I really want two things from this government.
Health security and old-age security.
Fuck the War-Making!
America should never have it's old and sick people in destitution and poverty.
If we disrespect the cherished elders, how can we call ourselves a culture of life?
"Alliance to challenge hopefuls' health plans; Seeking strategies in fight against chronic diseases" by James W. Pindell/Boston Globe September 26, 2007
Some of the nation's leading healthcare policy specialists, including a former surgeon general, announced yesterday an initiative to pressure presidential candidates to develop strategies to combat chronic diseases as part of their healthcare plans.
A newly formed alliance of public health organizations called the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease maintains that chronic illnesses account for 75 cents of every dollar spent on healthcare and are responsible for 7 of every 10 deaths in the country.
Kenneth E. Thorpe, chairman of the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta and founder of the initiative:
"For too long, the national debate has been focused on access and who gets covered, but what we should be talking about is how we can drive costs down and provide better care."
The group wants candidates to develop strategies to fight cancer, diabetes, and obesity instead of only focusing on access to insurance or improving costs by digitizing medical records.
More than 80 of the nation's largest and most powerful organizations, including the US Chamber of Commerce, Service Employees International Union, and the YMCA, have signed on to the alliance platform.
Former surgeon general Richard Carmona will chair the national effort.
Dr. Susan Lynch, wife of New Hampshire Governor John Lynch, was named honorary chairwoman for the New Hampshire chapter.
The announcement, made at a news conference in Concord, came one day before Democratic presidential candidates are set to debate at Dartmouth College.
Healthcare has emerged as one of the leading domestic policy issues. A recent poll by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center of likely New Hampshire presidential primary voters found 17 percent of Democrats said healthcare, not Iraq, was the most important issue facing the country. Only 6 percent of Republicans polled said healthcare was the biggest issue, ranking below Iraq, illegal immigration, and foreign policy in general.
Thorpe said the group would work with presidential candidates and their staffs on their platform. He said healthcare proposals from Democrats Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, and Barack Obama, as well as Mike Huckabee, a Republican, have focused adequately on chronic disease.
[No mention of Kucinich? Or Ron Paul?
Pfffftttt!!!]
Thorpe said in a phone interview: "Major healthcare reform is not going to happen by one health plan alone. It is going to take a national strategy of a lot of people coming to together to get it accomplished. Getting these groups together around a common strategy is what we are doing."
[Single-payer!!!! Sorry, but SiCKo convinced me!
Where is that movie and issue in the MSM anyway?
Pffffffttttt!!!
