Health care reform panel set for Thursday night

Participants in the panel discussion include Washington, D.C. resident Donna Smith of the National Nurses Organizing Committee; Rob Stone, a Bloomington, Ind.-based emergency room physician and Indiana coordinator for Physicians for a National Health Program; and William Connolly, a professor of philosophy and religion at the University of Evansville and a member of the steering committee of Hoosiers for a Commonsense Health Plan.

Single-payer health-care system touted by supporters

GARY — Unlike recent town halls and tea parties focusing on health care reform, there was little vitriol, name-calling and rage at McBride Hall in Gary on Friday.

Rather, the 200 local retirees, union workers and officials, and health-reform activists who gathered listened and clapped to support physicians backing a single-payer health-care system.

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Group to walk for health care

A van full of doctors from Oregon will be joined by local residents Tuesday night to advance the cause of Medicare for all ages.

The public is invited to the Indiana side of the Clark Memorial Bridge to participate in the Medicare-For-All Bridge walk. The Oregon group, calling themselves the Mad as Hell Doctors, left Portland earlier this month on a 27-city tour that will end in Washington, D.C.

Dozens attend people's town hall

This one took place at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Fort Wayne and was organized by Hoosiers for a Commonsense Health Plan: an Indiana group in support of universal health care.

The group invited area lawmakers, but none showed up. Some in attendance preferred it that way.

A third party single payer candidate could win the 2010 Indiana Senate race.

UPDATE: Interview with local coordinator for Hoosiers for a Commonsense Health Plan.

Health care reform advocates to meet with Ellsworth’s staff

TERRE HAUTE — As the Congressional battle over health care looms, some local organizers are heating up their efforts to advocate for major health care reform. Two groups have been collecting signatures in support of HR 676, otherwise known as the National Health Insurance Act.

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Healthcare reform: For the people or the corporations?

"My worst fear is that they are going to pass something that they're going to claim is something good, and it's perhaps going to be even worse than what we have now," said the Bloomington Hospital Emergency Room doctor and advocate for a single-payer healthcare system.

Specifically, Stone is worried the public option that is supposed to offer competition to private insurance companies -- "the people who are going to the trough and sucking money out of our health care system" -- will instead enable them to insure the "healthy and the wealthy" and dump the poor and sick onto the public plan.

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Dumezich Pondering Senate Run, Cites Bayh’s ‘Conflict’

NASHVILLE, Ind. - Former state representative Dan Dumezich told Howey Politics Indiana early this afternoon that he is indeed considering a Senate challenge to U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh and said the incumbent has a “fundamental misunderstanding of what the word ‘conflict’ means.”Dumezich

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Diary of a Heartland Radical

Since I cannot read minds, I cannot say why Bayh is dragging his heals on health care. It may be that he is afraid on Republican TV ads. But it seems more likely that he is simply protecting his wife’s gig and as a member of the board of directors of Wellpoint.

Our good friends at Hoosiers for a Commonsense Health Plan are doing their best to alert the people of Indiana to Bayh’s conflict of interest.

Invitation to Local Health Care Providers

Please Help Educate Us!

Yes We Can Tippecanoe, a local political action and service organization, is soliciting 150-250 word statements from local health care professionals to be read at our upcoming

Health Care Educational Forum,

June 28th, 3-5pm at the Tippecanoe County Public Library in downtown Lafayette.

We hope to hear from a variety of medical specialties and perspectives.

Our question to you is: From the point of view of your area of expertise and practice, what are the most significant concerns you face in providing service? What would you like to see in health care reform?

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Making Health Care Happen (Health Care Organizing Kickoff)

Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), author of HR 676: The U.S. National Healthcare Act, will be the featured speaker at "Making Healthcare Happen," a community forum on health care reform occurring Saturday, May 30 at Indiana University Southeast in the Hoosier Room, Grantline Road, New Albany. The forum will begin at 8:30 a.m. and admission is free to the public.

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WellPoint director Bayh conflicted, activists say

WellPoint Inc. CEO Angela Braly faced pointed criticism of her company and of WellPoint Director Susan Bayh from a handful of shareholders at the health insurer's annual meeting this morning.

Two shareholders used a question-and-answer session to charge Bayh with a conflict of interest because her husband, Sen. Evan Bayh, will have a vote on health care reform legislation being drafted in Congress.

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A Citizen's Guide to Indiana

A couple of observations - putting the health insurance industry out of business may be a feature as opposed to a bug. The industry doesn’t appear to be serving us very well but instead seems to be a giant leach, leading to a situation where, by and large and with some exceptions, we pay more for health care but get less than in other countries.

