Tuesday June 16, 2009, 12:15 pm
I dont think anyone has a positive solution for afordable health care for everyone, thanks Cal

Tuesday June 16, 2009, 3:41 pm
My fear is that by trying to be all things to all people yet write this in such a manner as to get Congressional approval it will be so watered down it will do no good for anyone (save the insurance industry)

Tuesday June 16, 2009, 5:41 pm
The way that it stands now we have no hope of really winning. The gov has other plans to expose our medical records to anyone in the medical field regardless of post, title or objective and who knows what our taxes will be after all this. Don't blow your privacy in compromise and those limits can be set through the FAIRTAX.ORG

Tuesday June 16, 2009, 10:35 pm
The answer is YES.

Tuesday June 16, 2009, 10:37 pm
Please sign Senator Bernie Sanders’ Petition for Single Payer Healthcare for All and pass this email far and wide. Sanders is one of the few senators who is a public servant - and who has a spine.


http://sanders.senate.gov/petitions/index.cfm?uid=7fd59f2e-88e1-477a-8eaf-762a5b050809

Please send this to everyone you know! Thanks for all you do.

Tuesday June 16, 2009, 10:38 pm
Our fight for equal access to healthcare for all is about democracy, human rights, civil rights, and basic human decency.

Congress and our legislators are violating our human rights by keeping Single Payer reform off the table, and not allowing the Congressional Budget Office to compare the costs of various reform bills (which would clearly show that single payer is the best for the country economically). Our legislators have sold out to corporate interests to the detriment of the health and lives of the rest of us.

Wednesday June 17, 2009, 6:37 am
I second that Care. Senator Sanders truly is one of the good guys. Sign his petition and leave your story. He plans to read several letters on the floor or Congress at every opportunity until the vote. This is your chance to be heard!
Listen to him on the Thom Hartman Show every Friday.
http://www.thomhartmann.com/2009/03/01/the-thom-hartmann-radio-program/

Wednesday June 17, 2009, 6:39 am
Yes, it will.

Wednesday June 17, 2009, 7:02 am
...having worked in the health care industry since 1976, what is being offered is beyond frightening to me. i would like to see people who wish to have health care recieve it but...if one looks at the big picture here this is just smoke n' mirrors, a shell game...offer the people what "is proposed" that they think they need right now...set up the "domino game" and then let the effect take place way down the road.....private insurance companies folding...physicians shutting down practices...research in new discoveries, new meds, health care treatments etc. nearly coming to a halt, hospitals and specialty clinics falling into disrepair, being severely short staffed and/or closing down completely...long waits for care, period! i could go on and on and on but this may be the future for us all. i agree that something should be done but folks...this ain't it. if this passes, i'll be back to say to some....."i told ya so!" (noted, and thanx for the info)

Wednesday June 17, 2009, 1:23 pm
Please sign the above Senator Sander's petition for SINGLE PAYER HEALTH CARE FOR ALL.
Here are the FACTS:
46 million Americans are currently without health insurance;
60 million Americans, both insured and uninsured, have inadequate access to primary care due to a shortage of physicians and other health service providers in their community;
100 million Americans have no insurance to cover dental needs;
116 million adults, nearly two-thirds of all non-seniors, struggled to pay medical bills, went without needed care because of cost, were uninsured for a time, or were underinsured in the last year;
The United States spends $2.3 trillion each year on health care, 16 percent of its Gross Domestic Product;
Americans spend $7,129 per person on health care, 50 percent more than other industrialized countries, including those with universal care;
The U.S. does not get what it pays for. We rank among the lowest in the health outcome rankings of developed countries, and on several major indices rank below some third-world nations;
The number of health insurance industry bureaucrats has grown at 25 times the growth of physicians in the past 30 years;
In 2006, the six largest insurance companies made $11 billion in profits even after paying for direct health care costs, administrative costs and marketing costs.
And, whereas:

Medicare has administrative costs far lower than any private health insurance plan;
The potential savings on health insurance paperwork, more than $350 billion per year, is enough to provide comprehensive coverage to every uninsured American;
Only a single-payer Medicare-for-all plan can realize these enormous savings and provide comprehensive and affordable health care to every citizen.
Now, therefore:

We, the undersigned, urge the United States Congress to pass a single-payer Medicare-for-all program which will provide quality, comprehensive health care for all Americans.
========================================
Some will say, that what this amounts to, is, gasp!, Socialized Medicine. Well,if it is Socialized Medicine, then, BRING IT ON! What is so BAD about Health Care for All; not just for the wealthy who can afford it? This is the sort of Health Care that ALL Industrialized Nations already have, have had for decades; and they think the U.S. is crazy for NOT having what all other comparable countries have!

The American Public have been bamboozled by PROPAGANDA, to be scared of the mere WORD, "Socialism". Well, we have "Socialist" free Public Libraries; and free Public Education thru high school; and we don't individually pay for our Fire and Police Protection!!! And for our roads and bridges and other infra-structure..... All that is government-paid-for thru our taxes, and therefore, can be called "Socialism".

