Max Baucus, that wonderful inclusionary senator from Montana (more on that later), has submitted his plan for Health Insurance Reform. (Note that I use the term Health Insurance, Health Care Reform is no longer on the plate) Max submitted his legislation and immediately it got hit with hundreds of modifications or amendments.

Max’s bill holds a great glaring problem for most of us Americans. There is no facility for a public option, nor is there any real support for inclusionary insurance coverage for the majority of Americans. Max’s deal seems to be, if you breathe, you must buy insurance from his pals in the health insurance industry. There is minimal support for those who are in such dire straits that affodability of medicine is out of the question in most cases, let alone the requirement to purchase an insurance policy from one of the very few companies that are still in the game.

The biggest problem I see with Max’s bill is the tremendous focus on individual policies. That is also the focus of the “bipartisan” plan from Wyden and Bennet (Democrat and Republican respectively). The entire focus on these plans it to move people into individually purchased insurance policies. The insurance companies are going to love that.

The stupid word is being revived again, CONSUMER as in Consumer Directed Health Plan or Individual Consumer policies. Folks, I have been ranting about that stupid word for more than three years. Health Care is NOT, let me repeat this, IS NOT a consumer product. When you are sick, you are a PATIENT and you do not have the inclination or the capacity to “shop for health care”.

Only a blithering idiot would continue to use that focus, yet here we have Baucus, Wyden and Bennet all joining in with the conservatives to push Consumer centric health care. Bull crap folks.

Anyone ever had to deal with an insurance company who has denied a claim for medical care? I have and if it had not been for the fact that I was in a GROUP program, I would have been out tens of thousands of dollars. One Claim was denied because the anesthiesologist was not in the network. Excuse me, I was in a hospital, undergoing surgery and both the surgeon and the anesthesologist were on the hospital staff. I am supposed to halt the surgery to check their network affiliations? Not with a tumor in my colon, thank you very much.

Baucus has run into quite a buzz saw so far, none of his “bipartisan” team from the Republican side has stuck with him. All have basically said no as we all felt would be the end result. However, Senator Snowe of Maine has submitted several amendments that might make the Baucus bill a bit more tolerable?

The simple fact is, that if the Max Baucus Finance Committee bill is the keystone to the Obama Health Insruance Reform, hold on to your seats folks, it’s going to get really bumpy from now on.

Bu then why would we think it would be any different? Millions of dollars are being paid by the health care industry to the senators and representatives in our Congress. The average American stands a snow ball’s chance in hell of being recognized as someone with a valid opinion.

Let’s take a short look at the “reform” that our current administration and our congress has been touting. Where is it? Who knows, but is sure is beginning to appear that the Obama Administration and our Congress have sold us down the river in favor of the private sector.

Frankly, I am very dissappointed in our president. His campaign words were so full of promise that we would actually see some real reform in our health care system. Instead, it appears that the nation’s citizens are being ignored to the tune of the lobby influence from the health care industry. Instead, the Obama Administration would not even allow the single payer folks at the table, until they were embarrased by the people so much. Even then, it was miniscule compared to the level of interest and the potential benefits that would be potentially forthcoming from such a program. I don’t quite understand why someone who was percieved as being such a “man of the people” could simply ignore so many and not allow decent hearings of the SPUHC options. Not quite ready to tag Obama with feet of clay, but he sure has let a lot of us down on the “reform” of health care.

The Democratic Legislators are a major disappointment also. Especially the Senate committees charged with developing a comprehensive health care reform bill. Max Baucus even had some citizens arrested for exercising their rights under the constitution to demand a hearing by the legislaive bodies. Several doctors and nurses were arrested and Baucus even had the temerity to laugh and joke about having the medical professional arrested, all the while playing up to representatives from the private health care insurers, pharmaceutical and other health care INDUSTRY organizations. Yet he had no time to listen to citizens, to doctors, to nurses? What the hell is going on in our Congress? Are they not supposed to be the legislative representatives of the people? Who do they think they are kidding?

The Republicans? Heck, they were expected to sell us out to the private sector interests. Especially on the issue of health care, because of their fealty to the major health care insurers and pharmaceutical companies. These so called representatives of the people would put the interests of business ahead of the well being of people without a single thought to the outcome. They simply don’t care about the American citizens unless they happen to be among the rich and powerful.

