>But the people who demand specific solutions, like single-payer health
care, don't seem to think so. People for single-payer health care may
*not* want to forget the presidency. They may want both and. If so,
then they are likely to be part of the coalition around Obama or
Clinton or both...
Well, that's not exactly the approach we're taking, nor is in the approach CNA is taking (see their ads at Sickocure.org). Here's a signature ad we're getting signatures on right now, to place in our paper before the Dem. convention:
*Who’s afraid of health insurance companies?*
Both likely Democratic presidential nominees have plans to address our health care crisis. We think it’s great that they’re talking about health care, since the Republican nominee, John McCain, doesn’t seems to think there’s a crisis in the U.S. health insurance system.
The problem is, we pay more for healthcare and get worse results than 37 other countries. Neither Clinton’s nor Obama’s plan would retrieve that wasted money and put it towards care. Instead, both candidates will throw in MORE public money to subsidize the private insurance companies, creating another patchwork instead of truly universal health care.
We pay so much in the U.S. because one out of every three dollars we spend on health care is wasted on health insurance company profits, paperwork, administration, corporate red tape, and the costs to our doctors and hospitals of dealing with hundreds of private insurance companies.
Both candidates say that alongside the private system, they would also create a public alternative plan, like Medicare, and that’s great. But why not just expand Medicare to cover everyone? That’s the idea of HR 676, a bill introduced by Representative John Conyers of Michigan and signed by 88 members of Congress.
*HR 676: The “Expanded and Improved Medicare for All” Bill* This bill would put into place a simple, single system, funded like Medicare, that would cover everyone for all their healthcare needs. There would be no premiums, no deductibles, no co-pays, and no more insurance company rejections. Because the private insurance companies would no longer be profiting at our expense, we will SAVE money. We’re already paying more per person than any other country in the world! If all our money went to care, we could cover everyone in the U.S. without spending an additional dime.
The California Nurses Association endorses it. The 15,000-strong Physicians for a National Health Program endorses it. The AFL-CIO in 32 states, including Florida, endorses it. Florida Representatives Corinne Brown, Alcee Hastings and Robert Wexler have signed on. The public by a 62% to 33% margin* wants a plan like this. What are the candidates waiting for?
Tax credits, vouchers, employer mandates, proofs of low income, requirements that everyone buy insurance, enforcement of new regulations against the insurance industry, all these make the Democrats’ plans a complicated, costly patchwork and less than we deserve. The U.S. public is ready to end the insurance company stranglehold on our health care system. It’s time for the politicians to catch up with the public and do the right thing.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We the undersigned call on all the candidates to BE BOLD. Stand with the people of the U.S. and stand up to the health insurance companies. We call on Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama (as well as Senator McCain and Florida Senators Nelson and Martinez) to introduce a companion bill to HR 676 in the Senate, and to vote and work for HR 676: “Expanded and Improved Medicare for All.”
(etc.)
For more information, call 352 375-2832 or write aclp at floridalaborparty.org For more on HR 676, visit Healthcare NOW at www.healthcare-now.org or www.sickocure.org or www.justhealthcare.org
*October 20, 2003 ABC News/Washington Post poll. Sixty-two percent said they’d prefer a universal insurance program “in which everyone is covered under a program, like Medicare, that’s run by the government and funded by taxpayers.”
Jenny Brown Alachua County Labor Party www.floridalaborparty.org/alachua