by Sheri Divers [courtesy of Blog for America]

High Court Won't Hear Birth Control Case

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court on Monday declined to enter a church-state dispute over whether some religious organizations can be forced to pay for workers' birth-control health insurance benefits, a growing trend in the states.

The court let stand a New York court ruling upholding a state law that forces religious-based social service agencies to subsidize contraceptives as part of prescription drug coverage they offer employees.

Most in Poll Want War Funding Cut

Most Americans oppose fully funding President Bush's $190 billion request for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a sizable majority support an expansion of a children's health insurance bill he has promised to veto, putting Bush and many congressional Republicans on the wrong side of public opinion on upcoming foreign and domestic policy battles.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

State Senator Sheila Kuehl, author of SB 840, the single payer health insurance bill dubbed "Medicare for All," joins Allen and Cynthia Campbell in front of the state Capitol in Sacramento.

By Frank D. Russo

An incredibly sad story of two human beings--a nurse, who despite 30 years of working and paying health insurance premiums is now uninsurable with a rare form of cancer--and her loving and supportive husband--was told both outside the state Capitol and inside to the Assembly Health Committee on Tuesday, as it debated, and eventually passed SB 840 by Senator Kuehl that would bring universal health insurance coverage to all Californians.

On the Capitol lawn, holding a sign that said, "Blue Shield, Blue Cross, Don't Kill My Wife," Allen Campbell stood next to his wife and supported her when she became weak. They spoke to passersby using a bullhorn. I was able to talk with them and to get to know them. They are both extraordinary individuals who at great peril have helped to save victims of genocide in Rwanda. They are also ordinary Californians who are experiencing a hellish nightmare with the current private health insurance system in our state.

Here is what they had to say to the Assembly Committee, speaking truth to power that brought tears to my eyes and many others.

Cynthia Campbell

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Prop 103 of 1988 Saves Californians Over $200 Million

Implications in New Study Based on 15 Years of Data is Timely for Health Insurance Bill Up in Committee Today

By Carmen Balber
Consumer Advocate
Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR)

FTCR released a new study this week of California's landmark insurance reform initiative, Proposition 103, that shows that the nation's most effective insurance regulation system has dramatically reduced costs for consumers and provides a model for health insurance reform. The Assembly Appropriations committee considers legislation today (AB 1554 – Jones) that would regulate the health insurance industry ala Prop. 103.