Health Care in the United States

Articles from Dollars & Sense:

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Vultures in the E.R.

By Nicole Aschoff | January/February 2013

Private-equity firms target the U.S. health-care industry. | Order this issue or subscribe.

The Big Lie About the “Entitlement State”

By Alejandro Reuss | November/ December 2012

Is New York Times columnist David Brooks right that growth in “entitlements”—government programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid—“will bankrupt the country”? Read more »

Funding a National Single-Payer System

By Gerald Friedman | March/April 2012

Don’t like the Obamacare (or Romneycare) mandate? Single-payer is a viable—and more redistributive—alternative. Read more »

Health-care Reform: Will it work?

By Marianne Hill | November/December 2010

Finally, after decades of debate, at last we have health-care reform, or at least a milestone piece of legislation that is supposed to address the key issues of lack of access to care and the high cost of care. Read more »

Crisis = Opportunity for Single-Payer

By Roger Bybee | March/April 2009

The Republicans feel confident about their ability to brand Obama’s plan as overly complex and a threat to consumer choice. But a single-payer approach would disarm many of the most explosive Republican arguments. Read more »

Passing on Single-Payer

By Jeffrey Muckensturm | September/October 2008

A new liberal health-care coalition apparently thinks single-payer is not popular enough among labor, elected officials, or the U.S. public to be politically feasible right now—but they’re wrong. | Order this issue or subscribe.

Paying More, Getting Less

By Joel A. Harrison | May/June 2008

If more people understood the full size of the health care bill that they as individuals are already paying—and for a system that provides seriously inadequate care to millions of Americans—then the corporate opponents of a universal single-payer system might find it far more difficult to frighten the public about the costs of that system. Read more »

Inequality: Bad for Your Health

An Interview with Ichiro Kawachi | January/February 2008

How do you stay healthy? That's a no brainer, right? Eat the right foods, exercise, quit smoking, get regular medical checkups. Social epidemiologist Ichiro Kawachi wants to add a new item to the list: live in a relatively egalitarian society.Read more »

The Opposite of Insurance

By James Woolman | November/December 2006

Unless you're rich, healthy, or both, Health Savings Accounts are bad news. New research on consumer and employer experiences with HSAs shows that these plans attract relatively high-income, healthy people who are attracted to the tax benefits, while they place other consumers—including those with families, health problems, or low incomes—at risk...Read more »
Medicare and Medicaid Cuts: (Almost) Everyone Pays

By Sam Uretsky | July/August 2006

Unless you belong to the select and dwindling group of those with fully employer-paid health coverage—or to the 40-million-and-counting with no health insurance at all—you've probably noticed your health insurance premiums rising at a frightening pace. There is plenty of blame to go around for rising health insurance costs.Read more »

Medicare Part D Gets an "F"

By James Woolman and James McBride | January/February 2006

Medicare Part D, the new drug benefit package that went into effect on January 1, is projected to cost $724 billion over 10 years. Not only is it expensive, it's confusing, and it provides more benefits to insurance companies than to enrollees. Here are five key reasons Medicare Part D deserves an "F". Read more »

Job-Based Health Insurance: Sick and Getting Sicker

By James Woolman | May/June 2004

Job-based health insurance is terminally ill. A long-term decline in the percentage of workers who get health insurance through their jobs and a sharp rise in monthly costs are giving workers a bad case of "un-surance." They now bear more of the costs of medical care and are less certain than ever that their health benefits will be there in the future. Read more »

Physicians for a National Health Program: "Physicians for a National Health Program is a single issue organization advocating a universal, comprehensive single-payer national health program. PNHP has more than 15,000 members and chapters across the United States. Since 1987, we've advocated for reform in the U.S. health care system. We educate physicians and other health professionals about the benefits of a single-payer system—including fewer administrative costs and affording health insurance for the 46 million Americans who have none."
Healthcare-NOW!: "Healthcare-NOW's mission is to support the growing movement for a quality, national, single-payer, guaranteed, healthcare system for everybody in this country. We believe this can only be attained by removing the insurance companies from control of our healthcare."
Universal Health Care Action Network: "UHCAN's mission is to help build, strengthen and connect organizations and coalitions in states and nationally that can effectively engage the public, policymakers and key constituencies to achieve affordable, quality health care for all."
Americans for Health Care:"Americans for Health Care, a project of SEIU, is the largest grassroots health care reform organization in the country, fighting for quality, affordable health care for everyone."

Mass-Care (Massachusetts)
Connecticut Coalition for Universal Health Care
Health Care for All (California)
Health Care for All (Colorado)
Health Care for All (Ohio)
Health Care for All (Oregon)
Health Care for All (Massachusetts)
Health Care for All (Washington)
Health Care for All (Vermont)
Kentuckians for Single-Payer Health Care
Floridians for Health Security
Single-Payer Action Network (Ohio); this site includes an extensive links page listing many more state-level organizations.
Health Care for All Texas

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