Forward to interested parties--Dems or further left than that, I mean.
It's not if -- it's how.
President Obama has been busy making his case for health care reform. For most, it's not a question of whether or not health care reform is necessary - Even Republicans have created their own health care reform plans. It's a question of how to carry it out.
As he described in his speech to the American Medical Association on Monday, President Obama is advocating a plan that will include private health insurance and a health insurance option owned and managed by the government. The competition between public and private plans will reduce costs, guarantee choice, and ensure all Americans have quality, affordable health care.
However, many people want an entirely public, government-run plan -- or single payer health insurance.
Single payer health insurance has many supporters, because it guarantees health care for all. Since it cuts private insurance companies out of the equation, there is less overhead for insurance company profit margins, advertising, and other administrative costs.
President Obama believes that everybody has the right to health care. But for strategic reasons, his Administration is not supporting single payer health insurance. Perhaps the defeat of the Clinton plan looms large.
"If I were starting a system from scratch," Obama has said, "then... moving towards a single-payer system could very well make sense... (but) We don't want a huge disruption as we go into health-care reform where suddenly we're trying to completely reinvent one-sixth of the economy."
Single payer health insurance would make us a target for Republicans. Karl Rove and other right-wing extremists are already claiming that President Obama wants to turn America into "a European-style welfare state." Republicans are scaring the public away from any kind of public option and saying that it will result in huge bills for taxpayers.
It may surprise you to learn that most Americans are basically happy with their current health insurance. A recent poll shows that 82 percent of people like their health care coverage, while only 52 percent are happy with the current cost of health care. That's why one of the core principles of President Obama's plan is preserving choice and assuring people that they will be able to keep their doctor and health care plan if they want to. President Obama wants to fix what's broken and build on what works.
What do you think? Do you agree with President Obama?
If you support Obama's public/private plan click here:
http://www.wa-democrats.org/obamaplan If you support single payer health insurance, click here:
http://www.wa-democrats.org/singlepayer If you do not support any public option, click here:
http://www.wa-democrats.org/nopublicoption Thank you for your input! We will compile and post results on our webpage in a week.
Sincerely,
Jaxon Ravens
Executive Director
Washington State Democrats
p.s. If you want to support President Obama's campaign for health care reform, get involved with Organizing for America (OFA), the grassroots, organizing arm of the administration. OFA is hosting a National Health Care Day of Service on June 27th. To learn more visit
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/servicefooddrive/ References:
http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2009/06/obamas_ama_speech_as_delivered.html http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/19/health.care.poll/index.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/05/AR2009060503518.html http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124467554761003983.html http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1900041,00.html http://www.pnhp.org/facts/what_is_single_payer.php
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