The Republican leadership, which, in my humble opinion suffers greatly from a dearth of integrity and honor, and is primarily represented by several extremely poor excuses for human beings, has continued to show itself as more interested in protecting the insurance companies than in protecting the health of Americans. John Boehner of Ohio, Eric Cantor of Virginia, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, all three in the leadership of the Republicans in Congress think nothing about lying to the people if it means advancing their personal fortunes and they care not one whit about the people they are SUPPOSED to represent. No, we can absolutly forget about any support from the GOP on the issue of health care for all Americans. There is one thing that you can count on for certain, if McConnell, Boehner, or Cantor is saying something about health care, you can be absolutely certain that the opposite is the truth. These three would like just for the hell of it.

Cost Effective Option

Single Payer Universal Health Care has been proven to be cost effective and in point of fact, far more cost effective and efficient than our current for profit health care system. The existing system is badly broken, is killing our citizens and is costing us double digits overhead on every dollar spent on health services. Take the legislation from Conyers or Sanders, both in the House and the Senate, are two bills that would improve our health care access, increase the effacy of our health care outcomes and significantly increase or national health profile. AND it would do all this at a much lower cost than we are paying now.

Don’t let anyone fool you, WE pay all of the cost for health care in this nation today. The best medical plans in the counry are still coming out of our pockets. Higher cost for products and services, lower incomes for the workers. Those costs are simply not as evident. Why would we not want to see a more robust health care availability, bette health care outcomes and all at a lower overall cost. Why, with SPUHC fully functional in this country, our people COULD recieve a considerable increase in their net take home pay. It would come, or should come, from the savings that their employers would see from being unburdened from the financial load of group health care premiums.

France has far better health care for it’s citizens than the United States, yet their national average cost is far less than half what the we spend. They even have physicians who make house calls! The French Citizen lives a longer healthier life and is freed from the horrible anxiety that most Americans live with every day, that of losing their health care access and having a sick child.

Actuarial projections show a savings in health care access across the board of 300 billion dollars a year. So can someone tell this old crazy coot why these dimwits in Congress are talking about over a trillion dollars in costs? Makes no sense to me. Wonder if they have even read the HR676 legislation? It is not that darn difficult, it is short and to the point, no bazillion words and pages that only a lawyer could understand. Heck I read it and understood it, why can’t they? Oh wait, they probaby can, and they see millions of dollars in lobby campaign funds going bye bye. Skanky slugs.
More thant 18000 people dies from a lack of health care access in this country every single year. Yet we have had the Congress, both houses, working on complex, convoluted legislation that in the end, will do absolutely nothing to Reforme health care delivery. Hell it won’t even reform health care insurance operations. Yet they have been “working hard” to get these health care bills ready for a vote and for Obama to sign their final bill into law. And we will get screwed once again.

Any reason you can think of as to why the American people simply have a very very low opinion of the Congress? In fact, i ALL politicians?

Once again, dear friends, we find that our interests as citizens of the United States of America is being subverted by our political “representatives” that WE elect and send to Washington.

As full disclosure, let me start off by saying that I am really angry, actually pissed off is a better word at our Congress, our President, and our entire process of governance. Some of this is very personal anger and some is simply an old man getting tired of seeing the same old crooked sleazebags continuing to rape and pillage this nation when they are supposed to be “doing the people’s bidding”.

As my disclosure, I should tell you that on May 9th of this year, my son, Mike, at 44 years of age and in excellent physical condition, died because of a lousy mis-diagnosis in an emergency room in one of our “excellent” medical facilities. He was diagnosed originally with a “raging sinus infection” on Friday morning after 5 hours in the ER and the sent home. My daughter, who had taken him to the hospital at 4:30am that morning stated that my son was crying from the pain in his head.

My son NEVER cried!

After bringing her brother home to the apartment they were sharing, my daughter called my other son’s wife and asked her to come and sit with Mike while she filled the prescriptions provided by the ER doctor. This was around 10am. At one oclock in the afternoon, they were taking Mike BACK to the ER in an EMT Ambulance because he was totally non-responsive.

