Planned Parenthood Files Lawsuit Against Arkansas for Blocking Healthcare for Poor Women

by Nomad

In an attempt to abolish abortion on a state by state basis, governors of a few states have cut Medicaid contracts with Planned Parenthood, a non-profit organization which provides reproductive health and maternal and child health services.. The problem is the action is, say lawyers for organization, illegal and they plan to sue.

Check out this reprinted article from Medical Daily.

Planned Parenthood Is Suing The State Of   Arkansas

Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit with the American Civil Liberties Union that alleges Governor Asa Hutchinson (R-Ark) “acted illegally” when he moved to terminate Medicaid contracts with the organization last month, The Hill reported. “Governor Hutchinson has no business telling women in Arkansas where they can and cannot go for cancer screenings, birth control, HIV tests…

Why the Moment of Truth is Coming for Red States that Rejected Obamacare

by Nomad

As more and more reports come in about the benefits of Obamacare, governors of Red States, some analysts predict, are soon going to feel the heat from the miffed voters.

Few could call Forbes a flagship of the liberal press so when it posts a negative article against conservative policy, it must send a few night-terrors into the sleep of Republicans.

Good News and Bad Tidings
Last week, for conservatives, Forbes was the bearer of bad tidings. Obamacare isn't so bad after all. and as the article says, for the governors of red states who had once been so quick to reject the Medicare expansion, things are going to get a little worrisome.

A new report showing the continued pileup of unpaid medical bills in states that didn’t expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act is escalating criticism on these Republican-led areas of the country to expand the health insurance program for the poor.

True, the report did come from the Obama administration who- conservatives would say- would have every reason to paint a rosy picture. Yet, sooner or later, the facts will spill out one way or the other. And the Obama administration's figures were bound to come under close scrutiny. 

Moreover, the figures from other sources are all pointing in the same direction. In spite of its rocky kickoff, Obamacare hasn't been the predicted disaster. The fears of socialized medicine, promoted by the likes of Sarah Palin, Louie Gohmert, Michele Bachmann, Betsey McCaughey, and last and not least, Rush Limbaugh were unfounded, especially when compared to the benefits to Americans. (They are still peddling their malicious nonsense, unchallenged by the media.)

The fear-mongering of "death panels" was well-financed, well-promoted poppycock for the low-information, hate-driven voter or the perpetually gullible.

Are GOP Governors who Reject Medicaid Expansion Violating their Residents' Civil Rights?

by Nomad

If the first duty of government is to protect its citizens then isn't access to health care included in that idea? 

Are the 21 governors that rejected the Medicaid expansion violating their state residents' civil rights? 

It has been long recognized that the first duty of government is to protect the people. Everything else- including party politics and budget considerations come after that responsibility. (This was something that even Ronald Reagan recognized.)  

The Most Basic Duty of Government

The idea that government has its special duty is based on the so-called Social Compact that pre-dates (but is upheld by) the US Bill of Rights and the Constitution. 

It works like this: The government has a duty to protect and in turn, all citizens conditionally surrender their absolute freedom (but not surrender absolutely) as a form of consent. Furthermore as subjects, all citizens were obliged to contribute- in the form of taxes and in the form of general compliance- to maintain the general welfare of the nation.
More and more we see some- especially in the Tea Party- calling to question this compact. 

Cure for Hepatitis C: The Politics and Profits behind a Breakthrough

by Nomad

A breakthrough in curing a silent killer, Hepatitis C, should mean that patients will have a new lease on life. But unless they are extraordinarily wealthy or they  live in a state that expanded Medicaid in the wake of the Affordable Care Act, these people will be at the mercy of the profit-driven free market. So for most of the uninsured or under-insured Americans, it will mean no cure at all.

Good News 

Even for researchers who are loathe to use the word "cure," there's no question that the news is very good,

The Denver Post is reporting of a breakthrough drug for hepatitis C in clinical trials at the University of Colorado Hospital. This new anti-viral is being called the blockbuster cure for patients who have long had to endure debilitating treatment for this liver-destroying disease.

Astoundingly, Sovaldi, a daily-dose pill manufactured by California-based Gilead Sciences Inc., has cured about 90 percent of patients in only 12 weeks when used with older drugs, studies nationwide have found.

In other words, it's a very nearly the cure for a killer. Not life-long treatment like the HIV drug therapy, but an actual eradication of the affliction. 

A big big deal.

Silent Killer of the Baby Boomers
This is a disease that infects an estimated 150–200 million people around the world. In the US the majority of the estimated 3.2 million people with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) are baby boomer adults. Seventy-three percent of hepatitis C deaths were reported among those 45 to 64 years old.
For every 100 people who contract the virus, 75 will develop chronic infection. About 5 to 20 will develop cirrhosis over the next 20 to 30 years. Between 1 and 5 will die of cirrhosis and liver cancer. Meaning, more than 350 000 people die every year from hepatitis C-related liver diseases. The disease is found worldwide with some countries having chronic infection rates as high as 5% and above.

One of the particularly dangerous aspects of the disease is its insidious nature. Most of those infected with the virus do not know that they have it, which means they could easily be spreading it to others via exposure to blood—or, occasionally, sexual contact. The main mode of transmission in countries with infection rates above 5% is attributed to unsafe injections using contaminated equipment.

"In almost every country it is a significant public health problem, points out Charles Gore, president of the World Hepatitis Alliance, "and, in some, such as Egypt, which has 10% to 15% of its population living with hepatitis C, and Vietnam, where the prevalence of hepatitis B is 15% to 20%, it is simply overwhelming."

So curing this disease is unquestionably a great triumph for science. It's something that the researchers should be proud of. 

There is however one problem.

Now...The Bad News

Sovaldi was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last December, but it won't be cheap. Sovaldi costs $1,000 a day and that adds up to staggering $84,000 for a 12-week supply.

The Great Society, Medicare and the Summer of ‘65

The summer of 1965 was one of many critical moments of American history. The Great Society, President Johnson's ambitious policy to overhaul the country, became a reality. However, at the same moment, a new movement of a different kind was emerging. It was a kind of backlash that would take 15 years to mature into the conservative movement.

With Republican presumptive nominee Mitt Romney’s announcement of Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan as his running mate, there’s bound to be a lot of talk about Ryan’s budget proposals, particularly the proposed reforms in Medicare and Medicaid. Democrats are no doubt pleased with Romney’s decision since any changes - no matter how necessary- to these social programs are bound to create some fear with some affected voters. 

Still, something has to be done. Everybody agrees on that, at least. Health care is the biggest driver of future budget deficits.

It is true that Ryan’s tweaking of his original plan should have removed some of this understandable anxiety and yet when it comes to something this complex, voters on both sides of the political spectrum are deeply suspicious of any tinkering. Even the ultra-right wing Tea Party movement is opposed to medicare cuts.
One source- correctly or incorrectly- captures the mood of the anxious voter.

Ryan’s plan has been rightly called “a thinly disguised assault on Medicare.” The House GOP knows they have no immediate hope of ending Medicare, but they’re telegraphing their long-term plans to cut all the cords holding up America’s social safety net. That should be a brutal wakeup call for all of us as we get a glimpse of how they would reshape America as a less kind, less gentle nation. They don’t plan to stop at Medicare; Social Security won’t be far behind.

It would be tempting for Democrats to scare the elderly voters with exaggerated fears about what Romney and Ryan might do. Even without the medicare fears, the less than charismatic Paul Ryan is certainly not going to be giving the Romney campaign anything close to a boost.

As I said, I will leave further discussion of that topic to others. 

Instead, I would like to take you back forty-seven years to a small town in Missouri where important events were happening.