Health care is a right

First off, I just want to thank you for all you've done, Mr. Gore. -ahem- -please run- ^_^

Anyway, I think you're correct. There should not be a profit motive in medicine, just like there shouldn't be one in say, law enforcement, or firefighting. A "market solution" is most definitely NOT the solution in this case.

Advanced nations such as ours are judged in the global view based on how they treat their least fortunate citizens, let alone the rest of them.

You're absolutely right. I live in Europe where excellent health care is available to all, regardless of income. I believe the USA is signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 25 of which states quite unequivocally that:

(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

(2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

Don Sauvignon, you seem to ignore how Sweden and many other countries have succeeded to set prices as well as have most excellent universal health care. At the same time, Sweden's Karolinska Institutet is a world leader in research and innovation in the medical field. Go figure... And Sweden has also solved the poverty problem. Sweden's poor have a better lifestyle than America's middle class.

Yes, please, no one has the convictions and passion that you exhibit. Please run Mr. Gore!

In total agreement with your POV.

i am one of the many Americans who can't afford GOOD medical care. i've worked full time all my life since i've been old enough, yet i still can't fit it in my budget. i really appreciate that Al Gore is speaking up for me and those like me.

RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN .

Myspace.com/AlGore08

As a person with a genetic disorder this means a lot. I can not afford healthcare currently and even if I could I wouldn't be allowed coverage in the risk related market. We need a more egalitarian system that focuses on need and prevention rather than risk and monetary reward. Health Care is a HUMAN right. Thank you Al!

Mr. Gore, thank you for your voice on these crisis our country our country and her citizens face. Thatnk you for being a leader on solving our Health Care crisis as well. I agree with you!

Now, please be our Leader to put the forth your agenda and create the policy that will solve these crisis.

Time for a COOL change,
Gore
2008

I have a few questions for you regarding Universal Health Insurance.
Do you propose that there be a premium based on income, dependents, or exemptions?
The VA system accepts Medicare, private insurance, and charges co-pays for non-service connected veterans based on income levels.
Do you think this might be a model for universal health insurance?

I do support single payer healthcare as I believe it is a moral and ethical challenge for our country.

For the sake of the planet....

RUN, AL, RUN!

Only Kucinich is in favor of single-payer health care, and well...Kucinich isn't going to get more than 1% of the vote.

Please consider running Al, you are a leader on so many issues, but this one is so important to the 48 million uninsured Americans and the millions more who are underinsured.

RUN!!!! Mr president (you won!) Run Al RUN!

Thank you Al Gore for speaking out on these serious political issues. I hope these are your first steps to putting your name on the South Carolina and Georgia primary ballots, due Nov 1!

Your views on national health care for all are great! Suggestion: please speak of reforming and expanding Medicare for all. Even moderate Republicans agree with that approach. A majority of Americans love a reformed and expanded Medicare.

For the same $2.1 trillion we pay in the US for our broken for-profit health system with no coverage to 46.6 million, Medicare coverage can expand health care, mental health, substance abuse prevention, long term care, dental and vision services to all.

Expanded Medicare could pay for all the services because our for-profit system wastes about 40% of the $2.1 trillion for expenses that provide no medical care. The following are estimates that demonstrate the advantages of Expanding Medicare to cover all.

Expanded Medicare would not waste these expenses:
~$50 billion/year on TV, radio and magazine ads.
~ $300 billion for the 1,000 or more health insurance companies.
~ $200 billion for the excessively high salaries, expense accounts, and other unneeded administrative costs.
~ $150 billion in the recent Pharmacy Part D for unneeded participation incentives to
pharmacy companies and HMOs through no-bid contracts.
~ $100 billion for the unnecessary incentives for HMOs and other health agencies that were setup by Congress Republicans in the 1970s and 80s.

To prove the effectiveness of Expanded Medicare to All, and the savings for our auto companies so they can survive, Congress should enact a four year pilot program that would provide Medicare coverage to all auto workers and retirees. The success of this pilot programs would cause all corporations, small businesses and all families and individuals to want to participate.

Mr. Gore,
You are absolutely right, and moreso. My husband's company is changing health insurance companies. The old insurance company was horrible to deal with, virtually denying half of our claims, including doctor ordered, routine, in-office blood tests. With the new insurance company, however, we will have to 30% for our share of the premium, but the coverage is even less the old insurance. And we can't get a straight answer if our pediatrician is in-network or not.

Please run for President, Mr. Gore. This country needs you now more than ever. If you run, you will win easily. And only by running can you shift the national focus on Climate Change. A CBS/NYTimes poll in June and an NBC/WSJ poll in July had Global Warming as the number one issue for 6% and 7% of voters respectively. By September open-ended polls list Iraq, Health Care and the Economy as the top issues. Climate Change is Not even on the list.

