[lbo-talk] Illinois as model for Democratic agenda

[jthorn65 at sbcglobal.net]

> And, frankly, anyone into single payer should be very excited about the 
> Illinois AllKids program, which creates a guaranteed set of benefits for all 
> children in the state for all families.   The premiums are income-related, 
> but even a family making $60,000 per year pays only $40 per month for a kid 
> and, no matter how many kids they have, pay no more than $80 per month 
> total.   See http://www.ncsl.org/programs/health/illinoisallkids.htm
> 
> It's not full single payer, but it's a pretty big incremental step in that 
> direction.
> 
> Nathan Newman 

Single payer is one of the topics near and dear to my heart. This half-measure nonsence only serves to 
distract from the issue as a whole. It is ammunition for those who want to say "look, we've insured these kid, 
what the hell else do you want?"

I have no children nor do about 40% of the couples I know. All I see in this program is that someone making 
$60,000 in Illinois gets their kid insured for a fraction of what it costs me or one of my best friends who has 
MS. WOO HOO! I'm jumping for joy at that idea.

I'm interested in universal health-care for everyone in the US. I don't want it parcelled out a bit at a time for 
specific age groups and I don't want it income contingent. That only serves to create holes too many people 
will fall through when it comes to coverage. Of course the Democrats designed it to work that way. It isn't 
universal coverage if it's full of gaps in who is covered. Incremental steps are BS. Look at the countries with 
universal coverage and show me how incremental their steps were in attaining it.

John Thornton