Single-Payer Health Care Advocates Deserve a Hearing

[babylonsister]

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/05/singlepayer-health-care-advoca.html

Single-Payer Health Care Advocates Deserve a Hearing

By Craig Crawford | May 13, 2009 12:00 AM


Nurses stood their ground on Tuesday at a Senate Finance Committee hearing on health care financing, protesting their exclusion from the witness table as supporters of government-run health care programs. Several others in the audience then spoke out in favor of a single-payer system before being removed from the hearing room.

As President Barack Obama provokes a debate on health care reform, why not listen to those who advocate guaranteed health care that is not dependent on private insurance companies?

Nearly 60 lobbying organizations for retirees, including AARP, are now endorsing an expansion of Medicare availability to all Americans over age 55. But the Obama Administration has ruled out such reform, instead backing "reforms" that preserve the status quo for insurance companies and the rest of the private health care industry.

Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius flatly ruled out Medicare expansion in an interview this week with CNN's Wolf Blitzer:

* BLITZER: Will this be a single payer system along the lines of Medicare?
* SEBELIUS: No. I think that what the president has made it very clear is he wants to actually build on the supporting system. There are about 85 million Americans who have employer-based health coverage and are very satisfied -- a lot of them are very satisfied with the coverage they have. They don't know what's going to happen to the cost...
* BLITZER: So you don't want to simply expand Medicare to include everyone?
* SEBELIUS: That's correct.
* BLITZER: But there are some who would like to do that.
* SEBELIUS: There -- there definitely are some single-payer advocates. But that is not the president's proposal, and I think he -- he thinks choice, that Americans should have choice of doctors and providers, have an opportunity to keep that coverage that they have, if they like their coverage.
(CNN, 5/11)

Bad News in Annual Social Security, Medicare Report

Those with an agenda to cut retiree benefits will certainly point to a new report on future shortfalls in Social Security and Medicare budgets. But get Americans back to work and those funds will rise again. And a major overhaul that lowers health care costs for employers will help them hire more workers.

[mmonk]

1. I can't stand that she repeats the lie that single payer

would limit your choice of healthcare providers. I do not respect liars.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

2. Thanks. Very informative.

As others have pointed out, cut the caps and Social Security will be fixed for the foreseeable future. I'm sure the teabaggers will be out protesting the tax increases on those with salaries 10 times their's but so be it.

Medicare could be greatly helped if the cost of prescription drugs was allowed to be negotiated and if generics were opened up as Obama outlined in his healthcare proposals.

[HillbillyBob]

3. Hear, Hear!

Besides Social Security and Medicare would not be in any trouble at all if congress would quit stealin from it.
Besides why is it ok to spend unnecessary billions$ on 'defense' when we have enough current arms to blow up the world several times over, but not on real health care? I mean health care programs not sick care, teaching people to be well I mean.
I am on Medicare and Medicaid, I am able to choose my own provider, provided they offer the care that I need. The real hold up is that some providers do not want to deal with the paperwork. Eliminate the duplicate paper work and computerize the system and standardize the forms.
One dr I had who was an HIV specialist in Fl gave me Immunoglobulin treatments with out those treatments I would not be here. Jeb Bushco stopped those treatments and forced him out of practice. We lost a really good Dr thanks to that bastard, then they sent me to an OB/Gyn..I am a man..what do I need an OB/Gym for?
All Bushes and Bushies need to rot in hell.
At the risk of the nonsense from those who call sane food laws nanny shit, we need to outlaw all this poison they are selling as food. Hydrolized oils, corn syrup made from BT Corn (look up monsanto /BT and Roundup ready crops.