Health Care Issue: Kucinich is the winner, IMH(undecided still)O

[blondeatlast]

I don't want to see tax credits, I don't want savings accounts.

I like the idea of a single-payer system and the elimination of private entities. I have a chronic medical condition that has led to my family having to declare bankruptcy, a near impossiblility with a single payer system.

Discuss.

[dpbrown]

1. It's the fiscally responsible system

All the other's are subject to the "big government" label, for diverting more money into a failed system of health care that still won't cover 100%.

[blondeatlast]

2. That's how I see it. I HAD health insurance (long story)

but that isn't a guarantee that it will be there when you need it.

[revcarol]

4. It will result in 20-30% MORE health care

for the same money. Agree it is the best plan, to go like the Candian system which has been time-tested and proven to be effective.

[Mairead]

3. No argument from me, BAL

How any working person can think keeping the hands of the wealthy in our pockets is a good idea is totally beyond my grasp. It makes not the slightest bit of sense to me.

[tlcandie]

6. I just hope we get it before too many more suffer from lack of

health care! I'm holding my breath that many current healther insurers don't cancel out soon due to lack of funds, etc.! I see us on the edge of a precipice(sp?) with a black hole below....

Education
Health Insurance
Heck the whole US economy/financial system is in jepoardy and I'm not sure we will make it out before we hit rock bottom like never before :(

Riding the KucinichTsunami2Win here!! :hi:

[SWPAdem]

5. Two points

As long as we have uninsured Americans, everyone else will pay for their care through higher costs in the health care delivery system. Most hospitals are non-profit, but they have to charge ridiculous prices for goods and services to cover for charity care. Anyone that protests government provided universal health care because they don't want to be responsible for others' misfortune is just fooling themselve. A single payer system will save money and help lower costs.

Secondly, as long as health care is covered or provided by for-profit entities, we will all continue to be ripped off.

On edit, a third point: hospitals with HMO contracts are forced to accept reimbursement for disease processes, not actual services. If the patient has an adverse outcome, and ends up consuming more services, or has a longer stay, OH WELL, see my first point.

[leftofthedial]

7. DK's plan is the best

It's the way it should work in a civilized country.

(Is this a chicken-and-egg issue? Does America need to get civilized first or would DK's healthcare plan help to start us on the road to civility?)

[dpbrown]

9. DK's plan will help us get there!

So first we need DK!

[Rose Siding]

8. How would he convince Congress to pass this?

I'd prefer single payer. What is the plan to get a split Congress to pass this?

[dpbrown]

10. "We'd" have to work at it, as well

I think it would take a big lobbying effort to push Congress along, especially the ones who get the most lobbying from the for-profit health insurance industries. My understanding is that meddling by those industries is what finally made Clinton's plan too top-heavy to fly. But having the doctors in JAMA come out in favor of Universal Single Payer is a great first step, and organizing progressive lobbying systems like MoveOn.org, WorkforChange, UnionVoice, and others will go a long way to making sure Kucinich's congress passes Universal Health Care right away!

[Mairead]

13. Not to mention 'Just Health Care', the Labor Party's initiative

It's received wonderful support wherever it's been test-marketed, and it's much more 'radical' than DK's plan (and I like it better for that reason).

[no name no slogan]

11. I say, propose it as a money-saving issue

Right now, healthcare costs are around 13% of our annual GDP. Going to a universal, single-payer, privately-delivered system like Canada's would reduce that to around 7-8% GDP.

If you were to describe this plan to a (fiscal) conservative, they would jump at it. However, they're so damn worried about the "socialized medicine" bugaboo that the knee-jerk reaction is to dismiss it out of hand.

BUT, if we make the argument on economic grounds, we could end up winning more converts. Most Americans when surveyed (usually around 60%) agree that a single-payer system is what we need to control health care costs. Anything else is like trying to put a bandaid on a severed limb.

[JohnKleeb]

16. You act like we are gonna have the same congressional make up

[blm]

12. No argument here. That's the way I wish it could be.

.

[blondeatlast]

14. Kicking. I' m undecided, I want input form the other camps, too.

[loyalsister]

15. It's a great plan

but not realistic. I have talked to one state representative after another about this- people who have been sponsoring health care legislation for years and years.
They told me that single payer isn't a realistic plan right now.
It's not just businesses that don't want it. It's people who don't want it. There are hundreds, if not thousands of people writing letters about health care legislation that say "it is NOT my resposibility to pay for someone elses health care." Most people don't understand single payer.
They don't understand what they'd get out of it, and they aren't ready for it. They are, however ready for something that is sort of like what we have now only more easily available to them. Most people are out for themselves. it's a fact of life, and most legislators know it.
Here's what many average middle class citizens say about health care- Yeah, I think the people who REALLY need it and REALLY can't work should get it for free, but everyone else should pay for it. They usually say that there should be a safety net, and it should be easier for the middle class people to get covered. That's what it seems the first universal plan is going to have to look like to be palatable.
The legislators I work with have attended national conferences and discussed the climates in other states. It's pretty much the same across the country.
In my most recent conversation, one friend said that she thought Dean's plan is probably the most practical\passable.

[blondeatlast]

17. But Dean's isn't appreciably different than Kerry's, Edward's, etc.

Not to mention, I fall through the cracks in Dean's plan.

[revcarol]

18. It would be carefully phased in over 10 years....

and I totally object to losing 20-30 percent to exhorbitant CEO salaries, incentive payments to deny people care, especially specialized care,outrageous profits for pharma companies without making any effort at restraint or savings from volume buying like the VA...

Oh well, that's just me. I think we ought to demand more care from our health care $$, not just have the government subsidize the profits for HMO's and pharma companies.Dean's plan would leave millions out of coverage, too, an estimated 10 million people. Will YOU be one of the 10 million left out?

[blondeatlast]

19. I would (be left out)

Admittedly, DK's plan is a tough sell to the public. OTOH, it's very easy to understand and in the long run would save everybody money. Most of the other candidate's plans are mirrors of Dean's, it appears.

Mind you, any is better than the mess we have now.