Arianna Huffington on Health Care 2004 former Independent Challenger for CA Governor

Only a public option will truly contain healthcare costs

RomneyCare in Mass. wasn't perfect, but a big step forward

Mind-boggling Medicare/Medicaid cuts hurt seniors & the poor

The president's budget axe fell on the elderly, the indigent, the ill, and the three million Americans currently receiving Medicaid's home health care.

Insurers & Big Pharma don't want Medicare drug buying

The view that health care is a fundamental right is so well established that no one on the Right dares to seriously argue that the poor don't deserve health care. No, the Right will tell you that the free market and individual savings accounts will take care of everyone.

SB-2: Half-baked measures leave 3 million uninsured

HUFFINGTON: Actually, SB-2, the John Burton bill, doesn’t include cost controls. And that’s the problem with a lot of half-baked measures out of the legislature. I don’t believe we should implement another bill which does not include cost controls and which also leaves over 3 million Californians uninsured.

BUSTAMANTE: That’s true.

HUFFINGTON: Another half baked measure.

BUSTAMANTE: Well, not half-baked. It’s a good step.

HUFFINGTON: But ultimately, we need universal health care. The only reason we don’t have it is because of the millions of dollars being paid by insurance companies and the medical industry to politicians and that’s ultimately the only reason.

Stop platitudes about fraud-issue is 6 million uninsured

HUFFINGTON: Everyone is against fraud. The real disgrace that the republicans and democrats are doing nothing about is the fact that you have over 6 million uninsured in the state, and we have children that have to go into emergency rooms just to get the basic care. That is a great disgrace. And that would be my highest priority, rather than simply all of this platitudes about fraud, [and what are the amounts for] the estimates coming out from suspect think tanks.

Tobacco Bill was bought & paid for by Big Tobacco

Sen. Wendell Ford (D, KY) wrung his hands over the possibility that increasing the cigarette tax would lead to reduced smoking. That’s clearly an undesirable outcome, especially when you’ve received-as Ford has-$94,773 from the tobacco industry. Trent Lott ($88,000 in tobacco contributions) even went so far as to call the president twice and warn that raising taxes on cigarettes was a “deal breaker.”

AIDS drugs show industry focus on profit over health

That the drug companies are acting out of pure self-interest is not surprising. But the drug industry’s unadulterated self-interest is also governing public policy. Despite two years of complaints from public health groups, Gore remained steadfast on the industry’s side until embarrassing public protests at campaign stops forced him to issue anemic defenses of his position. The protesters persisted, [eventually resulting in a] long-overdue change in the Administration’s position is directly traceable to them.