NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE
No issue is more important to the economy of The United States. America pays more per capita than any country for Healthcare, yet tens of millions of our citizens are without Health Insurance because they cannot afford it and go without adequate Medical Care. Millions more Americans who can afford Health Insurance are incapable of buying any Medical Insurance because they are denied by every company because of pre-existing conditions. The United States ranks near or at the bottom of all civilized nations in every category, from Infant Mortality Rate to Length of Life.
The #1 reason that people (with Health Insurance) file Bankruptcy is for Medical Reasons, and often they lose their homes in the process. Every civilized nation has a form of National Health Insurance or Single-Payer Healthcare. In addition, our economy is weakened because Health Care costs that companies provide their workers in America is a major reason why we cannot compete with other civilized countries economically.
Theodore Roosevelt, a Progressive proposed Universal Health Care in 1904. It is now 105 years later. Isn’t it about time that affordable health care is available to every American as a right, not a privilege of wealth.
The great myth perpetrated on the public (by the corporations and Health Care Industry), is that you will have to be put on a waiting list to receive healthcare. That is simply not true. Under a National Single Payer Health Insurance program (which is what Medicare, and Medicaid are) all Americans will get the care they need and deserve immediately. If there is a wait time, it is no longer than you wait to see a doctor now with Health Care Insurance.
We have suffered through 40 years of being told that a National Health / Single-Payer Insurance is “socialized medicine.” Nothing could be farther from the truth. The Veterans Administration is a “socialized system” in which the government owns the facilities, hires the staffs, and foots the bill. The Single-Payer System that is now proposed in Congress (HR676) is simply a “choice” for Americans, and retains all private market competition.
Contrary to what we are told continuously about cost, a National Health Insurance program would save our Country billions of dollars each year. A Single Payer Health Care System will eliminate 30% of the cost of Healthcare that are administrative costs, and much more that are obscene profits of healthcare executives that profit off denying care to those they cover. In 2005, the CEO of the U.S.’s Largest Health Insurer, “United Health Group,” was paid $122.7 Million, the 3rd highest paid CEO in the country.
Policy experts, Physicians, and 60% of the people in the United States support Single Payer Healthcare which is truly the only way to reform our Healthcare System, and guarantee access to medical care for all.
Three important points that any Universal or National Health Care plan must have:
1) That it meet the needs of everyone
2) That it be free at the point of delivery
3) That it be based on need, not the ability to pay
(This article was written and published by Scott Satalino in August of 2009 as President Barack Obama and Democrats were debating how to move forward with Healthcare reform.)
Be the first to comment
Sign in with