Universal Healthcare
That's what makes Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders' proposed "American Health Security Act of 2009" such an important piece of legislation. In addition to being the first single-payer bill introduced in the Senate since the mid-1990s -- when the late Paul Wellstone, D-Minnesota, sponsored a bill similar to the plan now being advanced by Sanders -- it raises the profile of the doctors, nurses, patients and other campaigners who are trying to tell the Obama administration and its congressional allies that the legislative compromises they entertain are doomed to fail.
Under the American Health Security Act of 2009:
- Patients could seek care from the doctor or hospital of their choice.
- The new national health care program would be paid for by combining current sources of government health spending into a single fund with modest new taxes amounting to less than what people now pay for insurance premiums and out-of-pocket expenses.
- Funding would come from the federal government, but the program would be administered by the states.
- The high overhead and profits of the private, investor-owned insurance industry would be eliminated, along with the burdensome paperwork imposed on physicians and other providers. As a result, the plan would save at least $400 billion annually – enough money to provide comprehensive, quality care to all.
- Community health centers would be fully funded, giving the 60 million Americans now living in rural and underserved areas access to care.
- To address the critical shortage of primary care physicians and dentists, resources for the National Health Service Corps to train an additional 24,000 health professionals would be provided.
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This looks like an excellent plan, and it's the only plan in the Senate. There's been a lot of disinformation about levels of health care in foreign countries, but the bottom line for me is that there's no country - among those we used to call "Developed Countries" - with citizens worrying about where they can go when they're injured or sick.
ReplyDeleteIt is simply appalling that in the United States, it has taken the increasing prevalence of health needs among the young to generate a meaningful movement for health care in our national legislature.
Yay, Bernie. Glad someone on the Senate side came through.
ReplyDeleteNot too hopeful, however, unless Americans badger their elected officials to death, march in the streets, etc. The lobbies will gobble it all right up, like Thanksgiving dinner.