Saturday, May 02, 2009

With Liberty and Healthcare for All

That's how it should be. It really blows my mind that in this, the greatest nation in the world, millions of people have no health care coverage. And even many of those of us who do are still in danger of losing everything we've worked our entire lives for if we get sick.

Something is seriously wrong with this picture.

President Obama has promised to do overhaul the healthcare system in this country. Unfortunately, his plan doesn't do nearly enough. The only way to turn it around and do it right is by putting a Single Payer Healthcare Program into effect.

I've said it many times, and I'll say it again. The system we currently use -- for profit health insurance is government sanctioned extortion!

In my first hour on Air America radio yesterday, I was joined by three people who gave us the nuts and bolts on Single Payer.

Dr. Steffie Woolhandler is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard and co-director of the Harvard Medical School General Internal Medicine Fellowship program. She worked in 1990-91 as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation health policy fellow at the Institute of Medicine and the U.S. Congress. Dr. Woolhandler is a frequent speaker and has written extensively on health policy. A co-founder of Physicians for a National Health Program and current Board member, she co-edits PNHP’s Newsletter and is a principal author of PNHP articles published in the JAMA and the New England Journal of Medicine.

Dr. Margaret Flowers is a pediatrician in Sparks, MD, and-chair of the MD chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program, on the steering committee of the Leadership Conference for Guaranteed Health Care/National Single Payer Alliance and national coordinator of Artists for Guaranteed Health Care.

And Ralph Nader, who probably needs no description, except for the fact that he's been a proponent for Single Payer health care for as long as he's been running for President! He's on of the founders of SinglePayerAction.org.

We got a lot of good information about Single Payer, so I hope you'll take the time to listen to what they had to say... Listen to it here (runtime 37:37)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

good post

Ellen Kimball said...

Hello Nicole,

I just heard you for the first time on KPOJ (Sunday, May 3) in Portland, Oregon. You're delightful!

This is coming from a former Floridian (28 years) who was one of the first female talk show broadcasters (1971-2008). I believe that Sally Jesse Raphael was on the air in Broward County at around the same time. I replaced Larry King on WIOD when he was arrested in 1971, then was chosen as the first woman with a full time daily talk show at CBS' owned-and-operated Boston station, WEEI. Later I was also hear on another local station, WMEX, also in Boston.

Anyway, I just happened to hear you tonight (Sunday repeat) while I was cleaning out my garage! Where have you been all my life? I think you are a very talented talker!

I'm going to link to your blog and perhaps you will find the time to look at mine.

Cordially,

Ellen Kimball

You'll find me on Google as
Radio_Lady (Don't forget the underscore, or else you will get people all over the world using that name!)