Comments on: About

By: Gillian

Gillian — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 16:59:35 +0000

Excellent point! I hadn’t even considered that angle before. Thanks!

By: Mary Tsolak

Mary Tsolak — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 02:35:11 +0000

The continous recordkeeping mentioned by the nurse from Corvallis is a very important piece your medical records should be owned and accessable by each person not the healthcare providers or insurance companies. I currently live in a “developing” country and pay a little to be in their national health care system. It works just fine. Mary Tsolak

By: Ken Watson

Ken Watson — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 02:43:12 +0000

I went to Canada at age 35 and stayed for 17 years.Goverment Health Care gave me the freedom to pursue different career options without worry for my medical needs. I found a passion for something I had never thought of and became quite successful. I have met many people in my travels across America that are stuck in jobs they dislike because of health care. This leads to a less productive work force and takes away so many dreams.

By: Kevin Dolan M.D.

Kevin Dolan M.D. — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 14:52:41 +0000

Why get the federal government involved. To me the simplest solution is to prohibit for profit entities from engaging in the health insurance business. When I began practicing in 1980, the major players were the Blues. Physicians took care of their patients without significant interference. Maybe it’s time to reinvent the wheel

By: Jill Herendeen

Jill Herendeen — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 01:35:38 +0000

I just got home from holding up a “Single Payer Now!” sign outside a “town meeting” for/w/ Rep. Annmarie Buerkle (R-NY), where one woman, in her car, leaving the event, told me, “It’s a great idea but we’ll never be able to afford it!” I told her that the CIVILIZED world has universal healthcare, better results, and HALF the cost per capita of what we’re already spending here, and she clearly did not believe me. (I wouldn’t be surprised if Rep. Buerkle had just misinformed her, herself.) What can I say…IGNORANCE abounds!!!!! The news just has not gotten around enough!

By: patti dey

patti dey — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 23:10:41 +0000

Please read Wendell Potter’s book “Deadly Spin” all about the medical insurance industry’s plans and motives, how the terms “death panels” and “government takeover” are used to scare citizens and who is behind it, being paid millions for insurance lobbying.

By: Peggy Mills

Peggy Mills — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 21:41:37 +0000

I never realized how important that healthcare was until my husband was let go from his job several years ago and a medical debt of $30,000 was compounded over several years. It took a drastic turn of events to turn our finances around, but it has been done. We still think single payer is the way to go.

By: Sharon Wentz RN

Sharon Wentz RN — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 03:03:29 +0000

I am an RN of 28yrs. Pediatrics to end of life hospice clinical experience. I am currently working with a company that has a solution that will save lives and decrease healthcare costs. We are beating our heads against the wall getting people to understand how the use of “smartcards” will save healthcare dollars, are patient/clinician centric, and will faciliate a solution to the fragmentation in patient records NOW. We are in discussions with a Congressman back east that is arranging a Congressional Briefing for us to speak on the value of smartcards. This Congressman’s lifetime career goal is to have a single-payer system passed. We see our piece of the solution as being important NOW, and ultimately can work hand in hand with a universal health system.
I ran through the lobby of the Davenport Hotel in Spokane WA with T.R. Reid speaking with him about what we are doing. He was an invited speaker at a NW Medical Informatics meeting in September. His speech started by holding up his French Sesam Vitale National Health “smartcard”. Our government is infusing hundreds of millions of Healthcare IT dollars for implementation of Electronic Medical Records. Patient medical data is fragmented beyond belief. Paper silos now combined with pieces of electronic medical record. All of this is affecting the healthcare expenditure bottom line… Duplication of tests, rising malpractice fees, on and on. Needless to say the patients well-being is at risk!!! This country can continue to fight this single-payer concept all they want– but when one becomes ill and experiences the dysfunction, the extraordinary bills that follow, people will finally come out of the fog. All of us in healthcare want to be free to do what we do best– take care of patients. Clinical decisions should never have to be based on whether or not a patient can afford the treatment. Healthcare in this country should be a basic right. Patients and clinicians should have access to patient data that is longitudinal– across the continuum of care from birth to death so that best practices and multi-disciplinary care can truly be realized– along with cost effectiveness. Thank you for your tireless work. We are all trying in our own way. Sharon Wentz RN, Corvallis OR

By: Karen zNewbold

Karen zNewbold — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 19:22:06 +0000

several years ago my daughter-who was a substitute teacher needed medical care-she had gone to ER 2 times-was then ruptcycovered by B.C— they canceled and she was $150,000.00 in debt. At 23 she had to claim bankruptcy!!

By: Jenny Friedman

Jenny Friedman — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 16:00:02 +0000

To Richard and Gerrie, above, and to all interested in health care reform: please read TR Reids’s book “The Healing of America.” This book compares health care systems in place both here and around the world. Surprisingly, it is a fun read as well as being supremely informative for how easily we could make this change. I hadn’t realized that much of the world has universal care that is privatized – not the ’socialized medicine’ we’re usually warned about. Worth checking out because we could DO this!