US hospitals charge uninsured, self-paying patients more than twice the amount they receive for insured patients, according to a new study on health policy.

Study author Gerard Anderson of the Center for Hospital Finance and management at Johns Hopkins University said that on average, patients that have to pay for their own care in the United States get charged 2.5 times what insurers are billed for their customers for the same care in hospitals.

"The markup on hospital care for these individuals, especially for those who can afford it least, is unjustifiable," Anderson said in a statement summarizing his research.

The hospitals also charged those patients an average of three times the allowed costs for the same services set by the government-run Medicare health insurance program available mainly to elderly people.

For-profit hospitals were the worst offenders, on average marking up a 100 dollar Medicare-set cost to 410 dollars for someone not using insurance to pay for the service.

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Anderson argues that the US needs to either provide health insurance to uninsured people to overcome the problem, or for hospitals to charge the same rate for everyone.

"Hospitals should do the right thing and lower the prices they charge the uninsured," he said.

What's a better purchase than an adorable new friend from a pet store? Just about anything! In many people's minds, pet shops are fun places, full of adorable animals romping and playing while patiently awaiting their "forever home."

But the reality of life in a pet shop is far different. That "doggie in the window" likely came from a puppy mill, where dogs are often bred repeatedly; kept in small, barren cages; and treated solely as merchandise, not as feeling beings. Life for dogs …quot; and other animals …quot; in pet shops is no better. Serious welfare problems abound when animals are kept in retail environments.

Hundreds of thousands of dogs suffer in puppy mills in this country. The dogs are prisoners of greed. They are locked in small cages. They freeze in the winter and swelter in the summer. The dogs never get out of their prisons. They are bred over and over again until they die. The only way to free them from the misery of these horrid puppymills is to eliminate the demand for puppies by refusing to buy a puppy in a pet store and boycotting those pet stores that sell puppies. When people stop buying puppies in pet stores, the puppy mills will go out of business and the misery will end. The state and federal governments do not enforce the laws to protect the dogs. The commercial breeders and brokers have huge well-funded lobbying efforts.

Please join this fight to free the prisoners of greed. The only person who is going to make a difference for the dogs suffering in puppy mills is you. You, the people, can free them from their puppy mill prisons.

One of the most effective ways to advocate on behalf of animals is to become involved in the political process.
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API participates in the public policy process at the local, state, national level, and international level - and we can show you how to do it too. We need everyone who cares about animals and their treatment to help by calling, writing, and visiting their public officials. You don't need to be a voter to express your concerns; anyone, no matter what your age, can do something. It can take as little as a minute and can make a big difference. If you're an Activist, or want to become one, we can help.

There are cats all around us. But just because a cat lives outside doesn't mean she is homeless. These alley cats, barn cats, or street cats - feral cats - are undomesticated and unsocialized, and call the outside their home, just as squirrels, raccoons, and birds do. Feral cats live together in colonies, and unless spayed or neutered, their numbers grow. Tomcats prowl for mates, females become pregnant, and the cycle of reproduction continues.
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We want everyone to know the truth about feral cats and Trap, Neuter, and Return or TNR. This sensible method of population control returns spayed and neutered cats to their outdoor homes, improves their lives and health, and brings their numbers down.

Have you ever gone by a home where the same dog is chained outside all the time? It may be the most pervasive form of domestic animal cruelty we have in Maine today.
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But something has been done. In the last legislative session, Maine Friends of Animals sponsored the first state legislation addressing specific changes to dogs left continuously outside. With the momentum of this legislation, a statewide campaign is in place to continue to educate the public, the media and legislators that more has to be done to improve the miserable life of these dogs.

Press Release from Dogs Deserve Better*: 

Controversial Pennsylvania Dog Rescue Case Goes to Motion Hearing April 17

Dogs Deserve Better to Hold Pre-Hearing Rally in Support of Grimes Actions to Save Dying Dog

April 6, 2007, Altoona, PA—Dogs Deserve Better founder Tammy Grimes will be back in court April 17th for a motion hearing to dismiss charges of theft and receiving stolen property. Grimes was arrested September 11, 2006 after taking a dog—unable to stand for three days—for veterinary care; then protecting him from being returned to the abusive situation.

Grimes and her attorneys maintain that there were clearly Pennsylvania cruelty laws being broken for at least three days by the time she arrived on the scene, and charges should instead be filed against the Arnolds for abuse and neglect.

On November 3, 2006 Grimes attorney requested a Bill of Particulars from the Blair County District Attorney's office. As of March 6, the District Attorney's office had either failed or refused to furnish a Bill of Particulars to Grimes' attorneys, thereby entitling Grimes to make a written motion to the court for dismissal.

Grimes states, "I believe we need to take a serious look at a justice system that favors animal abusers. What is this teaching our children? We have ample proof of abuse in this case: neighbor testimony, vet testimony, video and photo evidence. If you see an animal or human dying and in need of immediate help, it is a task given to us by God to help that being and protect him/her from further harm. A system that instead requires an abused child or animal to be returned to the situation in which they were abused is corrupt, and must be questioned and examined if we are to evolve as a society."

The dog, who Grimes dubbed Doogie, had been kept safe and lived inside as part of a family until March 1, 2007, when he passed away due to age and a lifetime of neglect. Doogie's body was returned to Altoona, Pennsylvania, where an autopsy was performed. The DA subsequently ordered the body to be held at the vet and to be returned to the Arnolds.

Grimes continues, "The mere fact that with medical care and a loving environment Doogie lived for another 5.5 months is further proof of abuse—the Arnolds failed to provide necessary veterinary care, clearly required under PA state law. The Arnolds have stated, on the witness stand, that they had planned to euthanize Doogie that very day...almost six months earlier than he went with proper care."

Dogs Deserve Better will hold a rally April 17th at 9:00 a.m. at the Hollidaysburg courthouse before the motion hearing, and asks all those who believe Doogie deserved better to come out in support. The case has made national headlines, and has been featured on Inside Edition, the National Enquirer, Animal People, animal magazines, and on blogs all over the internet.

* Dogs Deserve Better is a 501c3 nonprofit organization headquartered in Tipton, Pennsylvania, is the 2003 First Place Winner of the ASPCA Pet Protector Award, and currently has 150 area reps in 38 states as well as in Canada and France. Grimes was a Top Ten Finalist for the 2006 Animal Planet Hero of the Year Contest.

The No Kill Advocacy Center is proud to announce one of the most important pieces of shelter legislation in decades: The Companion Animal Protection Act of 2007. The legislation is part of its national strategy to end the unnecessary killing of millions of animals in U.S. shelters annually.

This law: 1) mandates the programs and services which have proven so successful at shelters which have implemented them 2) follows the only model that has actually created a No Kill community 3) focuses its effort on the very shelters that are doing the killing.

To download or print a copy of the law, click here.

The Companion Animal Protection Act mandates the provision of low-cost spay/neuter and medical care. Because many shelters have fees which are not "low cost" despite the claim, we also recommended a fee schedule for services at public sheltering agencies. For a copy of the recommended fee schedule, click here.

To read why mandatory spay/neuter and licensing laws do not work, click here.

To start the process of reforming animal control and private shelters in your community, click here.

Click here for Frequently Asked Questions and more information.