Over the past few months, I have taken the opportunity to meet other activists that are passionate about healthcare reform at various rallies to support either HR3200 (Obama's Public Option plan) or HR676 (Single Payer or what Obama would prefer "if starting from scratch").
Thus far, the main opposition to HR676 from the public option folks has been that they "don't think it has a chance..." so they "will settle for a public option."
The Single Payer option is alive and well and has sufficient congressional support to merit further discussion. I see no downside to discussing this third option alongside the public and status quo options. However, I have heard little serious discussion in the mainstream media and a general tendency for the media to also portray a "massive opposition" to reform thanks to a few dissidents at meetings.
Meanwhile, at healthcare rallies around the country, thousands of real supporters of healthcare reform have received little airtime to discuss the important aspects of either HR3200 or HR676 in a logical and rational fashion. Instead, the jokers, laughers, yellers, and shouters have made a circus of this opportunity to avoid coverage of the most important legislation in the history of America.
I don't want to see supporters of healthcare reform to get divided on the issue of the public option vs. the single payer since our goals are similar, we want real care and we want it now.
So why am I for HR676 over HR3200? Perhaps it's a lack in faith of free market economics... maybe I don't think the corporate interests will be compassionate enough or that the government will leverage the public option hard enough to be successful. With a Single Payer plan, I have faith that with all people covered, that we can eventually achieve a higher quality of life, through greater preventitive care measures that will lead to better health and cost savings.
How will we pay for it? With 31% of every healthcare dollar going to for-profit insurance companies that have a fiduciary responsibility to earn profits for their shareholders, they have little incentive or responsibility to ensure care. To the contrary, it is more accurate to say they have a responsibility to deny care to increase profit margins so they can ensure a return on investment to their stakeholders. Eliminating this profiteering from the system is essential to improving the ethos of healthcare in the US. No one should profit off of someone else's misery.
We've bailed out the banks, insurance companies, the carmakers... when will we help bail out ourselves to ensure a quality of life in the future through improved healthcare?
Please visit www.pnhp.org to learn more about HR676.
Please comment on this post to discuss your real concerns with healthcare for all.
Last night while attending an OFA organizing meeting, and after watching the ABC town hall with President Obama, I had several rambling thoughts. Here they are:The current model for our citizens covered by private insurers is that the money out of pocket is paid either directly to the provider as a deduction or co-payment, or it passes through the insurance companies where it is skimmed for administrative costs (including high management salaries and bonuses) and shareholder profits before it is paid out for our care. Many workers think that their healthcare benefits are given to them by their employers. They are not. The costs of healthcare that an employer has to pay, comes out of the funds that might otherwise be paid directly to the employee. Commonly, this private health care insurance is only available through large employers because they are the only groups or pools big enough to allow the risk to be spread out. This allows for the losses (sick employees costs) not to outweigh the gains from payments by healthy employees. Insurance companies always adjust the cost of this insurance too so, eventually, the house (the private insurance companies) wins. Unfortunately, those of us who are self-employed, employed by small businesses, or individuals who are employed by large companies who refuse to provide health benefits, cannot participate in a pool large enough to spread the risk. Consequently, the cost of healthcare insurance is prohibitive for most of us and so we go uninsured. We lose. There are millions of us. A health care emergency means a choice between death or bankruptcy.The second model of health care available to our citizens is one that is paid to providers out of a pool of our tax dollars, through our government. Examples of this are veterans health care for those who have served, Medicare for the elderly, or Medicaid for the impoverished. This money also comes from our pockets. But in this case, the money does not get skimmed for high management salaries and bonuses and shareholder dividends. It has, of course, some administrative costs, but by far the larger portion goes directly for providing health care. It also provides for large risk pools which can be united for even greater savings.
The problem here is that there is no public program available to other ordinary citizens which would allow those who are not covered by the employer-private insurers to have access to the reasonable health care that they deserve. This could be readily solved through the Administration’s proposal of a Public Option for anyone who wished to choose it. It would not eliminate choice, but provide one for those who have none. It would only be a part of the offerings available. Private insurance would still provide as they currently do.The argument against it? It would cost too much. It would break the budget. Here, one has to remember exactly what a budget is. It is a financial plan for spending. It is based on values and priorities. Should we not value the health of our people over the $2.8 billion for 12 F22 planes and other billions for star-wars hardware? Health care for everyone in this country is affordable if we choose to make it so. We are the wealthiest Nation in the world, even in the current recession.There is no reason to stall and delay again or to make little meaningless patchwork legislation full of the usual loopholes for big financial interests. The people that I talk to want health care, and they want it now. They want it to be good and they want it to be affordable and available for all. They are not nearly so worried about the public option as the private, for profit, insurers are. After all, the biggest private profit makers, the financiers have used public options, so too have the auto makers. Isn’t it time to have justice for all with a public health care option for all.Ultimately, is it the “level playing field” desired by the private insurers or the availability of reasonable quality health care for all of our citizens that should be our value and priority? Is it your health or mine? We all pay taxes, and this is what they are for.
