May 15, 2009
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Universal Health Care
In the late 1940's President Harry Truman first proposed the idea of a single-payer government sponsored universal health care system - think of where we would be if he had been successful. Perhaps our nation's health would be up there with the Scandinavians or at least the Canadians or maybe the British. and we would be a hell of a lot richer if we had invested the money we would have saved.
But wait! you say. Think of all the drugs and surgical techniques we would not have - all of them obviously developed because the MDs who thought them up would looking at the fortunes they would accrue. Just think we might not have Gatorade - or maybe Viagra - or the multiple med mixtures the pharmas use to keep their patents current.
Of course its the "American Way" for a few to get rich on the misery of the many - especially if the richest are those who have nothing directly to do with medical care - AIG, The Hartford, and other medical insurance offerers, for example.
With the ridiculously high cost of health insurance and health care, the business community has found itself paying so much for its employees that many of its members cannot compete in the Global Market and the decades-long obvious success of the Medicare system (The MEDICARE part is supposed to be and mostly is self-financed) has shown how successful a single-payer ystem can be. If the entire population of the US (young. old, healthy, and sick) were covered - the per-capita cost should be somewhat lower than that of Medicare - which only covers those older Americans, who are also incidentally, the group in the poorest health.
So far as I can see, nothing would prohibit the rich from paying for the extra care they are accustomed to.
The idea of "competition" is another absurdity - How many people do you know who shop around before they get their kidney stone removed or their broken leg re-set? Many of us "shop around" for our primary physician- but I never heard of cost being a major factor
Comments (9)
I prefer the ability to shop around based on quality of care. If we'd had "universal healthcare" or even if my parents had an HMO concerned more with the bottom line than folks' health when I was born, I likely wouldn't be here.
Dear Dick,
Sometimes I think America should just throw out the capitalist conventions and become a socialist country.
(40 years ago I would probably be jailed for that opinion, or at least "blacklisted".)
A lot of Democratic leaders have proposed a Universal Healthcare system, only to find that in the "real world" there are too many interlocking pieces of the big business puzzle which will never be repositioned. (Whoops, never say never)
On the bright side, we just renegotiated the terms of our HMO lowering my deductable by $500.00 and my prescriptions by $5.00 (but increasing my standard copayment $15.00)
Michael F. Nyiri, poet, philosopher, fool
Spread the word.
A Call to action.
I have seen and spoke to a lot of well meaning Democrats wanting to make change in Washington and they issue petitions but they refuse to boycott the friends of those who would block progressive action and legislation. Such Democrats unnecessarily tie their left hand behind their backs. I urge people to consider boycotting the friends of those conservatives in congress in order to force them to sit up and take notice and capitulate to our demands. In our country money appears an important factor in getting action done. We need to go on a purchasing strike against the friends of regressives in order to force them to cooperate with us. It appears peaceful and legal in an atmosphere of legalized bribery in congress. We need to take back control over our purchases and how the profits get spent especially how they get used for legalized bribery in congress. We indirectly fund conservatives in congress through our purchases. We need to set conditions for our purchases through targeted boycotts.
If you don't like a particular TV program, you call their sponsors and tell them you will boycott them until the program either goes off the air or changes to your liking. This works similar with political parties, politicians and their sponsors (campaign contributors).
If you have a blog please post this on your blog. I want to get at least 100,000 people to sign these petitions, the first one which you can demand single payer health care and a fix to the Medicare prescription drug benefit.
