When Eden Foods' CEO Michael Potter first joined the federal lawsuit in opposition to the new requirement to provide birth control for female employees in any company health plan, he claimed it was a religious objection. Now, according to a recent interview in Salon [1], he's revealed that he doesn't want to cover it because he's a man. For private companies to claim that they should be legally treated like churches is bad enough, but to claim that they should be able to discriminate against their employees because the CEO is a different gender? Ridiculous. And reading through his comments, the more Potter talks, the worse it sounds. From Salon: “I’ve got more interest in good quality long underwear than I have in birth control pills, … Because I’m a man, number one and it’s really none of my business what women do,” Potter said. So, then, why bother suing? “Because I don’t care if the federal government is telling me to buy my employees Jack Daniel’s or birth control." Birth control is like long underwear? Like whiskey? No, Mr. Potter, birth control is healthcare. No company's employees should go without routine healthcare that they work hard to earn just because their boss thinks it's silly. Sign today to tell Mr. Potter and Eden Foods that birth control is an important healthcare service that should be covered by every health insurance plan. [1] - "Eden foods doubles down in birth control flap" by Irin Carmon, Salon.com http://www.salon.com/2013/04/15/eden_foods_ceo_digs_himself_deeper_in_birth_control_outrage/

Coverage for eating disorders including Anorexia Nervosa is often restricted by health plans via strict medical necessity criteria, pre-authorization requirements, benefit limitations, or lack of coverage for residential care. Please sign our petition to health plans requesting fair and effective coverage of eating disorders including Anorexia …

My appeal is for compassion for a choice for a peaceful death when options have run out or pain has become unbearable in a hopeless situation. I implore the people of Florida to take a look at the laws passed in Oregon and Washington State that I have included in this petition.

The SSC program has impacted the lives and futures of thousands of students in Philadelphia, including myself. The has allowed many inner city students to pave their way towards college and a successful career path, it would be a shame if the program was forced to close.

Kentucky Home Birth Coalition is working to license direct-entry midwives using the Certified Professional Midwife credential. Kentucky Has a higher rate of home birth than the national average yet has no path to licensure for direct-entry midwives who provide the majority of care to these families. Women need access to quality maternity care regardless of their chosen place of birth. Certified Professional Midwives (CPM) are nationally credentialed midwives who are licensed in 27 other states and provide evidence-based and cost effective primary maternity care. More and more Kentucky women are choosing to give birth at home and need access to quality midwifery care. We urge the Kentucky legislature to vote yes to license Certified Professional Midwives.

Senate Bill 491 will go in front of the Senate Committee on Monday April 22, 2013. If the committee decides to pass it on, then it would go to a vote by the whole senate. I am currently required to have a collaborative agreement with a MD or DO. Obamacare, which is managed care for Medi-Cal recipients run by a private organization, will currently not allow me to contract with them. Therefore, my medi-cal patients will either have to pay out of pocket to see me or go elsewhere for their care. Please contact your state senator and ask them to vote YES on SB 491. The committee members are: Senator Curren Price, JR. (Chair), Senator Bill Emmerson (Vice-Chair), Senator Marty Block, Senator Ellen Corbett, Senator Cathleen Galgiani, Senator Ed Hernandez, Senator Jerry Hill, Senator Alex Padilla, Senator Mark Wyland and Senator Leland Y. Yee. Please contact any or all of these fine senators as well. Thank you.

ObamaCare Medicaid Funding for Wisconsin

Personal Background: I have been personally and professionaly involved since childhood. I am now age 68. My daughter has a genetic terminal illness. My former wife died of the disease. My granddaughter is at 50% risk now, etc. I have worked nearly all of my life regarding the basic needs of those with severe disability, both physical and mental. I have been involved at the direct Presedential Input level, and have provided significant "hands on" testimony to the House Ways and Means Committee, Senate Finance Committee, and The U.S. Supreme Court level (through a "Slip Decision" from the Senate to the Court) regarding treatment for those with severe disability. I was also one of the initial writers of the American's with Disability Act (ADA) and I designed a natioally implimented system (through GSA) to make government buildings accessible to those with severe physical disability.

I run my own holistic wellness center, many people NEED the services we provide, but can not get them because we can not charge insurance. For instance, I have a client who is low-income, and has sciatic nerve pain. This can be debilitating. She has tried everything the doctors have told her to do short of surgery. NOTHING worked!! She came to me, knowing she could not afford our services, and asked what could be done. I am forced to work with her and many people like her for free because it helps her when nothing else does!!! Insurance companies won't pay for services like massage therapy unless they are done with a physical therapist or chiropractor, and even then only a couple of companies will pay. The other issue is that the therapist is still doing the massage whether they work in a chiropractors office or not, but they can not get paid on their own! That's ridiculous! Other treatments we offer, including Reiki, Yoga, Meditation, Counseling, Acupuncture, etc... are not paid for even though research has proved them to be more effective than medication in the treatments of many illnesses. These services need to be paid for, people should have the right to choose how they treat their symptoms, and money should NOT be a barrier!! Many of these treatments work better and cost less than medications and surgery. If more people were able to get these treatments, we would have less of a healthcare crisis!

In March 2012, caregivers at Care One’s Woodcrest Health Care Center voted to join with 1199SEIU, the healthcare workers union. We voted to form our union so that we could achieve dignity, respect, affordable healthcare and a voice in resident care. Now it is one year later, and we still have not sat down with management to negotiate a fair contract that will make Woodcrest a better place. This is because management has unlawfully refused to recognize our union. This January, the NLRB officially certified 1199SEIU as our bargaining representative. Yet, Woodcrest is still refusing to negotiate with us. Brothers Daniel and Moshael Straus run the Care One and HealthBridge nursing home chains. NLRB administrative law judges have found that Care One and HealthBridge have violated federal labor law more than 17 times. Some nursing homes run by these companies have threatened to slash healthcare benefits, staffing and wages for caregivers, have refused to recognize workers’ legally protected right to form a union, or have unlawfully fired workers for trying to form a union. Visit CareOneWatch.org to find out more.

Consult suicidology.org and afps.org. I have had thoughts of killing myself which, fortunately, I got out of by myself. But what if someone doesn't?

New York has approximately 16,000 nurse practitioners (NPs) across the state. However, all of them are required to have a written collaborative agreement with a physician. As the implementation of Obamacare looms in January 2014, NPs are one solution to provide primary care to the influx on new patients into the system. Nurse practitioners are registered nurses with additional schooling, education, and training. Nurse practitioners have nearly a 50 year history of providing high-quality, patient-centered and cost-effective care. Nurse practitioners can be found across all healthcare settings and write prescriptions, make diagnoses, manage chronic conditions, provide well-care and health promotional efforts. NPs will continue to collaborate with all members of the healthcare team as needed. However, the requirement of the written collaborative agreement is a an unnecessary barrier to practice.