Health Coverage in the Balance (6 out of 8 LTTE writers support single payer)

[Lydia Leftcoast]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/25/opinion/l25health.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&ref=opinion

Here are some excerpts:

"Despite polls suggesting a high popularity for such a system, the news media regurgitate myths and fail to explain the proposals of the health care debate. Single-payer health care is frequently described as “government run” or “socialized medicine,” even though the Canadian, French and German systems involve private doctors, hospitals and other caregivers who merely get paid by the government. Even Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s tempered proposal that would involve a private-government partnership did not escape inaccurate accusations."
---
"Your attempt to address “The Battle Over Health Care” is admirable, but your conclusions under the heading of “What’s Missing” are as timid as those of the political candidates. If we value the health of our citizens, then just as we provide basic fire protection and police protection, we should also provide basic medical protection.

We cannot morally countenance winners and losers in the free-market sense in health care, just as we cannot in security and fire protection. It’s time to drop the ridiculous phobia of the “single payer” system and set about designing the most efficient government-run program we can, caring for the greatest number of people without driving up costs artificially for third parties like insurance industries."
----

[PSPS]

1. Chances are at least one of the 'opposing' letters was penned by the NYT itself.

After all, there's all that advertising revenue at stake!

[antiimperialist]

2. The media is doing a terrible job about this

Even the NY Times has failed to consistently report one of the most important facts in this whole discussion: European countries using the single payer system perform better than we do, at a much lower cost.

[keep_it_real]

3. A Single Payer Health Care American System is the Way to Go

We must buck the Corporate controlled news media and the corporate controlled health care system and go for a one payer system like the rest of the sensible world.

We already have a public (socialist) national highway government agency, we already have a public (socialist) FIRE department in all cities in the USA; we already have a public (socialist) EDUCATIONAL system in America; we already have public (socialist) POLICE system in all cities of America so why can't we do away with the corporate controlled insurance systems that put PROFIT over our welfare and pays millions of employees to reject health care claims? What nation in its right mind would hire millions of employees to reject medical claims of its citizens?

The one payer system, that the rest of the world has is the way to go.

Nature does not like EXTREMES, extreme capitalism nor extreme socialism. America in SECRET is really a mix of public fire, highway, school, police, etc, SOCIALIST government agencies that SUPPORT the the American capitalist system; America is REALLY a SECRET MIX of socialism and capitalist but the school and the corportis controlled news media will never tell the America people this.

[truedelphi]

5. Agreeing with your statements. Besides.while the shills for

Not having SIngle Payer Claim that Single Payer is Socialist, the plan now seemingly agreed upon by Corporate America will be the system, similar to what HRC proposes, that has ALL the costs of Single Payer PLUS the tollbooths installed by the insurance industry - we can't NOT let them have their 30%

[eridani]

4. Not sure why he is worried about "third parties like insurance industries"

Sort of like worrying about bad things happening to the Mafia.

[raccoon]

6. K&R. nt