Do you want congress to pass single payer universal health care for everyone in the US?

[liberaldemocrat7]

Do you want congress to pass single payer universal health care for everyone in the US and the president sign it into law?

If yes then

Call Rite Aid at 1-800-325-3737 and tell the person to get the CEO to get the GOP to enact HR 676 Single payer health care and repeal Medicare Part D and place the drug benefit in Medicare Part B covering 80 % of drugs with no extra premiums, no extra deductibles, no means tests, no coverage gaps, and remove the means test for Medicare Part B and until you do, we won't buy ANYTHING from Rite Aid.

[IntravenousDemilo]

1. All right, who the fuck said "no"? n/m

[liberaldemocrat7]

2. The paid Republicans voted no.

Now you see why some people call this place Depublican Underground :)

[tom_paine]

4. Yep. Paid trolls have been around a long time, methinks

Just another tactic we Dems caught on to probably a DECADE after they started this.

[Mojambo]

3. We do have some corporate democrats here on DU... n/t

[liberaldemocrat7]

26. excessively pro corporate people belong in the libertarian or republican party.

They don't belong in the party of Franklin Roosevelt.

[Mojambo]

28. I totally agree, but that doesn't change the fact that they are in the party.

They are killing the party.

[Jackpine Radical]

18. The Hillary wing

of the Republican Party, natch.

[eyesroll]

27. I think perhaps some of the "no" votes were in response to the condition of the "yes" vote.

I didn't vote at all. I do support universal single-payer health care. But I'm not going to be writing or boycotting anyone at the original poster's urging.

[dipsydoodle]

5. It's not an issue which affects me

I've already got the NHS here in the UK and have had it all my life right back to when I was a kid. First time I really needed it apart from the usual child illnesses was the second time, don't laugh, that I ran under a car and got hospitalised for two weeks. It does however surprise me too that anybody here would vote no to this.

[bamacrat]

6. No? WTF

I sure as hell don't think it is fair or moral for that matter for the richest government in the history of the world not to take care of its citizens. We need to boycott all corporation that contribute to this continuing and all elected official who do so as well. Oh, who am I kidding, it's impossible to do that without moving to Montana and living in a plywood shack.

[madokie]

7. what I would like to see is free universal health care paid for by taxes

theres going to be some people who can't pay the single payer fee I'm a thinking.

[liberaldemocrat7]

8. Single payer appears free. The govenment pays for the medical care

and medications. It gets supported by our taxes.

[madokie]

10. Thanks, I didn't understand

[mike_c]

12. single payer health insurance is by definition...

Wiki sez:

"Single payer health insurance or national health insurance is a type of single payer health care system in which the government assumes the role of an insurance company and pays doctors, hospitals and other providers for health care. It differs with socialized medicine, in which health care delivery is controlled by the government, because under single payer health insurance doctors' practices and hospitals may remain private. The government provider may be the national government, regional governments, or a combination. An example of a single payer health insurance system is the United States Medicare program."

oops-- meant to reply to the post you replied to.

[warren pease]

19. Characteristics of a single-payer system...

One nation, one payer.

Everybody in, nobody out.

No exclusion for pre-existing conditions.

No bills from the doctor.

No bills from the hospital.

No deductibles.

No co-pays.

No in network.

No out of network.

No corporate profits.

No threat of bankruptcy from health bills.


In my opinion, to get to single-payer, we need to separate the idea of health care from the idea of health insurance.

Health care is what happens when patients and health care professionals – doctors, nurses, technicians, pathology lab staff, and so on -- interact to, in the best case, successfully diagnose, treat and cure a medical condition or injury.

Health insurance is the protection money you have to pay the middle man to enable this transaction and keep you out of bankruptcy court. Why would you want to give some parasite who does absolutely nothing to provide health care a single damn penny?

The relationship of health care to insurance is manufactured out of thin air by the US’ obsession with applying market-based, privatized solutions to nationalized, systemic problems. If we're to join the civilized world any time soon, that linkage must disappear in favor of a system that treats health care as a basic human right rather than a privilege to be auctioned off to the highest bidder.


wp


Edit: tpyos

[mike_c]

22. one of the best posts on this topic that I've seen....

Well said!

[annabanana]

25. Deserves its own post.. . . . .n/t

[IntravenousDemilo]

9. That's exactly what "single payer" means. It means you pay for it when you pay your income tax.

BTW, this doesn't mean that you will be denied basic coverage if you end up not paying income tax.

In some parts of the country, back when I was a kid, part of it was also paid for through E&H sales tax (the E and H standing for Education and Health). This was certainly true in my home province of Saskatchewan, the birthplace of universal health care in Canada. My avatar depicts Tommy Douglas, who started it all.

[madokie]

13. I think it is a great idea but I wonder what the doctors think about it

are they for or against.

[warren pease]

15. Go here and see...

http://www.pnhp.org/

Physicians for a National Health Program.


wp

[IntravenousDemilo]

17. It was an uphill battle in Saskatchewan.

The difference is, our battle was fought roughly 50 years ago. When Tommy brought in Medicare, the doctors went on strike and even threatened to leave the province, saying almost exactly the same things that your right-wing crackpots are saying now -- "Oh! Oh! You won't have your own doctor! The state will appoint one for you!" Bullshit like that. The Lieutenant Governor of the province even refused to sign the legislation into law. Well, the government stared the doctors down and brought new doctors into the system, many of them from foreign countries, who would work within the new system. And the Lieutenant Governor was replaced as well. No, the sky didn't fall as the naysayers predicted, and all the old doctors didn't up and leave. They just gradually came to accept Medicare as a fact. And we had a bunch of new doctors to boot!

[madokie]

21. thats how I could see it work out

[Jackpine Radical]

20. Many are for it.

Lots of health care professionals are really fed up with the hoops the insurance cos. & HMOs have erected to avoid paying & make billing difficult, etc.

And a lot are simply in favor of single-payer because of the humanitarian aspects of the situation.

[dipsydoodle]

16. That in reality it is how it works here

our NH payments, which are a function of earnings and also contributed to by emplyers, are just another tax. The free health aspect covers those not working too and obviously children from birth. Prescriptions are all free up to school leaving age and then again post 60 years old for either sex. Inbetweeny prescriptions are at current exchange rate about $16 per item prescribed.

There has never been anything to prevent the USA copying the UK's model other than an unwillingness to do so by either party.

[David__77]

11. Seems OK.

I think medicare should be expanded to cover the vast majority of the uninsured, which would be a partial solution for now.

[TreasonousBastard]

14. I voted "No" because...

I want health care, and single payer is only on way to get it, and not necessarily the best way. The proper question is "Do you want universal health care?"

But, of course, this isn't a poll about health care, it's an action memo to jump all over Rite-Aid, which will undoubtedly react to this jumping by whisking away the mosquitos.

Far more difficult than another ineffective boycott threat, but also far more effective, would be to find, or become, influential stockholders.

[Beaverhausen]

23. I'm guessing all the "no" voters have not seen "Sicko" yet

[supernova]

24. "No" voters, please explain yourselves

no drive by voting.

I voted yes becuase univsal single payer is the obvious solution to me. I want the medical insurance companies to go away. permanently.