There are roughly 306 million Americans, more than 47 million of whom have no health insurance. That's 1 in 6 Americans, who only seek medical attention in Emergency Rooms, when their stuation is dire. They do not receive preventive care, which is ultimately a fiscal disaster. 60 million Americans have inadequate access to primary health care. 100 million don't have dental insurance. Last year, 116 million ailing Americans fore-went care because they couldn't afford the deductables, were under-insured, or had a lapse in coverage. In 2008, over a million Americans lost their homes, directly attributable to medical bills. Did you know that 2/3 of all personal bankruptcies are related to medical bills? Who pays in the end? We all do.
The US spends $2.3 trillion each year on health care, 16 percent of our GDP. Americans spend $7,129 per person on health care, 50 percent more than other industrialized countries (including those with universal care). Canada spends 10% of it's GDP on health care, England 9%, and France 11%. Yet, we rank roughly 37th in the world, in regard to the quality of our health care (France ranks #1, England #18, and Canada #30). 30% of every insurance dollar goes to paperwork and administration fees. Still, in 2006, the six largest insurance companies made $11 billion in profits, even after paying for direct health care costs, administrative costs, and marketing costs. The number of health insurance industry bureaucrats has grown at 25 times the growth of physicians in the past 30 years. We all know that much of the industry profits come from the arbitrary exclusion of "pre-existing conditions", and terminating people's insurance once they experience a serious illness.
Barack Obama's health insurance plan purports to reduce insurance costs by 30% (more than $350 billion per year, enough to provide comprehensive coverage to every uninsured American). He plans to eliminate "pre-existing condition" restrictions. And most criticaly, provide a public health care option. The current Republican tactic, is to call this plan socialism, because it is a loaded term, calculated to scare people. The fact is, police and fire departments are socialized. And your health is a more fundamental right than both of those. Sooner or later, we will all need help from social safety nets, such as Social Security. With health insurance, what we are effectively talking about, is broadening the OPTION of a form of Medicare and Medicaid to everyone. This will cause private insurance companies to respond more reasonably to their clients, and to reduce their rates to be more competitive. The GOP says that Medicare is expensive. The fact is, that Medicare's administrative costs are far lower than any private health insurance plan. The GOP also complains that government run programs are a disaster. Funny they don't feel that way about the government run insurance plan that Congressmen have.
Keep in mind, that privatised health care, introduces the model of profit (with expensive ads that we ultimately pay for). The whole point of profit, is to give as little as possible, for as much as possible. That's no way to address your health. Fun fact: The pharmaceutical industry is the single largest advertiser in America. This might be why the health care industry is spending 100 MILLION DOLLARS (1.4 million dollars a day) to lobby against and kill the public health care option. Their latest tactic is the "trigger option". Don't buy it.
And don't be fooled. Public health insurance DOES work well in Canada, England and France. Yes, one can always find an exception to harp on for political ends. When you research it, it becomes clear that the vast majority of people in these countries are quite satisfied with their health care. Notice that the opposition to public health care, is all about fear, scare, pessimism, status quo, defeatism. Ask about alternative ideas, and you hear silence. Fact is, approximately 73% of Americans want some version of a public health care option "like Medicare/Medicaid".
Another Republican talking point, suggests that a public healthcare option would take health care out of the hands of patients and their Doctors. In fact, that's exactly what we have now. We all know that insurance companies routinely deny coverage for tests, surgeries, and medications. I have personally experienced insurance company kangaroo appeal decisions, where they are the sole arbiturs of a judgement. As I write, though I'm insured by Aetna, I have to wait 6 weeks to see a neurologist that will accept my insurance.
You want to put a human face on this? My daughter was born this past September 28th with a recessed jaw. Her medical bills thus far are over a half MILLION dollars. She easily has another half million in surgery ahead of her. This is insanity. My 6 month old daughter should not be forced to live an obscene legacy of helplessly and unwittingly running her family into poverty. It simply breaks my heart.
It is woefully overdue for people to have a public health choice available to them. Yes, lobbyists and other rats are lining up to fight it, because lower costs, means lower profits for them. It's time they stop running the show. People have suffered enough. My wife and I have suffered enough. Damn the politics. It's time to act civilized. It's time for decency. People need to support Barack Obama's public health option, NOW.
But no person, including Barack Obama, can do this alone. He needs the will of the people. This means that he needs your two cents. A "letter to the editor", blogging, signing petitions. Many people putting in two cents will create the foundation, momentum, and mandate that Barack needs to press his case. We can do this historic thing. Yes we can. Let's go get em.
All Good Things,
Greg
PS - How countrys rank in health care;
