U.S. health care gets boost from charity, we need universal health care

So. It's come down to this.

Too bad we decided to all but ostracize the candidate with the best plan for health care, Hillary Clinton.

Hillary's health plan sucks. She sold out to the for profit insurance industry.

We need a single payer system without any competition that is government run. Essentially Medicare to everybody, but add Dental and Eyecare and you have got a decent benefit.

The health insurance companies can still compete but only to offer an insurance coverage that beats the basic offered by the government; meaning more benefits or people or companies could simply opt for the private coverage.

But whatever coverage an employee has it should be completely portable and not be tied to employment.

That's what this is Improved expanded Medicare. Includes glasses, mental, dental. No co pay, no deductable. Cuts out insurance companies completely. It is not tied to employment.

No feeding.

Cyberpests have to be watered on a regular basis. Withholding liquid for several days is like using Round Up only without the chemical side effects.

Step around large clumps of online crabgrass until they wither and can be used in the compost pile.

Posted on June 24, 2008
United States Conference of Mayors endorses HR 676
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The United States Conference of Mayors
76th Annual Meeting
Resolutions Adopted
June 20-24, 2008

RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE ACT (H.R. 676)
WHEREAS, every person deserves access to affordable quality health care; and

WHEREAS, the number of Americans without health insurance now exceeds 47 million; and

WHEREAS, millions with insurance have coverage so inadequate that a major illness would lead to financial ruin, and medical illness and bills contribute to one-half of all bankruptcies; and

WHEREAS, proposals for “consumer directed health care” would worsen this situation by penalizing the sick, discouraging prevention and saddling many working families with huge medical bills; and

WHEREAS, managed care and other market-based reforms have failed to contain health care costs, which now threaten the international competitiveness of U.S. manufacturers; and

WHEREAS, administrative waste stemming from our reliance on private insurers consumes one-third of private health spending while the single payer Medicare system has administrative costs of less than 5%; and

WHEREAS, U.S. hospitals spend 24.3% of their budgets on billing and administration while hospitals under Canada’s single payer system spend only 12.9%; and

WHEREAS, Harvard researchers estimate that more than $300 billion could be recovered by replacing private insurance companies with a single public payer, enough to cover the uninsured and to improve coverage for all those who now have only partial coverage; and

WHEREAS, entrusting care to profit-oriented firms diverts billions of dollars to outrageous incomes for CEOs and threatens the quality of care; and

WHEREAS, The United States National Health Insurance Act (H.R. 676) would assure universal coverage of all medically necessary services, contain costs by slashing bureaucracy, protect the doctor patient relationship, assure patients a completely free choice of doctors, and allow physicians a free choice of practice settings; and

WHEREAS, most polls show that the majority of Americans support universal healthcare; and

WHEREAS, as of the date of this resolution, the majority of American physicians (59%) believe that Single Payer is the best method of securing universal healthcare; and

WHEREAS, The United States National Health Insurance Act (H.R. 676) will guarantee every mayor that all residents and employees of his/her city will be fully covered for healthcare and save millions of taxpayer dollars now spent on premiums to provide less than full health insurance coverage for government employees; and

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the United States Conference of Mayors expresses its support for The United States National Health Insurance Act (H.R. 676), and calls upon federal legislators to work towards its immediate enactment, and further urges the adoption of a process by which healthcare will be required to justify any increases to healthcare costs.

I think one of the proposed alternatives to universal health care is a Republican-backed concept called "Don't get sick ever."

It has really saved me a lot of money so far, but it takes a lot of hard work never getting sick, and I can never take a day off work because everybody knows I ascribe to this health care system.

Ace, Try to schedule and illness for vacation time so no one will catch you being sick. Your's sounds like a good plan to me, wish I had thought of it..............%D

This is a very complicated issue but we do not need a universal health care plan. None of the candidates or politicians really seem understand all the problems or have a viable plan. A universal health plan would be the simple way out becaused a mandated government program would ultimately be run (managed) by private insurance companies. Health care would not improve as long as private companies with STOCKHOLDERS and CEO's that receive billion dollar annual bonuses are in charge. The insurance companies would still get to decide who can have what coverage & would have to deny care to continue making profits. Our tax dollars would be making the insurance companies more powerful & even more wealthy.Our system of how insurance companies operate need to be overhauled like in Germany, Taiwan & other countries that have health care for all their citizens. T.R. Reid of the Washington Post did an excellent program on PBS' Frontline this past 4-16-08 called "Sick Around the World". If you did not see it call your local PBS station & urge them to repeat the program. He is the first reporter or politician to really get what is wrong with our system & what we might do to fix it. He will have a book out in '09, & I believe the title is "We are 39th". The US is ranked 39th in the healthcare deliver to its citizens. I think the title says it all.

Cathy

Whatever the ultimate solution is it will have to be a single payment/no bill.

We pay taxes for the police....and we DON'T get bills for tens of thousands of dollars if we actually use their services.

We pay taxes for the fire dept....and we DON'T get bills for tens of thousands of dollars if we actually use those services.

We pay taxes for schools....and we DON'T get bills for tens of thousands of dollars if our kids actually use that school.

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I have no problem with using private insurance so long as I am gauranteed not to get a bill from the hospital for a co-pay or pay more than $5 for any perscription.

The major, major MAJOR problem with the private insurance schemes is that it's not actual coverage, it's a coupon system.

You pay $300 a month and then your insurance will pay a "portion" of your hospital bill.

Need an MRI? No problem! Your insurance covers those and now you only owe $4,567 out of pocket! Wheew! Isn't private insurance so much better than full universal coverage?

I have no problem keeping Blue Cross/Blue Shield as my insurance provider so long as whatever they DON'T cover gets covered by the government.

I refuse to pay $300 a month for a healthcare coupon book that only offers 40 percent off coupons a select illnesses and surgerical procedures.

We need healthcare coverage, not private insurance coupon books.

Exactly the point of HR 676. It is expanded improved Medicare.
PNHP is advocating for the Conyers, Kucinich Universal Health Care Plan. HR 676

PNHP-
Four principles shape our vision of reform.

Access to comprehensive health care is a human right. It is the responsibility of society, through its government, to assure this right. Coverage should not be tied to employment. Private insurance firms’ past record disqualifies them from a central role in managing health care.

The right to choose and change one’s physician is fundamental to patient autonomy. Patients should be free to seek care from any licensed health care professional.

Pursuit of corporate profit and personal fortune have no place in caregiving and they create enormous waste. The U.S. already spends enough to provide comprehensive health care to all Americans with no increase in total costs. However, the vast health care resources now squandered on bureaucracy (mostly due to efforts to divert costs to other payers or onto patients themselves), profits, marketing, and useless or even harmful medical interventions must be shifted to needed care.

In a democracy, the public should set overall health policies. Personal medical decisions must be made by patients with their caregivers, not by corporate or government bureaucrats.

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When Middle America is lining up for hours in freezing weather to get health care we have to act. None of the candidates put forth a decent Universal Health Care plan. It is up to us to demand the plan we want. Insurance companies should not be in the health care mix.

HR 676 sounds like a good plan!

I hate that everyone expects the government to hold them by the hand and provide everything for them. How about if your insurance is not great or you can't afford the bills DON'T F*** YOURSELF UP. Eat right and don't do anything risky and you'll never have to visit a hospital. The blatant loss of self-responsibility in this country is disgusting.

Thankfully T_Rose's opinion is in an every-shrinking minority.

It's very outdated thinking and is slowly (but surely) fading away as we get further into the 21st century.

The irrational hatred of universal healthcare is the kind of philosophy that will fade away much like other outdated ideas have faded away over the years.

At one time in this country is was perfectly normal and acceptable for 5 year olds to be working in coal mines for 14 hrs a day.

Eventually that type of thinking faded away and the last of diehard holdouts who insisted that Child Labor laws were "bad" died out.

And we're all the better for it as a nation. There are no 5 year olds working in coal mines and, hey, we're one of the most powerful economies in the world despite all the warnings that regulating child labor would "ruin" this country.