IMAGINE, if you had the Fire Department only come to your house or business to put out a fire, only if you had to pay them for it! And if you couldn't pay them, then no protection! Or a cop would only catch a thief, rapist or murderer for you, if you PAID him or her, in advance!

Health Care should be a Human Right; not a privilege for only the wealthier classes! I actually work in a clerical capacity in the Health Care field; you could even say I am a small cog in the extensive bureaucracy, which has NOTHING to do with actually taking care of health! Only with endless billing and fussing over co-payments, late payments, eligibility, denials of service, etc. etc. etc. How much EASIER it would be, to ELIMINATE all of this, and simply cover EVERYONE with Single-payer!!!
The greedy, selfish, profit-taking HMOs care nothing, and have nothing to do with, actual health, wellness, illness, suffering, life and death matters. ONLY with their own lobbying, cynical propagandizing and CEO's mega-profits. I would DANCE ON THE GRAVES of the HMOs, with the greatest pleasure! Just think, instead of all those socially-useless jobs like mine being paid for, that money could be spent on hiring {and training!} more ACTUAL HEALTH CARE WORKERS. And paying them better, too. This present system is a HUGE WASTE. It needs not just to be "reformed" cosmetically; but to be ENTIRELY SHAKEN UP FROM TOP TO BOTTOM.
See Michael Moore's documentary film, "Sicko". Yes, SEE IT. It will give some good ideas on what OUR Health Care System {the "sicko" one} needs. Yes, call it "Socialism" and don't freak out about the word.

"In 2006, the six largest insurance companies made $11 billion in profits even after paying for direct health care costs, administrative costs and marketing costs."
You know how they do that, don't you? By DENYING INSURANCE TO THOSE WHO ARE REALLY SICK AND NEED IT THE MOST: under the title of "pre-existing conditions". I should know; part of my JOB is telling people who THOUGHT they had insurance, that for one reason or another, they DON'T have it.

"Administrative costs" of the Insurance companies? "MARKETING costs?" MARKETING COSTS? ADVERTISING THEMSELVES to the Public??? Pray tell, just HOW does that BENEFIT you and me, healthwise???????????????? How does it make us healthier, extend our useful lifespans, ease our pain???????????? Answer! if you want to try and "defend" their existence!!!

IMAGINE, if the "six largest insurance companies" were TOTALLY ELIMINATED from the picture; and that 11 BILLION in profits that they made, going for oh, for fancy-schmancy town houses, yachts, furs, who knows for what, were INSTEAD, say, spent on ACTUAL HEALTH CARE, say, for poor children and mothers? ELEVEN BILLION on maternal care, on health education, oh, you get the idea?

No WONDER the HMOs try so hard, to hang onto their profits, no matter what cynical LIES they have to try to convince us of!

Thursday June 18, 2009, 10:16 pm
A new study shows that SINGLE-PAYER HEALTHCARE REFORM WOULD BE A MAJOR STIMULUS FOR THE US ECONOMY and would provide:

** 2.6 Million New Jobs,
** $317 Billion in Business Revenue,
** $100 Billion in Wages, and
** $44 Billion New Tax Revenues

The press release is here: http://www.calnurses.org/media-center/press-releases/2009/january/nurses-to-congress-expanding-medicare-could-reverse-job-losses-and-repair-our-broken-healthcare-system-and-safety-net.html

Here’s the study: http://www.calnurses.org/research/pdfs/ihsp_sp_economic_study_2009.pdf

See the YouTube clip (5 minutes) about how to pay for healthcare reform “HR676 - The Single Payer Solution, Part 4 of 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nxi7DnCH3zk It’s about public financing and private delivery.

It’s clear that single-payer is the solution, not only in terms of providing quality care for all, but also economically!

Friday June 19, 2009, 7:23 am
Wow....what a load of propaganda.

Saturday June 20, 2009, 12:42 pm
Single payer, accept no substitute.

Monday July 27, 2009, 3:22 pm
From: "Health care system and health care reform in Germany"

http://www.bmg.bund.de/cln_160/nn_1169696/EN/Gesundheit/gesundheit__node.html?__nnn=true


This is the official website of the Ministry of Health and Social Matters in Germany

Quote:

"However, a health care system is not a "normal" market. After all, it places even more importance on care standards and service quality than other sectors do. Here, too, Germany scores high on quite a few counts:

* It is far easier to obtain out-of-hours medical attention here than in most other countries and, very importantly, this is so regardless of income or insurance status.

* Wait times for hospital care ... are shorter here than elsewhere.

Also, no such thing as "Preconditions" exists in Germany!

And

"Universal coverage

From now on, all citizens in Germany will enjoy health insurance coverage. From 1st January 2009, and for the first time in German social history, all residents are obliged to take out health insurance unless they are otherwise covered. Persons who had lost their insurance cover must return to their most recent insurer. This applies to the statutory and the private insurance system alike. "

Addendum: If someone cannot pay for his own health insurance (minimum wages apply), the state pays the premiums. This is a legalized RIGHT for citizens of Germany!

Don't opt for less, Americans! Don't let them tell you, it can't be done - because it can!

If we can, then you can, too. YES, YOU CAN!