The Philadelphia Inquirer: Elizabeth Edwards calls health-care system immoral

[beam me up scottie]

Elizabeth Edwards calls health-care system immoral
By Melissa Dribben
Inquirer Staff Writer


Speaking knowledgeably and with dollops of relaxed good humor, Edwards told the audience of 200 people at the National Constitution Center that the current health-care system is immoral and "fails everyone except the extremely wealthy."

***

Except for one subtle remark about the "Republican vice presidential candidate's" opposition to stem cell research, Edwards maintained a relatively neutral political stance. Neither presidential candidate is proposing the kind of universal and comprehensive coverage that Americans deserve, she said. But of the two, Edwards said, Democratic Sen. Barack Obama's plan, which would mandate coverage for children, will move the nation more in the right direction.

Republican Sen. John McCain, she said, "wants to take away the tax incentive for employers to provide insurance." Such a move, she said, would drastically increase the number of uninsured and dramatically drive up health-care costs.

***

Edwards noted that McCain has enjoyed terrific health-care benefits as a member of the nation's military under what is essentially the kind of single-payer system that so many fear.

McCain's four melanomas, however, constitute the kind of pre-existing condition that usually disqualifies people from private insurance, she said.

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/world_us/20080917_Elizabeth_Edwards_calls_health-care_system_immoral.html

[waiting for hope]

1. Happy to be the First Rec!

Way to go Elizabeth!

[beam me up scottie]

3. She made some excellent points.

I just wish they could have left out the dirt for once. WTF does her husband's affair have to do with this issue?

[RufusTFirefly]

6. It's a shame, but otherwise it becomes the elephant in the room

Sadly, whenever most people think of this fiercely courageous and keenly intelligent woman these days, they find it difficult to completely blot out thoughts of that scandal.

[beam me up scottie]

8. True.

Many qualified candidates will never run for office if they have a skeleton in their closet, or even if they don't. Few will choose to subject themselves and their families to this kind of trauma.

[jojo54]

2. My paper is still on the front walk.

I guess I'd better get off my tush and read this article.

[beam me up scottie]

5. I wish I still lived in Pennsylvania.

I would kill to have a newspaper worth reading delivered to my doorstep.

[okieinpain]

4. well I wouldn't call the system immoral, lacking in a lot of area's yes

but they were able to get her foot out of john's ass, so they can't be all bad.

[RufusTFirefly]

7. Yes, the system is immoral

I agree with Elizabeth Edwards.

For the richest country in the world to let people suffer and die needlessly is immoral. There's no getting around it. Furthermore, the fact that this suffering and dying is actually making other people wealthy only compounds the immorality.

And I fail to understand the relevance of your other comment.

[rurallib]

9. I think it is a bad idea to cover children for health care

they might get used to it. Then when it is taken away as an adult they won't know what to do.
No, I think it is better if a child has to buy an individual policy immediately after birth. I'd allow the child to remain on their parent's plan for a week. After that they must be on their own policy. Better that they learn when they are young.

[beam me up scottie]

10. Yeah, suck it up, kiddies.

If you can't manage to stay healthy on your own, why should the government step in and save your pathetic little lives?

They have more important things to bail out, you know.

[rurallib]

11. so good to see someone else here with a normal perspective

none of that goody two shoes for me. No siree. If a kid can't take care of themselves, then as my patron saint Ebeneezer Scrooge once said "let them die and decrease the surplus population."

[beam me up scottie]

12. Why, when I was a kid, I had every disease known to man, chugged formula tainted with melamine,

smoked three packs of unfiltered Camels a day, drank heavily, was repeatedly run over by SUV's, choked on small toys, and not only did I survive it all, I loved every minute of it!

By gawd, if it was good enough for me, it's good enough for them!

[LeftishBrit]

15. Exactly, hang 'em all , flog 'em all, send 'em all up the chimneys...

We've gotten far too soft on children in the last 200 years! No more of this sentimental rubbish! It's all very well to save the lives of fertilized eggs, but once they're born, they're old enough to stand on their own feet!

[silverweb]

14. Absolutely right.

n/t

[Crunchy Frog]

19. We need to weed out the weak ones anyway.

[Prophet 451]

13. She's right, it is

In the process of arguing with right-wingers, I've actually worked this out several times and in several ways.

Year-to-year running costs (discounting set-up costs) using NHS model: Aprox. $600 billion.
Year-to-year running costs (discounting set-up costs) using French model: Aprox. $900 billion (French are generally accepted to have best health system in world).

Amount spent on private healthcare by Americans annually: Aprox. $2.3 trillion.
Medicare cost for year 2002/03: Aprox. $257 billion
Medicaid annual budget: Aprox. $295 billion
Admin costs of NHS: Aprox 6% of budget (including benefits and pensions).
Admin costs of private insurance: Varies but commonly 20-30% of budget.

Now, $600 billion seems like a lot but firstly, it's less that the USA's annual military budget (aprox. $610 billion, not counting either war or the undisclosed intelligence budget) and more importantly, it's still a lot less than the aprox. $2.85 trillion spent by Americans on the combination of Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance. Those three combined still leave millions uninsured.

So national healthcare, even allowing for start-up costs, would be cheaper and covers absolutely everyone. Yes, there are problems with the existing systems but since the US is coming to this late, there's nothing to stop you from setting up a commission to study the existing programs and mix-and-matching parts until you come up with something worthwhile.

[xchrom]

16. recommend

[silverweb]

17. She's absolutely right.

Health care has been made into a mere commodity and that is completely and absolutely immoral.

[beam me up scottie]

18. Exactly.

Withholding care from people in need is bad enough, but when the "I've got mine" crowd ignore the problem, it's even worse.