost public support of his health care reform plan. It came Wednesday in a town-hall-esque forum in Virginia. Those hoping for the federal government to back a viable single-payer system, however, will have to keep on hoping. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Prescription for a Democratic Win

Bill Boyarsky / Truthdig Aug 26, 2008 As Barack Obama moves into the Democratic National Convention, he should speak out more clearly and forcefully on an issue that clearly distinguishes him from his do-nothing opponent -- national health insurance. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )