Kucinich Renews Pitch For Universal Health Care: Bill reintroduced

[Luckyduck]

Trying to distance himself from fellow Democratic presidential candidates on the issue, Kucinich said the proposal introduced Wednesday would be the "only bill in Congress that would assure universal health-care coverage (and) control cost."...

Americans are ready for universal health care, Kucinich said in a phone interview after the bill was introduced.

"Now Congress may not be ready, but let me tell you: Congress wasn't ready to get out of Iraq, but people in November showed they wanted a new direction, so Congress is going to have to pay attention to the will of the people," he said...

Kucinich said Bush was using tax laws to address health-care issues. "The president should not be looking to the tax code to fix the lack of affordable health care," Kucinich said.

Kucinich said his proposal, a keystone of his White House campaign, "would provide coverage for all medically necessary procedures including dental care, mental health care, long-term care and prescription drug coverage."

http://wcpo.com/news/2007/local/01/24/kucinich.html

[BayCityProgressive]

1. This is why

Kucinich is getting my vote in the primary. I wonder how many people will support this bill?

[saltpoint]

2. What a tremendous Congressman this guy is.

I'm jealous of his constituents in his Ohio district.

And by the way, from the sound of things here, it doesn't sound to me as if Congressman Kucinich has compromised ANY of his for-the-people values. Recent posts on DU and at KOS have been less than charitable to Congressman Kucinich.

It looks as if those posts were dead wrong and that Dennis Kucnich continues to fight the good fight.

[Luckyduck]

8. Kucinich is a threat to the interests of many

and many people hire bloggers on the net to serve their interests...

[saltpoint]

9. Hi, Luckyduck. Please accept a belated welcome to DU.

Yes. Kucinich represents a threat. And some people try to silence people who are as genuine and true-to-the-heart as he is.

May their voices fade into oblivion and may his get louder still.

[Luckyduck]

10. Thanks

:hi:

[redqueen]

3. I hope this gets wider coverage...

If not, LTTE's are in order!

[Selatius]

4. I believe this is the bill he reintroduced. Medicare for all:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expanded_and_Improved_Medicare_for_All_Act_of_2005

The Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act of 2005, also known as the National Health Insurance Act and officially called HR 676, was a bill submitted to the United States House of Representatives by Representative John Conyers Jr., D-MI, along with 76 cosponsors, in 2005. The act called for the creation of a universal health care system in the United States, where the government would provide every citizen health insurance free of charge. The bill is currently in committee.

[aquart]

5. Anyone sign on to it with him?

[Luckyduck]

6. article states 42 co-sponsors

looks like it is down from when it was first introduced. I can't find the list of co-sponsors though.

[Luckyduck]

7. more from Kucinich

Our health care system is broken, and H. R. 676, the Conyers-Kucinich bill, is the only comprehensive solution to the problem. It is also the system endorsed by more than 14,000 physicians from Physicians for a National Health Program. Nearly 46 million Americans have no health care and over 40 million more have only minimal coverage. In 2005 some 41% of moderate and middle income Americans went without health care for part of the year. Even more shocking is that 53% of those earning less than $20,000 went without insurance for all of 2005. In fact, the National Academy of Science's Institute of Medicine estimates that 18,000 Americans die each year because they have no health insurance....

"Americans have the most expensive health care system in the world. We spend about twice as much per person as other developed nations, and that gap is growing. That's not because we are sicker or more demanding (Canadians, for example, see their doctors more often and spend more time in the hospital). And it's not because we get better results. By the usual measures of health (life expectancy, infant mortality, immunization rates), we do worse than most other developed countries. Furthermore, we are the only developed nation that does not provide comprehensive health care to all its citizens....
http://kucinich.us/issues/universalhealth.php

great audio on health insurance at the 2004 Dem Debate
http://ftp.radio4all.net/pub/archive/05.29.04/cnn_debate-hc-k94b.mp3

another of Kucinich on health care
http://ftp.radio4all.net/pub/archive/05.29.04/kucinich_on_insurance-k93b.mp3