Universal Health Care

The debate on national health care comes once more to WJHU public radio, 88.1 FM, in the fourth and final segment of the live-broadcast series, "Critical Decision: Health Care Reform and You."Health care experts and audience members will discuss the social aspects of a universal health care plan, including mental health issues, violence and drugs, in a two-hour special of the "Marc Steiner Show," to air tomorrow night from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.Panelists for tomorrow's program include Peter Beilenson, Baltimore commissioner of health, and Karen Becker, a public health expert for the U.S. Senate Finance Committee.

What a glorious day for Americans! Once health care reform is enacted into law, the U.S. can once again hold its head up among the world's democratic nations, all of whom have been enjoying the blessings of universal health care for decades. We can then show the world that in fact we do care about the 40 million of our fellow citizens who, because of poverty, illness or unemployment must live without health care coverage. I believe no other civilized nation would have tolerated such a scandalous and shameful record of neglect for as long as we have.

•••• A Super Bowl championship in Ray Lewis' final season.  Luke Broadwater, reporter, The Baltimore Sun •••• Peace. And by peace, that has to include education, employment, a clean environment, good nutrition, health care and better mass transit. I'm not asking too much, right?  Anne Tallent, editor,  b •••• An NBA team. I'd even be down with purple uniforms.  Wesley Case, reporter,  b •••• A magical way to eliminate all the rats.

Citing the need for dedication to social and racial justice issues, the political action committee for Howard County's largest African-American network released its endorsements for candidates in the Nov. 5 election yesterday.The committee -- African Americans in Howard County -- is an outgrowth of the African-American Coalition, which represents more than 20 county groups, said Rev. Robert A. F. Turner, the president.In all but the nonpartisan judicial and school board races, the committee endorsed Democrats:For president and vice president, President Clinton and Al Gore.

Baltimore health officials are promoting a new community outreach program that helps uninsured residents better understand their options for obtaining health care. The Baltimore City Access to Care Program started two months ago with a $1 million grant and has outpaced initial projections, said Health Commissioner Dr. Peter L. Beilenson. He said 852 appointments have been made at community health centers, more than half of which were kept. About a quarter of the city's population goes without health insurance over the course of a year, well above the national average, Beilenson said.

Republicans say they will not cooperate on raising the debt limit in mid-February unless Democrats agree to cut spending by an equivalent amount ("Trouble ahead," Jan. 2). What these trillions of tax dollars are allocated for is instructive. The Pentagon takes up more than half of all discretionary spending. Yet politicians wrangling about budget cuts - especially when they are busy amending the tax code so the wealthy contribute their share of the national tax burden - say very little about the military industrial complex.

WASHINGTON -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. chief executive Lee Scott joined one of his toughest critics, labor leader Andrew L. Stern, yesterday to unveil a political campaign to promote universal health care coverage. The two longtime antagonists are helping lead a coalition of labor and business leaders in trying to get Congress to end the nation's reliance on employer-backed health insurance and develop a system for providing universal low-cost coverage within five years. "What unites us here today is our shared belief that it will be a far greater America when we get affordable health care for all Americans," Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, said at a news conference at a Capitol Hill hotel.

High-ranking Maryland lawmakers and CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, the region's largest insurer, outlined yesterday a $1.6 billion proposal for near-universal health care coverage that would require state residents to have insurance and employers to provide it. The legislation is the latest attempt to help a large segment of Marylanders who don't have health insurance - more than 760,000, or 14 percent of the population - which puts their personal and...

MADRID, Spain -- The leader of the conservative Popular Party, Jose Maria Aznar, cleared the last hurdle yesterday to become Spain's prime minister, winning a vote of confidence in Parliament and ending 13 years of Socialist governments.Aznar, who will be sworn into office today in front of King Juan Carlos, defeated his longtime Socialist nemesis, Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez, on March 3. But his party won only 156 seats in Parliament, 20 short of a majority, and Aznar was elected prime minister yesterday only after making concessions to smaller regional parties, mainly a coalition of Catalan nationalists, that want more self-rule for Spain's regions.

First it was gun safety, then curbing tobacco sales. Yesterday, Vincent DeMarco was back at Wilde Lake High School in Columbia for a third time, trying to recruit student support for his latest cause: universal health care for Maryland in 2003. "I'm hoping to use Wilde Lake as a springboard," said DeMarco, executive director of the Maryland Citizens' Health Initiative. With Wilde Lake's student government support, he hopes to get the Howard County Student Association on board and then use the unified county as a lever to recruit help from high school groups all over the state.