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Maria B. (Middletown, CT)

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I like to examine the obvious, look at strategy, take the long view -- all of which President Obama is doing.

Yes, the public option is a Trojan Horse, but it will do the trick!

By Maria B. - Jul 23rd, 2009 at 12:42 pm EDT

Also listed in: Middletown CT for Obama

I sometimes wish that public radio would not give air-time to the conservatives whose comments border on stupid. Today a Texas doctor emotionally argued that people should have health savings accounts. I suppose he should be allowed to make a fool of himself, but what a waste of time -- we need to moving the debate forward.

Most thinking Americans know that a single-payer system is the only good answer. However, I think it's pretty clear that our country cannot handle that right now, for many reasons, not the least of which is the large segment of the economy that would be decimated by the elimination of the medical insurance companies. Yes, a public option is a Trojan Horse. President Obama has almost said as much when he challenges the insurers to compete with a government system.

But we must try a system where the insurers continue to play, and remember that it is only a first step. It won't be long before people vote with their pocket-books, and cut the insurance system down to size. My prediction is that they will eventually be regulated like a public utility. (They are already the contracted administrators of Medicare.)

We need to acknowledge that our current "health care system" does not deliver health care to Americans, it delivers profits to corporate investors. Insurers have stolen our nurses to sit at computers to evaluate hospital length-of-stays. They have frustrated our physicians in numerous ways: removing their decision-making ability; limiting the time they can spend with patients; reducing their income by administrative costs.

I have long said that "if every person who wears a suit took care of one person we would not have a problem." The only people working in our health care system should be care-givers.

In a successful society health care is a right, not a privilege. Americans are smart people; we already understand that profit-making on people's illness is morally wrong.

Let's put profit-making where it belongs -- making "things" that improve lives. If health care is provided to all people we will have a work-force that's truly capable of meeting the real challenges we face, and an economy of substance, not smoke and mirrors.

Sincerely,
Maria Buatti, MPH.

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the ongoing debate

By Maria B. - Jun 11th, 2009 at 8:47 am EDT

Also listed in: Middletown CT for Obama

"Health care system" in this country is an oxymoron. We must begin to call it what it is: a "medical-insurance syndicate." Too harsh? Try listening to the millions of horror stories about death and financial ruin. We have to directly confront the AMA and Congress with the truth, and force them to stop using euphemisms. It's a profit making syndicate built on the suffering of people without (and with) medical insurance. For years, American auto manufacturers were able to delay including seat-belts with a simple tactic: "whoever owns the name, owns the game." They used "accidents" in their lobbying; implying inevitability. It worked for years. We must change the name of this issue.

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