Read and sign these legislative petitions please and get hundreds of people to sign them and they will automatically go to Republican minority leaders Sen. McConnell and Rep. Boehner right away once you sign the petition.
http://bit.ly/single_payer
http://bit.ly/EFCA
http://bit.ly/10_an_hour_min_wage
http://bit.ly/norm_coleman_concede
http://bit.ly/women_freedom_of_choice_act
The links above correspond to these links with longer text.
http://www.change.org/actions/view/i_demand_congress_and_the_president_enact_single_payer_universal_health_care
http://www.change.org/actions/view/i_demand_congress_and_the_president_enact_the_employee_free_choice_act
http://www.change.org/actions/view/i_demand_that_the_congress_and_the_president_enact_a_10_an_hour_minimum_wage_into_law
http://www.change.org/actions/view/i_demand_that_norm_coleman_concede_the_senate_race
http://www.change.org/actions/view/i_demand_that_the_congress_and_the_president_enact_the_womens_freedom_of_choice_act_into_law
Oh and I created this parody t shirt about medicare part D that uses a familiar symbol.
See it here.
http://www.zazzle.com/http_action_democratz_org_tshirt-235693652310223019?group=mens&lifeStyle=all&rf=238083065491105452
You're linked
Note: I am not affiliated with the Liberal Democratic Party but am in accord with some of their views. I'll keep their long comment here but will screen them if they become a nuisance
I've been a member of Medicare since 1995, my wife since 1991. During that time we have had occasion to use their services extensively. For example during one occasion my wife had a fall similar to that of Natasha Richardson (and Sonny Bono), though hers was not a skiing accident,rather happened in our kitchen -but with similar head trauma. She suffered permanent brain damage (mostly loss of balance) but is now mentally fully recovered, though confined to a wheelchair. Medicare paid for everything - amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars. We chose the hospital, MDs, Neurosurgeon, neurologist, physical therapist - everything and there was never any restrictions from medicare - that's how it works if you are not a member of a PPO or HMO. Our costs: Medicare $96.40/mo. each, taken from our Social Security checks. In addition we pay $380.50/mo. for medigap insurance - this premium covers both of us and pays all the deductibles for medicare. We also have the medicare RX insurance which I think is a gift to the pharmas.
If Medicare was extended to universal coverage, I'm pretty sure the per capita costs would go down. At no time have we felt that we were getting "second rate" medical treatment - Both MDs and hospitals seem eager to get our business.
Hey Dick,
I just wanted to say I fully agree with you that unversal health care should be pursued here in America. I am concerned about expanding the medicaid program, however, because I think people need to see a bill, and feel the money coming out of their hands. This serves two purposes. One, it helps cut down on billing errors and overbilling to have another set of eyes on the bill, and two, it cuts down on people receving un-needed services. Please understand, if you have broken your leg, or ruptured your appendix, you should receive immediate medical attention. Also, I believe in the power of preventative care. But someone with a low grade cold needs to stay home from work, drink lots of fluids and they will be fine. Before pharma people used to do that. I feel like despite huge advances in knowledge about our body and general health care, including things like hand washing, the general public has completely lost all common sense when it comes to keeping ourselves healthy and curing ourselves when we are sick. I think having a universal health insurance where we are involved in the billing process is helpful in building up the health literacy we have lost in our apathy of $10 medical visits.
In any case, I think we can be a lot more creative than just expanding Medicare, and I think we have to be. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/13/us/politics/13health.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
take care, and have a great day!
Nikita
Nikita: I agree that people certainly tend to value that which they have paid for more then that which they have been given. the American "Responsibility" value also suggests that all citizens should contribute something toward the nation - either taxes, or service, something. The same holds true about medical care. Medicare does cost all us old folks at least something and is supposed to be self-supporting. Of course politics plays a part, as with all government programs, but it works pretty well. The main problem with Medicaid - which is a separate health care welfare program for the indigent- is that congress mandated it, but both congress and the state legislatures have for years underfunded it. If you don't have the money, you don't have the oversight and open the door for massive misuse.
There is no reason why a well-organized health care system can't provide better care for all of us, but we will have to break some habits: Notably those of putting a monetary value on care, encouraging expensive over-building of facilities, and competitive duplication of expensive equipment. Eliminating all those private for-profit non-medical expenses will also be a very hard habit to break.
I would be supportive on all of your articles and blogs because they are just upto the mark.
http://www.renalcalculi.net
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