Clarke: Health Care is the Right of Every American

• Guarantee an adequate level of health care to everyone and make it affordable and accessible for all citizens and residents-especially the 47 million currently uninsured-by managing the cost of premiums, co-payments, and deductibles.

• Guarantee Health care services are affordable to middle-class and working-class families.

• Empower each American to pick his or her own doctor-and enable patients and doctors, not insurance company bureaucrats, to make critical medical decisions.

• Empower Medicare and others to negotiate lower drug prices for seniors by supporting the purchase of less expensive prescription drugs from countries like Canada.

Clarke: Bush's Plans to Cut Health Care Must Be Stopped

In the first major vote of 2006, the House of Representatives voted for massive cuts to Medicaid, Medicare and student loans. The so-called Deficit Reduction Act (S. 1932), passed 216-214 without a single Democratic vote.

The intention of the budget-cutting bill was to reduce a rising budget deficit, yet because of the tax cuts to the upper income brackets the bill will actually increase the deficit.

Spending on Medicaid will be reduced by $6.9 billion over five years. The reductions will be achieved in part by cutting benefits to Medicaid recipients and reducing the amount Medicaid pays for drugs.

Medicare spending will be reduced by $6.4 billion over the next five years. Home health care services and Medicare payments to doctors will be cut to help achieve the reductions.

Sign up for our Email Newsletter

Endorsements

Hon. Betsy Gotbaum
NY Public Advocate

Hon. C. Virginia Fields
Manhattan Borough Pres.

Hon. Anthony Weiner
U.S. Congress

Hon. Donna Christian-Christensen
U.S. Representative for US Virgin Islands

Hon. Bill de Blasio
Councilmember, 39th CD

Hon. Kendall Stewart
Councilmember, 45th CD

Hon. Melissa Mark-Viverito
Councilmember, 8th CD

Hon. Annabel Palma
Councilmember, 18th CD

Hon. Rosie Mendez
Councilmember, 2nd CD

Hon. Helen Sears
Councilmember, 25th CD

Hon. John Liu
Councilmember, 20th CD

Hon. Melinda Katz
Councilmember, 29th CD

Hon. Helen Foster
Councilmember, 16th CD

Hon. Darlene Mealy
Councilmember, 41st CD

Hon. Alan Gerson
Councilmember, 1st CD

Hon. Miguel Martinez
Councilmember, 10th CD

Hon. James Sanders, Jr.
Councilmember, 31st CD

Hon. Phil Reed

Hon. Mayor Wayne Hall
Mayor Hempstead, LI

Hon. Nick Perry
Assemblymember, 58th AD

Hon. John Sampson
NY State Senator, 19th

Alan Fleishman
District Leader, 52nd AD

Rev. Dr. Paul Smith

Roberta Flack

Emily's List

Women Building for the Future PAC

National Women's Political Caucus

Women's Campaign Forum

Jim Owles Democratic Club

Stonewall Democratic Club

Caribbean American Leadership Summit

100 Clergy for Clarke

Progressive Democrat Political Association

Guyanese-American Workers United

Men and Women Against Domestic Violence

1199/SEIU

32BJ

District Council 9, Painters

Local 420, Hospital Wkrs, DC37 AFSCME

Mason Tenders District Council, LIUNA

United Food and Commerical Workers (UFCW), Local 1500

International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), Joint Council 16

UNITE / HERE!

Hotel Trades Council (NYC)

HERE, Local 6 (Hotel Workers)

Carpenters, Local 926 (Brooklyn)