2018-08-16: News Headlines

Shared by Cherise (2018-08-16). Medicaid Officials Target Home Health Aides' Union Dues. truthout.org Medicaid home care aides — hourly workers who help the elderly and disabled with daily tasks like eating, getting dressed and bathing — are emerging as the latest target in the ongoing power struggle between conservatives and organized labor. | About half a million of these workers belong to the Service Employees International Union, a public-sector union that represents almost 1.9 million workers in the United States and Canada. The union is an influential donor to liberal politicians and boasted strong ties to the Obama administration. | A proposed rule from the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services would prohibit home health aides paid directly by Medicaid from having their union dues automatically deducted from their paychecks, though it doesn't name the fees explicitly. | Blocking these direct Medicaid payments means the workers — especially those who don't work in…

IMEMC News (2018-08-16). Detainee Continues Hunger Strike For Twelfth Day. imemc.org The Palestinian Detainees' Committee has reported, Thursday, that a detainee is ongoing with a hunger strike for the twelfth consecutive day, demanding to be released due to various health issues. The committee stated that the detainee, Omar Hashem Ahmad al-Khatib, 60, is from Jabalia, in the northern part of the […]…

Staff (2018-08-16). Hold Them Accountable for Undermining the Affordable Care Act (Video). truthdig.com Trump and Republicans in Congress haven't been able to officially kill the health policy. But they're quietly using 5 strategies to destroy it.

Alex Henderson, AlterNet (2018-08-16). RESPECT: Here Are 5 of Aretha Franklin's Most Important Contributions to Civil Rights. alternet.org The "Queen of Soul" died Thursday. | Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin—who battled pancreatic cancer and other severe health problems—has died, her publicist told the Associated Press Thursday. August 16, 2018Aretha Franklin, who was 76, is among the most iconic and influential R&B singers of all time. Many of her hits, from "Chain of Fools" in 1967 to "Think" in 1968 to "Day Dreaming" in 1972, are staples of classic soul. But. . .

RT (2018-08-16). Cereal killers: Monsanto weedkiller that can 'probably' cause cancer found in children's breakfasts. rt.com A hearty bowl of oatmeal is a healthy way to start your day, but according to a new study, that bowl of oatmeal can contain dangerous levels of glyphosate, a weed-killing chemical linked to cancer. |

Radio Farda (2018-08-15). As Currency Drops Iran Faces Shortages Of Medications. iranian.com Iran's health ministry spokesman has admitted that the country is currently suffering from shortages of foreign-made medications, but, insisted that "it can be overcome". Blaming chaotic fluctuations in Iranian forex market and nosediving national currency, Iraj Harirchi says, "Since forty-fifty types of foreign medications have recently become scarce in Iran, the government has allocated $3.5 […]

Fred Gardner (2018-08-13). Exploiting Styron's Ghost. counterpunch.org "I've been through a lot, good and bad, I've seen government rise and fall and scientific theories rise and fall, and I think there's a breadth of mind which, provided the brain is healthy comes with age." — Oliver Sacks Eli Lilly got FDA approval to market Prozac in December 1988. The company's marketing genius, More

Kathy Kelly (2018-08-13). U.S. is Complicit in Child Slaughter in Yemen. counterpunch.org On August 9, a U.S.-supported Saudi airstrike bombed a bus carrying schoolchildren in Sa'ada, a city in northern Yemen. The New York Times reported that the students were on a recreational trip. According to the Sa'ada health department, the attack killed at least forty-three people. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, at least twenty-nine of those killed were children under the age of fifteen, and forty-eight people were wounded, including thirty children. More

Hezvo Mpunga (2018-08-13). The Baltimore Bureau Podcast Show: August 10, 2018. therealnews.com Eze and Khalilah discuss the one year anniversary of the Baltimore Ceasefire, climate justice as health, housing and transit justice, police ignoring the law, and Marc Steiner's interview with Sean Yoes about his book, 'Baltimore After Freddie Gray'

Steffie Woolhandler, David U. Himmelstein, Adam Gaffney (2018-08-10). Single Payer Is Actually a Huge Bargain. thenation.com Steffie Woolhandler, David U. Himmelstein, Adam Gaffney It would save both dollars and lives compared to our current system.

RT (2018-08-09). US can afford 'unlimited war' but not Medicare for all, says Ocasio-Cortez. rt.com Democratic socialist and Congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has slammed Republicans for funding tax cuts and America's "unlimited war," while refusing to provide universal healthcare. |

RT (2018-08-09). WATCH the mesmerizing dance of chromosomes inside our cells (VIDEO). rt.com Scientists have mapped the movement of chromosomes inside our cells for the first time — a development that may have significant implications for the study of genetic diseases and human health, according to researchers. |

Michelle Chen (2018-08-02). Trump Administration's Breastmilk War Exposes Backchannel Politics in Health Care. progressive.org Nipplegate has a long history in the Global South.

Sarah Jaffe (2018-08-01). Building the Movement for Medicare for All. progressive.org This week was the 53rd anniversary of Medicare, created in the middle of the social agitation of the 1960s. Benjamin Day of Healthcare-NOW! talks about how today, we are in the middle of similar upheaval.

Justin Anderson (2018-07-31). Reporting on Medicare for All Makes Media Forget How Math Works. fair.org CBS News (7/30/18) | "Medicare for All," a federally funded universal healthcare plan championed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vermont—Ind.), has quickly become a key issue for progressive voters evaluating Democratic Party candidates for the 2018 midterm elections and the 2020 presidential race. The plan would provide coverage for the 40 million currently uninsured in the United States, a gap that is estimated to cause tens of thousands of deaths annually. Despite this, Medicare for All has received no shortage of negative coverage in the media, all revolving around the same question: Just how are we going to pay for it? | A study on the cost of Medicare for All was recently conducted by Charles Blahous for the libertarian-leaning Mercatus Center at George Mason University. Blahous' study projected that Sanders' Medicare for All system,…

Paul Dobson (2018-07-23). Venezuela to Invest €293m to Modernise Public Health System as National Nurses' Strike Continues. venezuelanalysis.com Maduro has called for a "revolution within the revolution" in the health sector.