"You Do Not Have Health Insurance"

by Leigh Graham · 2009-08-09 09:06:00 UTC
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There's a great post up at The Baseline Scenario concerning the diffuse worry that healthcare reform will negatively impact those with health insurance in the US. It basically eviscerates the lie that "employer-subsidized health care for the duration of your employment" is health insurance: "as long as your health insurance depends on your job, your health is only insured insofar as your job is insured – and your job isn’t insured."

Unlike NycWeboy, who believes no one is paying attention to the needs to reform Medicaid for better coverage and care of the poor, James at TBS thinks "people remain convinced that health care reform is for poor people. [But] It’s for everyone – everyone, that is, who isn’t independently wealthy or over the age of 65. Because all of us could lose our jobs."

FYI: Medicare = health insurance.

More great links to while away your Sunday afternoon after the jump.

Barbara Ehrenreich expands on a point made in a past post about how we have criminalized poverty, focusing specifically on the rise in criminalization policies against the homeless.  In a positive push back, Maryland becomes the first state this fall to include attacks on the homeless as hate crimes.  More like this, please.

I hope you too ignored Douthat's column in the NYT about how we should all be more like TX.  If you didn't, I hope you followed it up by reading these critiques here, here, and here, incl. this great graph (from Ezra Klein) heralding the outcomes of Texas budget priorities:

And clearly financier-philanthropist George Soros has been reading Poverty in America, because following Diane's post from Friday on hardship during back-to-school season comes this announcement of his $35M gift to provide a $200 back-to-school bonus for 850k NY State families.  Great Work, Diane! (And you too, George!)  What's cool is that stimulus matching funds really expand the impact of this generous donation.  Our government at work, people!

Happy Sunday! I promise this week I'll get back into the swing of things around here.

Leigh Graham
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