Nurses Launch National “Cheney Care” Campaign

Centre Daily Times:

WASHINGTON, Jan. 4 — The California Nurses Association (CNA)/National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC) launched a national campaign today in favor of what the group has dubbed “CheneyCare” — guaranteed, publicly-funded health care for all Americans.

The campaign was inspired by the success of the group’s Iowa ads declaring that Vice President Dick Cheney “would be dead” if he did not have publicly-funded health care. A new version of the Iowa ad asking Americans to sign a petition for “CheneyCare” will run today in eight New Hampshire papers before going national in the New York Times, Washington Post, and USA Today, as well as leading political blogs, on Monday.

“All Americans have the right to the quality of care that our Vice-President, President, and Congress already have,” said Rose Ann DeMoro, Executive Director of CNA/NNOC and a vice-president of the AFL-CIO. “All the leading Democratic proposals fall well short of “CheneyCare,” keeping insurance companies at the apex of power and allowing them to deny care that can save lives. The Republican proposals are even worse.” Keep reading…

That doesn’t seem like so much to ask, does it? If Dick Cheney, and every member of Congress, deserve premium healthcare, certainly the rest of us do.

Uninsured more likely to die from cancer

Off the AP wire today…

ATLANTA – Uninsured cancer patients are nearly twice as likely to die within five years as those with private coverage, according to the first national study of its kind and one that sheds light on troubling health care obstacles.

People without health insurance are less likely to get recommended cancer screening tests, the study also found, confirming earlier research. And when these patients finally do get diagnosed, their cancer is likely to have spread.

 

I consider this a national disgrace. As a cancer survivor (one year now), it really pisses me off that those who have this disease eating away at them don’t get timely diagnoses that might give them a fighting chance for survival.