My Peace City | nonviolence & social change

The Mad as Hell Doctors will be in St. Paul today.  The Mad as Hell Doctors are promoting a Single-Payer health Care system by advocating the following:

Let’s restart the effort and take Health Care legislation off the table until the Spring session of Congress. In the meantime, let’s use HR 676 as a starting point for a new health care conversation and empower MAHD physician-citizens to seek out the best minds from America’s vast resource of inspired health care professionals. We will then assemble these individuals into a working team that does not include anyone from the private Health Insurance Industry,  the Pharmaceutical Industry, or anyone currently holding public office. Their assignment will be to craft a thoughtful, actionable single payer health care model, uniquely tailored for America, that the entire country can comprehend.

According to their website they will visit the State Capitol from 3-5 and then participate in a panel discussion at 7:00 at St. Kate’s.  Those interested should contact Ann Settgast (612.387.7914) & Elizabeth Frost (612.724.3995).  Check out the recent press coverage of the Mad as Hell doctors in the Star Tribune.  The article highlights two recent developments in the health care debate:

• The Kaiser Family Foundation released a report showing that the average family health insurance premium rose 5 percent this year to $13,375, even as general inflation fell 0.7 percent. Since 1999, the report said, health insurance premiums have risen 131 percent, faster than workers’ wages (38 percent) or inflation (28 percent).
• The New England Journal of Medicine published a national survey showing that a majority of physicians support a controversial proposal for a government-run insurance plan that would compete with private insurers.