The Candid Blogger: free healthcare

Showing posts with label free healthcare. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

The Great Orange Juice Scam

I love orange juice. I've been drinking it daily most of my life. But is it "fresh" and "pure"? I hope so because I drink "Simply Orange".

One of the great scams of the industrial food cartel is the so-called "fresh" orange juice sold in supermarkets. This one particularly galls me because for years when I was dirt poor and had very few food choices, I thought I was doing a healthy thing by buying "fresh" orange juice.

Alissa Hamiliton has written a new book on the subject called "Squeezed: What You Don't Know About Orange Juice."

Some reality checks:

1. There is more Vitamin C in a single orange than in a full glass of industrial orange juice

2. Truly fresh orange juice only last a few days. It if last for weeks (or months), it's an industrial product.

3. Until the Florida orange growers launched a campaign in the early 20th century to deal with their surplus crop, the only people who drank orange juice were Floridians who had a tree in their backyard. There is nothing particularly healthy or natural about drinking orange juice - and the industrial product is a total waste of money.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Blue Dog Supports Medicare for Uninsured Under 65

Has He Come to Our Senses?

First he was for it. Then he was against it. Now Rep. Mike Ross is back on board with a government-run healthcare plan. Sort of.

Ross (D-Ark.), who had emerged as a leader among centrist Blue Dog Democrats opposing the public health insurance option, has suggested something his colleagues consider even more drastic – opening Medicare to those under 65 without insurance.

He made the suggestion in meetings with House Democratic leaders and brought the idea to the closed-door House Democratic Caucus meeting Thursday.

"I — speaking only on behalf of myself — suggested one possible idea could be that instead of creating an entirely new government bureaucracy to administer a public option, Medicare could be offered as a choice," Ross said in a statement to The Hill.

Medicare would then compete with private insurers across the age spectrum. It would be open to those who don't have insurance through their employers, the same people who would be covered by the public option already under discussion.

But Ross said he would want reimbursement for providers to be at a "much greater rate" than it is now. Medicare reimbursement rates have been a sore point for rural lawmakers who feel that Medicare shortchanges their hospitals.

By Mike Soraghan

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Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Protecting Insurance Company Profits

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

This video is a depiction of the beliefs of the Republican Party -- the party of "NO".

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

A Canadian Message to America About Healthcare

Canadian Doctors for Medicare hosted a celebration of Medicare in Canada. The speakers included Roy Romanow, former Saskatchewan Premiere and Commissioner on Health Care in Canada. They tell Americans that Canadian universal health care works and encourage Americans to implement a single payer universal health care system. The video also features Dr. Steven Lewis a health policy and research consultant, Dr. Danielle Martin, Dr. Ryan Meili and Dr. Robert Woolard representing the Canadian Doctors for Medicare and Linda Silas President of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

McCain Continues Hateful GOP "Death Panel" Campaign

Senator John McCain Repeats Healthcare Lies About Vets

Speaking with Fox editorialist Sean Hannity on Thursday, U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ), a beneficiary of government-funded health care, supported the myth that President Barack Obama's health insurance reforms would establish some kind of nebulous, undefined "death panel."

Hannity was specifically talking about the literature, "Your Life, Your Choice," which he insinuated somehow encourages sick and dying veterans to not be a burden on society.

The claim is an echo of the latest attack on the proposed insurance reforms.

First came Palin's allegation that a so-called "death panel" would have killed her down syndrome baby. More recently, RNC Chairman Michael Steele alleged that a VA pamphlet dredged up by the Obama administration is encouraging vets to "commit suicide."

Hannity's cleverly-worded question merely piggy-backed on this fallacy, albeit through the use of softer terminology.

Addressing McCain, the Fox pundit asked, "Is that the kind of death panel that people were maybe afraid of ... ?"

McCain, a veteran himself, answered: "Yes."

source: RAW STORY

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Why American Healthcare MUST Be Reformed

This lady's story is one of millions in which our healthcare system failed due to insurance companies refusing to provide coverage, even for the insured.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

FOX News Lies Again About Healthcare Reform

FAIR AND BALANCED WITH AN AGENDA

Here is their headline: "AARP, Losing Members Over Health Care, Faces Challenge From Grassroots Senior Advocacy Group"

The article begins:

"Look out AARP. There's a new senior advocacy group on the block offering a conservative alternative to seniors.

The Atlanta-based American Seniors Association (ASA), which is opposed to President Obama's health care plan, is trying to capitalize on growing public dissatisfaction with the AARP.

About 60,000 seniors have quit AARP since July 1 due to the group's support for health care reform, a spokesman for the organization said this week."

THE TRUTH:

AARP has actually increased its membership during this period of time.

AARP is running ads to support a health care overhaul and hosted Obama at an online forum recently to promote his agenda to AARP members. But the group has not endorsed a specific bill and says it won't support a plan that reduces Medicare benefits.

Spokesman Drew Nannis told The Associated Press it wasn't unusual for the powerful, 40 million-strong senior citizens' lobby to shed members in droves when advocating for a controversial issue.

Nannis said the group loses some 300,000 members a month but he couldn't say how many more members had quit for other reasons in that time period. He said AARP gained some 400,000 new members during the same period and that 1.5 million members renewed their membership.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/08/18/aarp-losing-members-health-care-faces-challenge-grassroots-senior-advocacy/

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Five Facts About Anti-Healthcare Reform Deception

ORGANIZED AND PAID FOR BY THE REPUBLICAN PARTY

The Party of No has NO plans for healthcare reform. Their ONLY plan is to prevent the American public from hearing the truth about the need for healthcare reform and the plans for doing so.

