After going to Denver Health for severe COVID-19 symptoms, a patient was told he did not meet the official requirements therefore could not receive the COVID-19 test.  It was assumed he was positive, so he was sent home to self-quarantine.  Subsequently, he received a bill for $3278 for his visit to the ER.

A new report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation highlights how between 25 -43 million workers could lose their health insurance as they begin losing their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Many American workers receive their health insurance through their employers and with so many of them now being laid off, the question is What Will They Do? 

Fear tactics are being used as an attempt to shift support away from Medicare for All.  Don't listen to the "manufactured confusion" and follow the facts.  Your health depends on it. 

In the midst of the COVID-19 epidemic, healthcare workers continue caring for their patients in hospitals, in clinics, by phone calls and via phone conferencing. Not everyone is getting paid for their bravery, yet they never cease taking care of patients.   Hospitals need money to keep their doors open so they can continue to provide quality care, yet this pandemic is causing them to lose a significant amount of money. Dr. Robbie Goldstein believes that a Medicare for All system is the answer.

Healthcare companies are putting profit over people!  Now that healthcare workers are in dire need of face masks, instead of charging 58 cents per mask, companies are now charging $7.00 per mask.  Farron Cousins from the Ring of Fire Network reports that this shameful practice should be illegal.

The Nevada Culinary Union has established a position which favors benefits provided by private commercial insurance, as opposed to single-payer or universal health care. Information and Disinformation (lies) will become the business of the current 2020 American political campaign. How will Americans/Union members be able to differentiate the truth from lies?

Zachary Hendrickson from Business Insider, reports on the rising healthcare administrative costs and their negative impact on us, their consumers and patients, with no end in sight. He cites several recent studies which support this data, as he makes the case against private insurers and for a single-payer system.

Due to rising healthcare costs, fewer adults are seeking medical attention for their routine care such as an injury, flu symptoms, etc.  A recent report in the Annals of Internal Medicine provides several reasons and in-depth data as to why people are choosing not to visit their primary physicians.

As Out-Of-Pocket Health Costs Rise, Insured Adults Are Seeking Less Primary Care  by Elena Renken, NPR

Declining Use of Primary Care Among Commercially Insured Adults in the United States, 2008–2016 Annals of Internal Medicine, Abstract

The differences between socialism and socialized medicine, as well as the discrepancies between social insurance versus private insurance, are points that are often confused or falsely explained.

HCACF co-president, Tom Gottlieb, currently is presenting several discussions regarding the financing of healthcare. These OLLI classes are offered at the University of Denver and focus on how financing influences universal health care, and the difference between healthcare and the healthcare system.