Mocking what could have been genuine Health Care Reform

[suffragette]

This is a hard post for me to write.

I just read in this thread about Coburn forcing the reading of Sander's Single Payer amendment in an effort to stall the vote on the Senate Bill.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7241926

So, now we have a surreal situation where what could have been the genuine Health Care Reform of Single Payer, a system establishing health care as a right as it is in so many nations, is being mocked and used as a delay tactic instead of being the bill that could have - in my opinion, should have - been the one up for a vote.


Feeling disenchanted, disenfranchised and disgusted.


http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/12/16-7

edited to add Common Dreams link

[BurtWorm]

1. I'm with you.

This is literally sick--I don't mean that in the sense the youth of today mean it. This is broken.

[suffragette]

7. Yep. Here is Sander's fact sheet - completely broken

how this is being used and abused.

SinglePayer Factsheet
http://sanders.senate.gov/files/SinglePayer-factsheet.pdf

Sanders-Brown-Burris Amendment to Create a Universal, Single Payer Health Insurance System
Summary: This amendment would establish a single payer health insurance system that would cover every person legally residing in the United States. The single payer system would be regulated and funded by the federal government through a payroll tax and an income tax, but it would be administered by the states. It would replace the coverage and revenue titles of the current bill, but it would leave in place most of the provisions in the quality, prevention, and workforce titles of the bill. This amendment starts from the premise that health care is a human right, and that every citizen, rich or poor, should have access to health care, just as every citizen has access to the fire department, the police, or public schools.
Why is this amendment important?
-
The United States spends $7,129 per person on health care, which is almost double the amount spent by nearly any other industrialized country. Despite this fact, we still do not insure all of our citizens.
-
There are currently 46 million Americans without health insurance, 100 million Americans who cannot access dental care, and 60 million Americans who do not have access to primary care.
-
The United States ranks among the lowest of developed countries are far as health outcomes, according to both life expectancy and disease metrics.
-
One reason we spend our money so ineffectively is that there is tremendous waste in our system. Healthcare providers spend $210 billion on administrative costs, mostly to deal with insurance paperwork, and the ranks of administrative personnel have grown by 25 times the number of physicians in the past 30 years.
-
This waste and the high costs of insurance associated with it place a tremendous burden on American employers and makes it difficult for them to compete internationally.
Why Support the Sanders Single Payer Amendment?
-
Single payer systems have consistently shown lower administrative costs and higher quality health outcomes. For example, as compared to the United States’ per capita health spending of $7,129, Canada spends $3,895 and Austria spends $3,763 on health care costs. Both of these countries have higher quality health care outcomes than the United States.
-
By creating a single payer, Medicare-for-all type system, this amendment would provide every United States citizen with comprehensive health care and dental coverage in a cost-effective manner. It would save our country money, improve our health outcomes, and, at the same time, fulfill the administration’s promise of universal coverage.
Cost: This amendment pays for itself through progressive payroll and income taxes.

[leftstreet]

2. That's really disgusting

[EFerrari]

3. .

[suffragette]

4. This pushed me past anger to tears

:hug:

[EFerrari]

5. Some of us will be among the casualties of this sellout

and I've been trying to accept it and go from there. In a way, it's a relief to let got of it and to just do right now.

At least Howard made Rahm pitch a fit. Of course, he probably can afford blood pressure medication.

[suffragette]

8. Far too many casualties

Glad Howard is still fighting.

And glad Sanders stepped up and took over the floor.

But that this was done at all shows what a debacle it all has become.

[tomm2thumbs]

6. It's like hearing the last song of a great singer played off by calliope

disgusting and more reason to pull this circus tent down and start over -

Obama will just have to take his lumps and start from scratch - maybe this time he can be a participant and not sit on the sidelines while the other team takes yard after yard, pushing us into our own end zone.

[suffragette]

9. Bernie has the potential and passion to be our Tommy Douglas.

I hope he keeps pushing.