political leaders
http://www.dennis4president.com/go/newsroom/kucinich%3a-growing-uninsured-population-reflects-failure-of-political-leaders/ "...In 2000, Kucinich took the plan to the Gore-Leiberman Democratic Platform Committee for inclusion in the party’s platform, “and they told me that the insurance and pharmaceutical interests were too powerful to challenge.” In 2004, he took the plan to the Kerry-Edwards Democratic Platform Committee, “and I got the same answer,” Kucinich said.
“Now, we have the leading Democratic candidates for President engaged in a fraudulent debate about which of their health care plans is the most ‘universal’ when, in fact, those plans keep the for-profits in control and poised to profit even more if they begin receiving federal subsidies and incentives to reduce premiums to make insurance more affordable to more people.”
...Fortress Investment Group, a hedge fund manager with huge investments in for-profit health care companies, notably the giant Humana, Inc. which specializes in Medicare programs. Edwards was a consultant to Fortress in 2005 and 2006 and earned a reported $480,000 in compensation.
Public filings show Humana’s profits from its Medicare business soared 194.7%, to $288.8 million, from $98.0 million for the year-ago period. Second-quarter Medicare Advantage premiums of $2.8 billion were up 33 percent from $2.1 billion. And, premiums from Humana's stand-alone Medicare prescription drug plans totaled just over $1 billion for the quarter, a 31 percent increase from a year earlier. Membership in the company's stand-alone Medicare prescription drug plans totaled 3.44 million as of June 30.
“Any candidate who proposes securing a role for private, for-profit companies in the U.S. health care system is, in effect, ensuring billions of dollars in profits for those companies, money that should be going to providing health coverage for Americans,” Kucinich said.
“With the ranks of the uninsured and under-insured Americans growing by millions each year, it’s time for my esteemed colleagues to get serious, stop dancing around the issue, and do the right thing for the American people. The right thing is a national, not-for-profit health insurance system that will cover every American. Anything other than that, anything less than is a sham,” Kucinich concluded. 
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