Posted September 11, 200519 yr From the 9/10/05 Dayton Daily News: Doctor to talk about health care for all Ohioans proposal By Kevin Lamb Dayton Daily News Dr. Johnathon Ross has worked for universal, government-paid health insurance since he worked for an HMO 20 years ago. "I learned that all insurance companies want to insure pig iron, under water, against fire," the Toledo internist said. "In health insurance, that means their whole idea is to avoid taking care of sick people." The result is a situation the Single-Payer Action Network of Ohio hopes to correct. Nearly 1 in 6 Americans is uninsured — 45.8 million including 1.3 million Ohioans — generally those with poorer health or lower income who need coverage the most. Read More...
May 1, 200619 yr From the 5/1/06 Parkersburg News and Sentinel: Residents trying to get Health Care for All Ohioans issue on ballot By DIANA DeCOLA MARIETTA — Washington County is half way to getting the signatures it needs to help get health care for all Ohioans on the November 2007 ballot. An organization called the Southeast Ohio Single Payer Action Network and the Southeast Central Ohio division met in Marietta Saturday to gather more signatures to get their issue, Health Care for All Ohioans, on the ballot. Arlene Sheak, a volunteer coordinator for SECO SPAN said it is very important to secure as many signatures as possible as early as they can. ‘‘We feel that everybody in Ohio should be covered with health insurance and their prescriptions should be covered,’’ Sheak said at a meeting held in Marietta earlier this year. Read More...
May 15, 200619 yr From the 5/14/06 Enquirer: Ohio health care needs fix But too many varied concerns in way of insurance solution BY KATHY BERGSTROM | ENQUIRER CONTRIBUTOR COLUMBUS - Few legislators expect the Ohio General Assembly this year to pass the kind of major health care reforms that Massachusetts enacted last month. That's because while members of both parties, as well as lobbyists for business and consumers, see the need for change in Ohio, there are fundamental disagreements on how to improve health care here. Democrats say a lack of leadership and partisan politics mean the Legislature will enact little substantive health care reform before the fall election. They can't get bills requiring employers to provide coverage of diabetes or mental health problems passed or get hearings on other health care bills. Read More... From the 5/14/06 Enquirer: Bill would create single fund BY KATHY BERGSTROM | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER Among the health care bills that have been introduced during this session is a bill that would create a state-run and tax funded Ohio Health Care Plan to provide health care coverage to all Ohioans. Rep. Michael Skindell, D-Lakewood is the bill's sponsor. He could not be reached for comment. It's the bill supported by the Single Payer Action Network, a group working to create a single-payer system in Ohio. The system would create a single fund to pay for health care and would be paid for by payroll tax, gross receipts tax, and a tax on personal income for people who make more than $87,900 annually. Read More...
July 12, 200618 yr From the 7/12/06 DDN: Activist walks across Ohio touting health care act Dave Pavlick is drawing attention to the plight of the uninsured, with an eye toward passing new health care law in Ohio. By Anthony Gottschlich Staff Writer Dayton — If Dave Pavlick trips and falls during his walk across Ohio, he can afford the doctor's bill if he's injured. But many in Ohio, including an estimated 1.3 million uninsured, don't have access to affordable health care, and that's why Pavlick is wearing out his sneakers these days. "We're the richest country in the world. We have the best doctors, the best nurses and the best facilities in the world, and yet we have 45 million uninsured Americans. It's just not right," Pavlick said Tuesday during a stop in Sidney. Read More...
July 19, 200618 yr From the 7/18/06 Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Man working on getting insurance for all Ohioans Organization collecting signatures for health care act By TAMARIA L. KULEMEKA The Eagle-Gazette Staff [email protected] LANCASTER - The United States is the only industrialized nation that doesn't have universal health insurance, but it doesn't have to be that way, according to organizers of the Single-Payer Action Network, also known as SPAN Ohio. The Cleveland-based organization is on a mission to collect 97,000 signatures in hopes of getting the Ohio Legislature to take action and enact the Health Care for All Ohioans Act. "Everyone knows the system is broken," said Dave Pavlick, a regional SPAN coordinator. "What they don't know is that there is a solution. Once they find out there is one, they're happy to sign." Read More...
July 24, 200618 yr From the 7/23/06 Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Health care proposal draws interest By TAMARIA L. KULEMEKA The Eagle-Gazette Staff [email protected] LANCASTER - A proposal to make health care available to all Ohio residents has people talking. The Eagle-Gazette received more than a dozen e-mails and telephone calls from residents about one group's efforts to rally support for the Health Care for All Ohioans Act. "I've never jumped on a soapbox in my life, but I feel very passionate about this," said 48-year-old Barb Tracy, who supports the plan. "I work every day, and I can't afford to go to the doctor." Dave Pavlick, a regional coordinator of the Single-Payer Action Network of Ohio, stopped in Lancaster on Thursday to raise awareness about his group's mission, and to collect signatures from residents like Tracy, in hopes of getting a law passed. Read More...
April 14, 200718 yr This isn't specifically part of SPAN Ohio, but it is related... Strickland reaches out on health care BY PEGGY O'FARRELL | [email protected] April 14, 2007 Gov. Ted Strickland hopes to use federal Medicaid dollars to help low-income Ohio adults pay for coverage from private health insurers. The proposal, part of what Strickland calls his "Health Link" initiative, is just one possibility for expanding insurance coverage to working families, the governor said Friday at the Center for Closing the Health Gap Conference and Expo downtown. "We want to make who are low-income and who don't qualify for coverage under existing programs to be able to purchase health insurance by providing premium supports for those health-insurance costs," he said. Read More...
May 4, 200718 yr From the 2/9/07 Youngstown Vindicator: Supporters at forum push for state health-care system The plan would attract business to the state, officials said. By WILLIAM K. ALCORN VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER NORTH JACKSON — Supporters of a single-payer health-care system that would cover all Ohio residents say they hope it is adopted here and becomes a model for a national health-care system. The Mahoning Valley Chapter of the Single-Payer Action Network Ohio, or SPAN-OHIO, conducted a health-care forum Thursday at United Autoworkers Local 1112's hall to explain the plan and to get input from government officials and business representatives. A single-payer system means that one fund, administered by a nonprofit government agency accountable to the public, would make payments for all medical services. In Ohio, it would be called the Ohio Health Care Fund. Read More...
May 4, 200718 yr From the 4/5/07 ABJ: Group supports health care for all People tell how lack of insurance can add to burden of illness By Marilyn Miller and Cheryl Powell Beacon Journal staff writers Joyce and Joseph Gregory of Akron don't have health insurance. He lost his job in 2002 after he was diagnosed with a back problem that prevented him from continuing to work. In March 2005 on his 48th birthday, he was diagnosed with cancer. Debbie Silverstein of Kent said she has a brother who apparently suffers from mental illness. He works but doesn't have insurance. While bipolar disorder runs in her family, he has never had a psychological evaluation -- it is too costly, Silverstein said. Read More...
May 4, 200718 yr From the 4/17/07 Gallipolis Daily Tribune: Local forum tackles differing health care views By Kevin Kelly Tuesday, April 17, 2007 7:14 PM EDT GALLIPOLIS — Changing health care in Ohio from the current free market system to universal coverage is spurring debate around the state, and some of it has found its way to Gallia County. A Monday forum drew nearly 40 people to listen to advocates for both sides in the issue argue their case and allow for questions about the concept of medical insurance for all. The forum was sponsored by SPAN (Single Payer Action Network) Ohio, which is seeking to place a health care program for all Ohioans on the ballot. Read More...