Hoosiers for a Commonsense Health Plan

Rally
For Health Care
Against the Insurers
We've had it with higher premiums - Affordable Healthcare for all
Monument Circle, Indianapolis
May 20, 2009 at 11 AM
Just after WellPoint-Anthem
Stockholders exit their annual meeting

Make this a big event - Bring a Carload!
Let the Politicians Hear
What the people already know
Millions for insurer executive don't cover the uninsured
Sponsored by Hoosiers for a Commonsense Health Plan

We need a good turn out to let Senator Bayh know how people feel about parasites like Wellpoint.

Edit -

UPDATE Jill Long Thompson to run against Evan Bayh in the primary?!?

Last month, the unhappy unions tried to oust Dan Parker as state chairman of the Indiana Dems, a move seen by many as a shot across the bow against Evan Bayh (the figurehead who keeps giving his blessing to Parker). Those same unhappy unions were some of JLT’s biggest supporters last year, when the Parker-led state party couldn’t care less about her. We think this has legs, but we’ll remain skeptical (and hopeful) until something more concrete materializes.

Ted Evanoff writing for the Indiana Star

That has drawn protest from autoworkers, including Michigan union activist Gregg Shotwell, whose Bait & Ammo newsletter Thursday noted the trust fund already is underfunded and would be weakened by the concessions:

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New Albany City Council relays confidence in universal health care

New Albany joined Bloomington and Indianapolis as the only cities in the state that have passed a resolution supporting the House measure. The council voted 7-1 in favor of it with Kevin Zurschmiede the lone member opposing.

Our friends in Indiana are clearly doing great work!

Fort Wayne Journal Gazzette interviews Edith Kenna

What was the most interesting comment you heard at the meeting?

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Single-payer health care system can help America

Presidential Transition Health Policy Team Community Health Care Discussions
Bloomington
Monday 12/29 @ 7 PM
The League of Women Voters and Hoosiers for a Commonsense Health Plan are sponsoring a Health Care Community Discussion
Auditorium of the Monroe County Public Library 303 E Kirkwood Ave
Contact: Karen Green Stone rstone[@]hchp.info

Fort Wayne
Monday 12/ 29 @ 7 PM
The Northeast Indiana Chapter of Hoosiers for a Commonsense Health Plan will host a Health Care Community Discussion at the Unitarian Universalist Meetinghouse 5310 Old Mill Road
Contact: Kirsten Eckert 744-7022 kelise13[@]comcast.net

Indianapolis
Monday 12/29 @ 4:30 PM

Will this man play de Klerk to Conyers’ Mandela?

Yesterday nyceve had a diary on health care that asked readers to contact Richard Lugar and ask him to introduce a Senate version of HR 676. Since Lugar was specifically singled out, I assume there is some reason to believe that he is receptive to the idea. I don’t know much about Lugar other than the obvious, and I don’t know much about Indiana politics. What follows is pure speculation, make of it what you will.

One of my high school teachers was fond of saying that there were two reasons for everything, the good one and the real one.

Letter to the Palladium Item

Health care and health insurance have been problems for a long time, but Pence is against universal, single-payer health insurance so more than 45 million Americans are left to the whim of the "free market" (free for the rich and corporations). The U.S. Conference of Mayors reports that about 18,000 Americans died last year due to lack of health insurance.

Barry Welsh for Congress, Indiana 6th Congressional District

Sits on Wellpoint's Board of Directors

Susan Bayh, wife of Senator Evan Bayh, sits on the board of directors of Wellpoint, a huge health insurance company. poputonian has an excellent run down of the history of Wellpoint.

June 19, Indianapolis, IN, Wellpoint

Contact is Cindy Calley: home [@] calleys[.]org

Check out: Hoosiers for a Commonsense Health Plan

Hoosiers for a Commonsense Health Plan is a group of Indiana citizens who support a publicly financed, privately delivered (single payer) universal health plan at the state and national level. HCHP is working to educate the public and the legislature about the benefits of a single payer plan. We are seeking individuals and groups who have an interest in helping achieve this goal.

Comment upgraded to a post as per Lambert's request. My not-so-humble analysis of what happened to tonight with Indiana:

What happened tonight:

1. Mess with HRC’s supporters’ minds

2. Try (and fail) at some run-of-the-mill cheating

3. Delay as long as possible a call of Indiana for HRC

4. Delay contributions that normally follow a win

5. Push SDs over the fence to BO’s side

6. Up the ante on WWTSBQ

7. Major troll infestation at major HRC-supporting sites

I think my point 1 worked very well: these results were exactly what was expected after all. Actually, it’s pretty bad news for BO. His base is young voters and AAs and that’s it. Can’t win that way.

Heck, even BTD at TalkLeft took back his electability argument tonight.