<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2802" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff background=""> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>----- Original Message ----- <BR>From: Marta Russell <BR>-If we push for Medicare for All as some think is the best way to achieve </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>-universal healthcare then the Medicare slow payment crap has got</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>- to be dealt with.  Lots of doctors won't fool with Medicare at all these days.<BR><BR>Or it can go the way of expanded Medicaid in the new "voucher" states:<BR><A href="http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/148020/">http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/148020/</A></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><BR>"State officials celebrated the federal approval Tuesday of a new Arkansas Medicaid program that will offer low-cost health insurance to small businesses...<FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>Arkansas is the 13th state to use federal Medicaid money to pay for health insurance for private businesses...</FONT></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>The plan annually would pay for six doctor visits, seven inpatient hospital days, two outpatient hospital procedures or emergency room visits and two drug prescriptions. It would not provide catastrophic coverage."</DIV> <DIV><BR>This is the publicly-funded universal coverage employers want.   Voluntary and barebones and designed only for healthy people. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Folks are attacking fair share health care mandates but the rightwing is implementing their version of "universal coverage" across conservative states.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Just the fact that I have to waste my breath in defending progressive bills given that national context just boggles my mind at the disconnect between people on this list and what the rightwing is doing around health care.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Nathan Newman<BR><BR></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>