There's been a lot of media coverage about organized mobs intimidating lawmakers, disrupting town halls, and silencing real discussion about the need for real health insurance reform.

The truth is, it's a sham. These "grassroots protests" are being organized and largely paid for by Washington special interests and insurance companies who are desperate to block reform. They're trying to use lies and fear to break the President and his agenda for change.

Health insurance reform is about our lives, our jobs, and our families -- we can't let distortions and intimidation get in the way. We need to expose these outrageous tactics, and we're counting on you to help. Can you read these "5 facts about the anti-reform mobs," then pass them along to your friends and family?

In this video, Rachel Maddow does a detailed analysis of the website www.recessrally.com. Maddow exposes the prominent sponsors of the Recess Rally and demonstrates just how much the organization is a result of Republican operatives and elitists as opposed to your "average Joe middle class American."

As Maddow points out, some of the listed supporters of Recess Rally include Michelle Malkin a noted conservative Fox News commentator, a former speech writer for George Bush, a regional field director Bush-Cheney 04, a former Washington D.C. lobbyist, the former Director of the Illinois Republican party, the funder of the swift boat ads attacking John Kerry, and finally the owner of the largest privately-held oil company in America. These are the "middle class Americans" bringing you the "grassroots" protests.Here is the TRUTH about the organizing and funding of these "grass roots" protests:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

1. These disruptions are being funded and organized by out-of-district special-interest groups and insurance companies who fear that health insurance reform could help Americans, but hurt their bottom line. A group run by the same folks who made the "Swiftboat" ads against John Kerry is compiling a list of congressional events in August to disrupt. An insurance company coalition has stationed employees in 30 states to track where local lawmakers hold town-hall meetings.

2. People are scared because they are being fed frightening lies. These crowds are being riled up by anti-reform lies being spread by industry front groups that invent smears to tarnish the President's plan and scare voters. But as the President has repeatedly said, health insurance reform will create more health care choices for the American people, not reduce them. If you like your insurance or your doctor, you can keep them, and there is no "government takeover" in any part of any plan supported by the President or Congress.

3. Their actions are getting more extreme. Texas protesters brought signs displaying a tombstone for Rep. Lloyd Doggett and using the "SS" symbol to compare President Obama's policies to Nazism. Maryland Rep. Frank Kratovil was hanged in effigy outside his district office. Rep. Tim Bishop of New York had to be escorted to his car by police after an angry few disrupted his town hall meeting -- and more examples like this come in every day. And they have gone beyond just trying to derail the President's health insurance reform plans, they are trying to "break" the President himself and ruin his Presidency.

4. Their goal is to disrupt and shut down legitimate conversation. Protesters have routinely shouted down representatives trying to engage in constructive dialogue with voters, and done everything they can to intimidate and silence regular people who just want more information. One attack group has even published a manual instructing protesters to "stand up and shout" and try to "rattle" lawmakers to prevent them from talking peacefully with their constituents.

5. Republican leadership is irresponsibly cheering on the thuggish crowds. Republican House Minority Leader John Boehner issued a statement applauding and promoting a video of the disruptions and looking forward to "a long, hot August for Democrats in Congress."

This is NOT the American way. It is the Republican Party resorting to its old tricks or shall we say DIRTY TRICKS. This party has lied its way to the top for decades. It cares only about corporate wealth and power and has displayed disdain and outright dislike for America. The party of greed and corruption has taken its disgusting behavior to new depths.

It is time for the Democrats to say: ENOUGH. Forget bipartisanship and pass a SINGLE PAYER UNIVERSAL HEALTH PLAN -- NOW!

Thursday, July 30, 2009

450,000 Doctors Speak Out for Healthcare Reform

The U.S. has a catastrophically fragmented health care system that provides incentives for sick care instead of prevention. The system is in dire need of reform -- reform to save lives, to save families and to save money for both patients and the American health care system.

When our friends at The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) and Herndon Alliance (a nonpartisan coalition of more than 200 health-care provider organizations including the AARP, Mayo Clinic and Families USA) asked for our help, we produced this video featuring the doctors your family relies on for care. They are urging Americans to 'Heal Health Care Now'.

Now, it's your time to stand with more than 450,000 doctors who support health care reform. Make your voice heard and call Congress to reform health care: (202) 224-3121.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Contrary to GOP Lies - Canadians Love Their Healthcare

O Canada

To listen to Republican propaganda, one would believe that Canadian citizens were trapped in a terrible Socialist system of free healthcare for everyone. Somebody forgot to tell the Canadians.

Online polls conducted by Ipsos/McClatchy surveyed 1,004 U.S. adults July 9-14 and 1,010 Canadians on June 5-7. They aren't scientific random samples, don't statistically mirror the population and thus have no margin of error. Rather, they resemble large focus groups to help see what people are thinking about a particular issue.

On key questions of care and costs, patients in the two countries clearly see things differently.

65% of Canadians said they had access to all the health care services they needed at costs they could afford; 49% of Americans felt the same way.

That difference probably reflects the costs of health care: Patients pay nothing at doctors' offices in Canada.

It also helps explain the fact that Americans see health care differently based on their incomes, while Canadians see it roughly the same regardless of what they earn.

Just 37% of Americans who make less than $50,000 a year say they have access to and can afford all the health care services they need, while 60% of those who make more say they can get all they need at costs they can afford.

The gap was much smaller in Canada, where 61% of those who earn less than $55,000 and 70% of those who make more than that said they had access to all the care they needed at costs they could afford.

In both countries, people with chronic conditions are more likely than those without such illnesses to say that they have access to the care they need.

source: McClatchy.com

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