Single-Payer System In Talking Stage
Proposed legislation to establish a single-payer system of universal health care coverage in Washington will likely get a hearing this session in Olympia.
Sen. Lorraine Wojahn of Tacoma told me she will support a bill now being drafted in the Senate Health and Long Term Care Committee that is modeled after a citizens initiative developed by the Health Care 2000 coalition. The coalition plans to place its single-payer initiative on the November 2000 state ballot.
“We are also working on a companion bill to pay for universal coverage,” said the senior senator from Pierce County. “It would enact a 1 percent income tax dedicated only to health care coverage.
“Without a single-payer plan we can never hope to pay for care,” said the 30-year-veteran of the state Legislature.
“People can’t buy individual policies today, even under the state-subsidized Basic Health Plan.
“In some cases, the cost has gone up two and a half times,” said Wojahn, citing the example of her next-door neighbors, a couple with three children. “They were paying $230 a month to secure the minimum coverage under the state Basic Health Plan. Their premiums shot up to $750. People can’t afford that. We’re going further under every day.
“The only way to make coverage cost-effective is to have a single payer system,” said Wojahn. “It’s time we talk about it.”
Any chance the bill will get past the talking stage?
“Oh, hell no!” exclaimed the 78-year-old lawmaker. “Not this session. But it’s a start.”
Effort begins to fight scams against Medicare
The nation’s 40 million Medicare recipients are being enlisted by Uncle Sam and the American Association of Retired Persons to help fight fraud, waste and abuse that robs beneficiaries of billions a year.
Beneficiaries can start by scrutinizing their medical statements and challenging questionable-looking charges.
Helping to kick off the national campaign, a Medicare Fraud Fighters Rally will be held Feb. 24 in Spokane. It’s scheduled to get under way 10 a.m. in the Lyons Theater, 202 E. Lyons. Participants will learn about the latest scams in this area, how they can avoid becoming a victim themselves, what’s being done to crack down on the culprits, and how they can help curb Medicare crime.
Special guests include federal and state prosecutors, investigators and other officials connected with the fraud fighting effort.
To reserve a seat, call (800) 866-7023.
Meantime, government auditors report that 7 cents of every dollar Medicare spent last year went to fraud, waste and mistakes. That’s roughly half of what Medicare lost just two years ago. Officials attribute the improvement to stricter surveillance.
`Lovefeet’ cushions each step
The average person takes upward of 10,000 steps a day, sending thousands of tons of shockwaves through lower joints and up the back, experts say.
Scientists for America Performance Products Inc., which makes shoe inserts designed to absorb shock, calculate that the foot of even a svelte 130-pounder sustains around 500 pounds of pressure with every step.
So by bedtime, the feet have absorbed from 3.5 million to 7 million pounds of pressure.
“Lovefeet” inserts are designed to disperse the vertical jolt horizontally. To order, call (877)-LOVFEET (877-568-3338).