Obama/Congress missing the point on healthcare

While our politicians push for a health care plan of some sorts we are provided with an example of how messed up our political system is and an example of a time when each and every one if us has a responsibility to take part in our democracy and contact our elected employees.

The fact that a single payer health care system is not even being considered for a place at the table of discussion is the biggest problem. Then we have the whole debate over a public option. Our current health care system is driving individuals bankrupt (even with insurance) and making businesses shoulder a financial burden that often makes them unable to compete with all the other countries that have national health care.

I heard Obama speak very misleadingly today. He said "everyone" has been invited to the table to discuss possible health care plans. That is BS. I am sad that Obama is proving to be more of a politician than a visionary, not surprised but sad none the less. He once advocated for single payer and now he considers the idea dead on arrival.

The fact is, according to a number of polls, the majority of Doctors, Nurses, and Americans want a single payer system. It as least deserves a place at the table.

Harvard medical researcher David Himmelstein and Rose Ann DeMoro of the California Nurses Association are both leading advocates of single payer health care. These two health care experts must have an opinion worth discussing, wouldn't you say?

Yet when Senator Max Baucus (D-Montana) held health care reform hearings before the Senate Finance Committee which he chairs, he said "he would not waste his time" with discussion of single payer. He had 41 people testify during the hearings, zero in favor of single payer. 13 doctors and nurses protested and got arrested during the hearings, leading to public outcry which has pressured Baucus to ask charges be dropped against the 13 and to meet with Himmelstein, DeMoro and others.

Interestingly enough Baucus has received the most money from the insurance industry out of every Democrat in congress. The for profit medical industry has given hundreds of millions of dollars to members of congress in campaign contributions (read legal bribes).

A recent study by the American Journal of Medicine showed 62% of private bankruptcies in this country were due to health care costs (Up 20% from 2001) and 80% of these people HAD HEALTH INSURANCE! So obviously something is wrong.

The fact is the cost of health care in this country is crippling. Not just the middle and lower class but it is crippling business as well. GM just went bankrupt. We are the only major auto producing nation without a national health care system. One idea being floated by our politicians is making employers provide health care. How will that spur business growth. $1000 of the cost of every car made in America goes to health care of employees. My school has 50 employees and at $400 each pays about $20,000 a month in health insurance! Imagine companies like Halliburton with 50,000 employees - that would be $20 million dollars a month. Of course this will provide more motivation to move companies over seas or to hire part time, low wage workers to get around providing health care.

Having private insurance companies act as middle men with the sole purpose of extracting profit makes no sense when we all agree people and business cannot afford our health care. CEOs of insurance companies are getting billions of dollars while citizens and businesses are being driven into bankruptcy.

The republicans are joining in mass against the idea that Obama has that we should allow private insurance companies to exist but also allow people to buy into a government run medicare type system. They are against this type of competition because they say the insurance companies will not be able to compete. Doesn't THAT in itself tell you something about the whole debate.
People may argue that the republicans will not support single payer but they will fight against anything the Dems do. They have shown that over and over, look at their public reaction to Sotomayor - a middle of the road extremely qualified nominee to the supreme court. And look at their opposition to a government run option. I say if single payer gets a place at the table, if the numbers are crunched on Bernie Sanders' and John Conyers' single payer proposals and they make sense, and the people and the doctors and the nurses want it, then let the republicans obstruct it and then lets get rid of the republicans in the next election.

The proposals that Obama and the Congress are considering are in fact experimental adjustments to an already messed up system. Fact is the single payer system is one that we have models of all over the world - and ask any of those countries - Canada, France, Germany, Taiwan, Sweden, Denmark - if they would like to switch to a for profit system.
Those who argue that "the government can't do anything right" or "that the private sector can do things better" are arguing, I guess, that the American government is less capable than other governments. Funny the same people who argue our government cannot do things right feel we need to be the leaders of the free world, by force if necessary.

If we truly want to fix health care then single payer is the only way to do it. Some say the public option being discussed is a step towards national health care because eventually everyone will chose the cheaper option. Proponents and opponents both make this claim. The problem with this is how are we gonna pay for it? Think about schools. we have a public option and it sucks, money keeps getting cut from it and it cannot compete to the private schools that take in tons of money from wealthy families. Of course those private schools for the most part are run as non profits so they are not funneling billions out of the system. But still. The argument goes that if EVERYONE went to public school and payed for it through taxes then we would have better public schools. It would be hard to make this happen now because the system is in place. But with health care we are starting from scratch, or should be. If everyone could have access to single payer health care and everyone payed for it it would cost less than our current insurance does. But I worry about an underfunded "option" that becomes what the public schools are to education in this country.

So you have senators and representatives in the House so get on the email or phone and let them know what you think, if you think that is.

here's a link to do it: http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/