Why? Because none of the candidates is talking about it. I have read their various proposals and they are all completely inadequate, being entirely too cautious. Americans can and will change dramatically with a real leader inspiring them. Look at home we shifted in WWII. Gas rationing, recycling drives, blackouts, entire factories refitted overnight from making cars to tanks and airplanes. We could do it again. But only if you run.

After seeing your movie, “An Inconvenient Truth”, however, my father traded in his beloved SUV and put solar panels on his home. Now he plugs in his car at night. My dad is smart, but it took your film to get him act. None of my neighbors even went to see your film. Global Warming is the number one threat facing our country and our planet today, so why the hell isn't it an issue in the presidential campaign, when it should be the number one issue?

Please run. We need you.
Michele Gray
Pennsylvania

Our national health care system is as tragic as it is anachronistic. Al Gore, you're right as usual. You have stated the obvious (and well-researched) truth regarding not only health care, but also the enviornment, Iraq, the courts, and the assault on reason in our country.
The one thing regarding which you have NOT stated the obvious truth: You would be the best president our country ever had, if only you would give the country another chance by running. But perhaps your fear is justified -- elections are no longer on the merits. :-(

single payer healthcare !!! YES!! gore is my man. let's get marrried in MA!

ps - i don't have healthcare. i hope i don't get sick this winter.

Dear Vice President Gore,

Thank you for providing us with a voice, and a way to enter the discussion.

Sir, you have challenged us to let our voices be heard, and we have taken up that challenge. And we are speaking to you in large numbers, asking you to run for President. Isn't this the truest form of democracy? This isn't the media speaking for us, this is us speaking to you.

You know what is wrong with our nation, and you've proven to us that you know what is necessary to bring about a recovery. There are so many issues that need to be dealt with, and you have shown quite clearly that you have the knowledge and skills to take on those issues.

I know there is a planetary emergency because of the climate crisis, and you have been working valiantly to get the message out. We are eternally grateful for that. But sir, wouldn't you be able to do more about that crisis from a position of power? I believe we are at a tipping point, and the next President will be the one who tips us the right way - or the wrong way. Please, sir... be our next President, and set us back on a good course!

It wouldn't be hubris for you to run. We want you there, sir! Every time I ask someone who they are voting for, they mention one candidate or another, but when I bring up your name, they get excited. "Is he running?" Their eyes light up, and they tell me that if you were running, they would vote for YOU. I can't even begin to tell you how often that happens.

Sorry for taking up so much space, but sir... PLEASE... consider what so many have asked you.... for the good of the nation AND the world!

Thank you for all you do. As reluctant as you might be to re-enter politics, please continue to do your work on climate change while fighting for our right for health care and restoring our Constitution as our next President. There is no other candidate who can inspire this nation and the world the way that you can and do.

(And congrats on winning the Nobel Peace Prize!)

Vice President Gore,

I am in complete agreement with your commentary. We need a comprehensive, universal health care system in this country. I believe that a single payer system would be most effective, but I'm open to hearing about other types of systems. We have a world of examples to look to for guidance on how to reform our system.

P.S. Please run. We need you.

I also lack healthcare at this point as an impoverished graduated student, so I too appreciate this message.

More even than this, however, I appreciate the hope that Mr. Gore will run for president and help to renew and reinvigorate the tremendous promise of this great nation. For too long, the conservative apparatus has wielded absolute authority in this country by stirring up various fears among the populace: fears of terrorists, fears of the dreaded Other in our society (homosexuals, blacks, hispanics, non-christians, etc..), fears of "socialism" (i.e. universal health care). I, for one, have had enough of the fear mongering from the conservative coalition, and their "divide-and-conquer" strategy that has given them a narrow majority for the last 13 years.

The America I was raised to believe in is strong because it encourages diversity. It is strong because people of every ethnicity and national background can proudly look at the flag and call it home. It is strong because it encourages personal freedom and innovation and it is stronger still because it invests the major problems with the power of the collective will (i.e. overcoming slavery, civil injustice, Nazism).

As a voting democrat, Al Gore represents for me the promise for America to reclaim it's greatness on all of these fronts. I am NOT satisfied with the current democratic field as a whole, though I support Obama as a vice-presidential canidate with Gore.

Global warming, healthcare, restoring power to the people (rather than power OVER the people), a responsible end to the Iraq war. For these reasons and more, I support Al Gore in 2008!

Tim Laporte

Yes!! This not only a moral issue but an economic issue. We cannot compete globally if companies are saddled with excessive health care costs.

P.S. Please run, we are in dire need.