COSTS, DIFFERENCES BETWEEN KEY REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC PLANS ALSO WEIGHED
 

November 8, 2009 (Washington D.C.) –H.R. 3962, The Affordable Health Care for America Act approved Saturday by the House of Representatives is widely deemed the most significant social reform since the enactment of Social Security and Medicaid. The bill will next be considered by the Senate. While much media coverage has focused on a public option (i.e., giving qualifying consumers a choice between private healthcare and a government-run system) the bill in fact has many other provisions that, if enacted, will impact nearly everyone in America.

Last-minute amendments, media spin (and in some cases, outright fibs) have many confused about what’s actually in the bill. How will it affect you, what will it cost, and how does the Democratic-backed bill passed by the House compare with alternatives proposed by Republicans? East County Magazine has consulted a wide variety of sources on the left and right as well as nonpartisan fact-checking outlets, government analysts, and major media outlets to provide you with as many answers as we could find.

By Masada Disenhouse

November 9, 2009 (La Mesa) -- As an East County resident I was very disappointed, though not surprised, that my Congressperson, Duncan Hunter, voted against the best interests of his constituents when he voted no on the House of Representatives healthcare bill. Though the bill is not perfect, still giving too much to insurance companies and too little to citizens, it would be a step forward.

HUNTER AFFIRMS OPPOSITION TO PUBLIC OPTION; OTHERS OBJECT TO DROPPING AMENDMENT TO LET STATES PASS STRONGER HEALTHCARE REFORMS

By Miriam Raftery

November 5, 2009 – The Democratic-sponsored healthcare measure currently before Congress got a booster shot today with the endorsement of two major groups, the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP).

Sit-In Slated for Monday morning

October 30, 2009 (San Diego) --“Is there anything scarier than thinking you might need medical care, and getting canceled by a health insurance corporation who spent your premiums on TV ads and lobbying?” asks San Diegan Mike Copass, co-organizer of a 45-hour haunt of Blue Shield’s office at 2275 Rio Bonito Way in Mission Valley.

The actions are part of a national groundswell of civil disobedience at health insurance company offices by people seeking to end insurance abuse and win health care for all. So far, 115 people have been arrested in 18 cities demanding “real health care reform that treats health care like a human right, not a commodity,” according to a press release issued by event organizers. 

September 27, 2009 (San Diego) – Want to learn more about healthcare reform options?  San Diego’s League of Women Voters presents a luncheon featuring keynote speaker Gerald Kominski, Ph.D., professor at UCLA School of Public Health and Associate Director of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. Dr. Jeoffrey Gordon from California Physicians Alliance will also speak, summarizing the political climate for healthcare reform in Congress.

By Miriam Raftery

By Miriam Raftery

August 6, 2009 (San Diego) – Violence, arrests and racial slurs have disrupted town hall meetings on healthcare reform in Florida, Pennsylvania and other states, where mobs opposed to healthcare reform attempted to shout down and drown out supporters.

July 23, 2009 (Washington DC) – On July 17, the House Education and Labor Committee voted unanimously to accept an amendment offered by Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-Alpine) aimed at protectingt small businesses from employer mandates included in comprehensive health care reform legislation currently under consideration in the House.

July 12, 2009 (Washington D.C.) – Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-Alpine) whose district includes most of East County, will hold a video town hall meeting on Tuesday, July 14th at 6:30 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. To participate, click the “video townhall meeting” link on his website Tuesday evening (http://www.hunter.house.gov/).

Town hall forum: Congressman John Conyers Jr. (D-MI), will discuss health care reform 1 to 4 p.m. July 11 at the Joe and Vi Jacobs Center, 404 Euclid Ave., San Diego. Conyers is a leading voice on Capitol Hill for healthcare reform and author of a single-payer healthcare bil that a Congressional committee has thus far refused to allow to be heard.

"Single-payer is the health system that works for every other industrialized nation on earth."

By Sylvia Hampton