The same thing happened with everyone who opposed anti-segregation laws and stood in front of schools holding shotguns -- eventually that type of thinking faded away. Well, mostly.

Same thing is going to happen with universal healthcare. It's just a question of when.

Start overwhelming the ERS again, they have to treat you. These hospitals are not for profit(NO TAX) so they have to treat people with no ins.like me.

Delaying the inevitable. Surely future generations will look back and wonder what we were thinking. All the medical technoligy available that people can't afford. We can't lay all of the responsibility at governments door. Where is the media? Another reason for us to focus on the real issues and vote.

America can always be counted on to do the right thing...after they have exhausted all other options.

Look at the new passion in creating alt fuels! It never would have come about if it hadn't reached a crisis point with oil rising out of control in price. Some countries absolutely refuse to call the fire department until after 75 percent of the building is engulfed in flames...and that seems like our response to a national healthcare stretagey and a national energy strategy.

We'll make the tough decisions...but only after we're backed into a corner and we can't delay making a decision any longer.

Probably the same with healthcare. Nothing was going to be done until it reached its current crisis point. Drunks have to reach rock bottom before they can recover and America has to hit rock bottom on energy and healthcare before we're ready to make the necessary changes.

Our healthcare system is now so bad that the only option left is to do the intelligent thing and trnasition over to universal healthcare.

regularrf, No the ER's don't have to help you. If what you have is not immediately life threatening, they can and do refuse treatment.

No one should sit in an ER 24 hours waiting to be seen, then slip off onto the floor and die because they have no insurance. No child should die from an abscessed tooth. No twenty-eight year old mother of three children should be facing death because she couldn't pay for after surgery cancer care.

This is happening in this country right now. It is an absolute disgrace.

"Charity starts at home", they say. I tend to agree. All the "aid" that flows out of our tax base shoudld be used to make sure that people are being taken care of hear on the homefront first.

The US should take notes on how the Swiss do it. It's the law for everyone to be covered and it pays close to 90% of everything.

COVERAGE

Everyone would be included in a single public plan covering all medically necessary services, including acute, rehabilitative, long-term, and home care; mental health services; dental services; occupational health care; prescription drugs and medical supplies; and preventive and public health measures. Boards of experts and community representatives would determine which services were unnecessary or ineffective, and these would be excluded from coverage. As in Canada, alternative insurance coverage for services included under the national health program would be eliminated, as would patient copayments and deductibles.

Universal coverage would solve the gravest problem in health care by eliminating financial barriers to care. A single comprehensive program is necessary both to ensure equal access to care and to minimize the complexity and expense of billing and administration. The public administration of insurance funds would save tens of billions of dollars each year. The more than 1500 private health insurers in the United States now consume about 8 percent of revenues for overhead, whereas both the Medicare program and the Canadian national health program have overhead costs of only 2 to 3 percent. The complexity of our current insurance system, with its multiplicity of payers, forces U .S. hospitals to spend more than twice as much as Canadian hospitals on billing and administration and requires U .S. physicians to spend about 10 percent of their gross incomes on excess billing costs.1 Eliminating insurance programs that duplicated the national health program coverage, though politically thorny, would clearly be within the prerogative of the Congress.2 Failure to do so would require the continuation of the costly bureaucracy necessary to administer and deal with such programs.

Copayments and deductibles endanger the health of poor people who are sick,3 decrease the use of vital inpatient medical services as much as they discourage the use of unnecessary ones,4 discourage preventive care,5 and are unwieldy and expensive to administer. Canada has few such charges, yet health costs are lower than in 1he United States and have risen slowly.6,7 In the United States, in contrast, increasing copayments and deductibles have failed to slow the escalation of costs.

Instead of the confused and often unjust dictates of insurance companies, a greatly expanded program of technology assessment and cost-effectiveness evaluation would guide decisions about covered services, as well as about the allocation of funds for capital spending, drug formularies, and other issues.

Try going and getting a job where they provide healthcare. I heard the post office and all 4 branches of the Military is hiring. Hell go be a janitor for the CIA.

Take the needle out people, start taking care of yourselves and your families.

You dont need the government, the government needs you

Your point is?