Thanks to our Board member John Weeks and his work with The Integrator Blog, we have learned something about their respective stances on Integrative Medicine.  

One of the findings from our work is that a solid majority of Americans want Complementary and Alternative (CAM) providers as part of a basic benefit package.  CAM providers are: naturopathic physicians; acupuncture practitioners; chiropractic providers; and massage therapists. 

We had looked for some stance on this issue from the candidates and heard nothing so stopped checking. Thanks to John for his work on this issue. 

Cheers and more later.   Kathleen

From Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, October 21:

 “Hawaii state legislators and Hawaii Medical Service Association officials last week criticized actions by Gov. Linda Lingle's (R) administration last week to end funding for Keiki Care, the state's universal health care program for children, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin reports (Altonn, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 10/17). Beginning Nov. 1, the state no longer will provide funding for the 2,000 children enrolled in the program, but private partner HMSA will pay to cover the children through the end of 2008.” 

With Medicaid costs anticipated to increase 7.9% each year, states are going to be hard pressed to make some difficult decisions. I recall in 2003 or 2004, Mississippi was going to cut 13,000 Medicaid nursing home beds to balance the state budget.  In 2005, state after state was struggling with how to balance its Medicaid budget. This from the New York Times in 2005:  In Mississippi, Soaring Costs Force Deep Medicaid Cuts.

We cannot go back to the mindless “Rates, Regulations and Body Parts” Health Policy that we have in this country—at both the state and federal levels.  The public does not want to balance a state budget off the backs of its seniors and children.  We are a better nation than this.

We need to reach out to each other, find ways to build consensus, examine funding options and alternatives and create a path for reform.  It is possible. 

Kathleen

CodeBlueNow! was formed five years ago on October 24, 2003, from ideas that emerged in a national contest to “Build an American Health System,” with the intent of engaging the public and finding common ground on health care reform.   One of the ten contest finalists, J. L. Richardson, M.D, has published a book, Patient Handbook to Medical Care: Your Personal Health Guide (Bend of the River Books, Miami, FL).  Dr. Richardson’s book won a Writer’s Digest International Self-Published Book Award in the Reference Books category and will be exhibited at the Frankfurt International Book Fair from October 15-19^th in Frankfurt, Germany.

Dr. Richardson’s book is the third book to be published as a result of the “Build an American Health System” contest which launched CodeBlueNow!.  Since that time, two other books have been published by contest finalists:  The Health Care Solution: A Strategic Solution for The Health Care Revolution, by Wayne B. Anthony, M.Div., M.B.A., CEAP, SPHR (Book Publishers Network, June 2005) and Balanced Choice: A Common Sense Cure for the US Health Care Systems, by Ivan J. Miller (Authorhouse, 2006). 

The contest itself emerged from the publication of CodeBlueNow! Founder and CEO, Kathleen O’Connor’s, book: The Buck Stops Nowhere Why America’s Health Care Is All Dollars and No Sense (Hara Publishing Group, April, 2001). 

“When you think of how limited our resources have been and how vast this industry is, I am encouraged by our accomplishments.  I cannot even begin to count how many articles and seminars have come about as a result of the contest and CodeBlueNow!’s determination to give the public a voice,” observes O’Connor. 

Since its inception in 2003, CodeBlueNow! has: Conducted a pilot project in Oregon; published a 10 week series of editorials in the Seattle Post Intelligencer; conducted two market research surveys to learn what the public values in health care reform and surveyed the members of over 15 organizations to validate the results; and created the Voters’ Health Care Platform as the culmination of this Phase I work.  The Voters’ Health Care Platform has now been sent to every governor and senator who is not up for election, setting the stage for Phase II which may include: A public education campaign; a national survey focusing on delivery system, financing and management options; and a pilot project on state-level reform.

“More common ground and consensus exist than the parties or the pundits report.  We will never get to significant reform without acknowledging common ground and consensus and building on it,” O’Connor stresses. 

CodeBlueNow! is a 501©3 nonpartisan, national, grassroots nonprofit organization dedicated to giving the public a voice in shaping a new health care system.  The Seattle based organization conducts research, forges partnerships, builds consensus and creates a positive vision.  www.thethecodebluenow.org

There is one positive side effect of the Wall Street meltdown.  It has essentially ended the dead-end stalemate of single payer vs. marketplace health care reform. Nothing will be left for government to fund health care. Those who want to leave health care to the market place should remain in their hiding pens for now. So where does this economic crisis leave health care reform?

Right where it should be—in the hands of the public. Fortunately, the public is not as divided on this issue as the parties and the pundits would lead us to believe. The reform debate has always been held hostage by partisan politics or groups with defined narrow solutions whose diatribes against each other have drowned out other voices. Thankfully, the majority of the people do prefer something practical with hope to solve the problem.

We would like to offer for public discussion, our Voters’ Health Care Platform.  We think this is a solid basis to start a larger discussion of health care reform that the public would support. We think the need is urgent a people lose jobs and their benefits, more pressure will be put on already overburdened hospitals and their staff to provide care for the uninsured. 

Not only that, but now more pressure exists on the states who must balance their budgets. As their revenues decline, there will be greater pressure on the states to cut Medicaid, which currently is the fastest growing part of every state budget. 

More common ground exists than people believe.  We need to start with that common ground and then build consensus. 

See our platform as well as the research behind the platform.

Best, Kathleen