<HTML><BODY style="word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; "><BR><DIV><DIV>On Mar 17, 2006, at 3:02 PM, Nathan Newman wrote:</DIV><BR class="Apple-interchange-newline"><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"> <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."</FONT></DIV><FONT face="Arial" size="2"> <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> </FONT><DIV><FONT face="Arial" size="2">Nathan Newman<BR><BR> </FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE><BR></DIV><DIV>Or it could go in the way Senator Sheila Kuehl of CA is trying for Californians -- a single payer system that would cover all state residents taking public and private monies to pay for it. Her bill passed the Senate and is now before the Assembly. Let's just hope we can get rid of the Gropenator before it reaches the gov's desk.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><A href="http://democrats.sen.ca.gov/templates/SDCTemplate.asp?pg=senlegislation&cp=MemberPage&sln=Kuehl&sdn=23&zrn=">http://democrats.sen.ca.gov/templates/SDCTemplate.asp?pg=senlegislation&cp=MemberPage&sln=Kuehl&sdn=23&zrn=</A></DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Marta</DIV></BODY></HTML>