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When Will All Americans Have Affordable Health Care?

A conversation with America's top consumer advocates about fixing a crumbling system.

The purpose of the website is is to educate those with an interest in health care reform. CCR does not endorse or oppose any candidates for public office. Health care is only one of many issues on which to base a decision on whom to vote for in any election and CCR does not advocate judging the qualifications of any candidate on the basis of one issue.

·Another huge medical data breach is mishandled

Both president-elect Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain backed electronic medical records during their campaign. Computerizing patient data, which could increase efficiency and cut costs, is part of every major federal health reform proposal. But what are the rules for this data? An extortion threat reported today, involving up to 50...

November 10, 2008 9:44 AM Posted by Judy Dugan

Tags: Legislation, Regulation

·Play "Nurse Avenger" Video Game

Play the game and fight back against the HMO lobbyists and bureaucrats. Use your mouse and space bar to protect the patient from the black-hatted insurance company minions. Read about Nurse Avenger.

October 22, 2008 12:25 PM Posted by Jerry Flanagan

Tags: "Experimental" treatment, Access, Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Cross of California, Blue Shield of California, Bulk purchasing, Cigna, Co-pay, Deductible, Denial of care, High cost, Humana, Independent Medical Review (IMR), Kaiser, Legislation, Medicare, Molina, Out-of-pocket, Out-of-pocket caps, PacifiCare, Pre-existing condition, Prescription Drugs, Regulation, Rescission, Uninsured, UnitedHealth Group, Universal

·About "Nurse Avenger"

Play "Nurse Avenger," a first-person shooter game that allows you to stick it to the black-hatted minions of the health insurance industry. At each level, you receive a new “tool”–weapons against insurance company waste and denials of care. These are the tools that government should be using to make health care more affordable and accessible.

Level 1 - Special Weapon: Waste Whacker. HMOs and health...

October 22, 2008 11:49 AM Posted by Jerry Flanagan

Tags: Access, Anthem Blue Cross, Bulk purchasing, Denial of care, High cost, Legislation, Medicare, Out-of-pocket, Out-of-pocket caps, Pre-existing condition, Prescription Drugs, Regulation, Uninsured, Universal

·What else could $700 billion buy?

Universal health care could be achieved in the U.S. with a fraction of the cash handed to failing banks. The solution–bulk purchasing of prescription drugs through a public health care system that bypasses insurers and pays doctors and hospitals directly–is good for the economy because it moves capital by giving more Americans a stake in the system.

Arthur Garson's piece this week in the ...

October 08, 2008 10:03 AM Posted by Jerry Flanagan

Tags: Access, Blue Cross of California, Bulk purchasing, High cost, Medicare, Regulation

·The Loophole Health Plan

I was looking point by point yesterday at the broad proposals of the new "Health Care for America" network, and wondering why they seem so empty, more loophole than plan. What the group says will matter, because its members include major unions (the ones that have allied with employers on health care issues) as well as some top Democrats. What HCFA says will influence national health reform. All of my doubts crystallized today, reading a piece on Huffington Post by California Nurses Association leader Rose Ann De Moro. She nails Health Care for America for saying it opposes profiteering insurance companies, then offering a plan that lets insurers control our health future.

July 10, 2008 11:43 AM Posted by Judy Dugan

Tags: Aetna, Regulation, Universal

About American Health Plan

Deregulation vs. Regulation of Health Insurance Premiums and Practices: What Can America Afford?

Banks successfully argued for a decade that they were capable of self policing some of the industry's riskiest practices. The turmoil on Wall Street has made it abundantly clear that corporations cannot be counted upon to self regulate. Now insurance companies are claiming that deregulation, not new regulation, is the answer to the health care crisis.

Wall Street got its $700 billion taxpayer bailout. Now Main Street needs a bailout; not just foreclosure prevention, but a fix for unaffordable and increasingly poor quality health care. This blog was created by the consumer advocates at the Campaign for Consumer Rights (CCR) to make affordable and high quality health care a reality by focusing attention on legislation in Washington D.C. that would allow Americans to buy health coverage through Medicare or a non-profit public insurance pool, including:

HR 676 (Conyers) - This bill would create a publicly financed, privately delivered health care system by expanding the Medicare program to all U.S. residents.
HR 1841 (Stark) - Under the AmeriCare Health Care Act, Americans could choose to receive health coverage from either their employer or through AmeriCare, a new program modeled on Medicare.

Tell us what you think.

The Campaign for Consumer Rights (CCR), a California-based nonprofit 501(c)(4) organization, is the advocacy and campaign affiliate of the Consumer Watchdog. CCR does not take positions on candidate elections.