To raise awareness about Multiple Sclerosis I would like the State of Maine to issue specialty license plates. Multiple sclerosis is a chronic, often disabling disease that attacks the central nervous system. Symptoms may be mild, such as numbness in the limbs, or severe, such as paralysis or loss of vision. The progress, severity, and specific symptoms of MS are unpredictable and vary from one person to another.

Adverse medical events and medical errors rob patients & families of quality of life and often of life itself. The facilities/doctors then in settlement attempt to "compensate" victims for damages suffered. No amount of monetary compensation can ever truly recover the extreme and needless damages suffered thru these adverse medical events. The facilities/doctors routinely impose gag orders demanding silence from victims. Malpractice lawyers and defendants reason this by saying that "compensation is in exchange for silence." The facility robbed patients & families, so the offending facilities have no right to any such "exchange." This doubly punishes victims, and further robs victims of needed healing in the form of speaking out, and reporting events as required by LAW. This draconian practice of imposing gag orders is illegal, unethical, unconstitutional, and must STOP!!! The only "exchange" that should take place is the victims' right of fair and equitable compensation for losses suffered! Victims do not owe the offenders anything! Gag clauses protect no one but the wrong-doers. The interests of business, especially harmful and dangerous business, must never be placed above the interests of the people, namely the PATIENTS it serves. Gag clauses are nothing but cowardly acts by those who are clearly afraid of the truth, and we must find alternatives within the civil justice system, or these cowards will continue to literally get away with murder, so long as the legal system plays along in the name of $. No payment for recovery of damages exempts any facility from accountability under the law. Victims should not be forced to choose between lawfully reporting events and recovering losses. Many states have implemented laws such as the NJ HEAL Law and the NJ Patient Safety Act, which require hospitals to publish adverse medical events, to create needed transparency for patient safety, and to protect the interests of the public at large. These laws mandate full disclosure and publication of medical errors and HAI's. Both CMS and Joint Commission Standards mandate full disclosure and communication of such errors. The AMA Code of Ethics also mandates honest disclosure. Despite these laws, wrong-doers continue to manipulate and bully victims by attempting to "buy" their way out of needed justice, and pretend that these horrific events never happened. No business, no matter how big, is above the law. We must ban these unfair gag clauses nationally, and find alternatives within the legal system to place heightened burden of proof of actual damages caused by a breach of confidentiality. Malpractice payments for practitioners are reported to the National Practitioner Data Bank regardless of gag clauses. I call for opening this Data Bank to the public. "Be the change you wish to see in the world." -Gandhi

Vermont has passed legislation to establish what is basically a single-payer healthcare program. It now needs waivers from the federal government. This is about states rights and is about the states serving as 50 laboratories of democracy, trying out new ideas. We should petition the federal government to make Vermont free.

The current law allows a company to promise you healthcare benefits in retirement in exchange for less pay, less vacation, more hours, etc. over 30-40 years, then renege on that earned commitment after you're retired and need it most. A bill in Congress, HR1322, would make that immoral practice, illegal.

Seniors in CA2 are frantic about cutting or changing Medicare and other health care benefits. Mr. Herger, you need to support Seniors in your 10 counties, not throw them to the lions. You are the chair of an important health care committee that could affect the livelyhood of millions of Americans. Stop the Ryan-ization of our health care !

A recent informal poll indicated that 6 out of 10 of American voters think that marijuana should be legalized or decriminalized and taxed like that other drug, alcohol. At the very least, MEDICAL marijuana should be legalized federally so that patients and dispenseries and grow facilities can conduct their business without fear of prosecution.

as of right now in the state of Pennslyvania people can change life policy beneficiaries over the phone....anyone can do this if they know peoples personal info....i am going through this right now cause someone changed a policy my dad had over the phone... a month before his death he verbally told me over the phone this was done without his knowledge...he tryed to change it back and the insurance company will not recognize it...PA law needs to be changed on this point. It needs to be done writing with a signature.

Medicare does not cover millions of qualified seniors because they live outside the US---even though care would cost less. (Excellent health care in Mexico, for example, costs about 50% less.) So when chest pains strike, there are only two choices for many retired expatriates: (1) immediate treatment causing bankruptcy or (2) passive suicide. than forcing them to return to the US for treatment.

The conversion of non-profit health insurance companies to for-profit insurers has required there be profits payable to shareholders. The equation should only include providers, health care costs and patients. Require health insurers to be non profit companies and replace the interest of shareholders with the interests of stakeholders: patients and their providers.

Please help us get NY Medicaid to reinstate coverage for people with HIV/AIDS who are experiencing weight loss!

Recently, NY State eliminated Medicaid coverage for nutrition support products (including Ensure, Boost, and K-PAX) for adults with HIV/AIDS experiencing weight loss.

Our huge deficit is forcing terrible cuts across the country. Yet we are not addressing the root cause - out of control health care costs. Rather than bankrupt America, it is time to put for-profit health care out of its misery and give us the only rational way of controlling health care costs and cover all Americans.