When they admitted my son to the ER for the SECOND time that day, he had to be heavily sedated because he was thrashing around on the gurney. A second ER doctor took over Mike’s case at that point and began to suspect that he was suffering from MENINGITIS!!! They wanted to do a spinal tap to confirm but he had become unstable. They placed my son on a helicopter for a lifeflight trip to the major trauma center in this area for advanced treatment capability. He arrived there at around 3:00pm that Friday Afternoon. At 10 pm that evening, the neurosurgeon came to tell us that Mike’s brain had swollen pushing his brain stem into his neck. He was “CLINICALLY BRAIN DEAD” and our family had sufferred the loss of our son, brother, uncle and friend to hundreds of people across the country. At eight oclock the following evening, we asked that the machines be removed and we let Mike’s body shut down completely.

It is my confirmed opinion, opinion only folks, I am not a medical person, but I beleive, that my son died due to the fouled up medical system we have in this country. Because we have a for profit bent to our enire medical system, things like my son’s death happen every single day. Had we had a more comprehensive medical system in place, such as the majority of the countries in the world, there is a high likelihood that my son would still be here with us, his wide smile lightening the room as he entered.

The current state of Emergency Rooms has deterioriated to the point where they are part ER, and part Urgent Care CLINICS. That is not their function! They are supposed to be 100 percent, focused on emergency care of patients who come there in a critical state and require immediate and FOCUSED attention. This ER doctor totally missed a major symptom of Meningitis, my son had informed him that he could not bend his neck down toward his chest. This was a classic sign of meningitis. This happened at 5:00am the morning that my son Died that evening. Could Mike have been saved at that point? A bit late to say, since he is DEAD. But everyone we speak with in the field said that Meningitis was corrective if it is caught in time. Perhaps that five hours in the ER could have been better spent treating my son for a suspected case of meningitis instead of brushing off his cry for help as simply a sinus infection because there were too many patients most of whom were there because they had no other recourse. They had no medical insurance and therefore their only recourse was the Emergency Room. My son was mis-diagnosed, EVEN after the doctor asked him a pertinent Meningitis diagnosis question (Can you move your head up and down and my son answered no!). Had this doctor been able to pay proper attention, he would have probably picked up on the fact that my son was suffering from more than a “sinus infection” and Mike, my beloved son would be with us today, his grin still infectiously bringing smiles to all around him.

This is why I am really angry, not upset, damn angry. Angry at our Senators, angry at our House Members and certainly damned angry at our President. Why? Because they are knuckling under to the special interests, the insurance companies, the HMO’s, the Pharmaceuticals and the lobby industry in general. They are allowing these special interests to divert their attention from the very reasont that they exist,, to serve the needs of the American People.

The overwhelming majority of people in the United States have indicated that they would like to have fully access to health care, through a government sponsored national health care plan. Not a pool of private sector plans, not additional insurance billions in profits, and certainly not to have some clerk in an office up in Omaha or some similar location deny your claim for health care payment. The idea fo a single payer universal health care program is simple, straightforward and would save the country billions through a better program of health care outcomes. Actuarial professionals have shown where the SP-UHC envisioned in the HR-676 bill would save the country over 300 billion dollars in health care costs beginning in the very first 18 months of its existance.

Yet we hear on the television, on the radio and in print ads how a government bureaucrat will restrict your access and deny your medical claims. Bull pucky simply not true, and besides who the hell do they think denies all the medical claims each day currently>? Private Sector Bureaucrats, that’s who. This wonderful private sector medical system that the right wing and the lobbists have convinced our legislators is so wonderful is directly responsible for thousands of deaths each year through DENIAL OF SERVICE or through CANCELLATION OF COVERAGE with no warnings.

We have more than 18,000 people each year who die simply because they cannot have decent access to health care. That is more than 50 people EACH AND EVERY DAY. And, as I have heard over and over again from right wing pundits and political prostitutes, this is supposed to be the greatest health care system in the world? Bull! We are 37th in the list folks. We are only ahead of a couple of third world countries for crying out loud.

It is time to quit screwing around folks. It is time that we all got off our colletive asses and let these political hacks in Washington know that we are damn sick and tired of their giving us the shaft in favor of these damn special interests. It is time we let them know in no uncertain terms that we will definately watch their actions in regard to American health crises response and we will VOTE ACCORDINGLY. That they should not get too comfortable in their fat cat chairs on the Hill.

Frankly even after they take this coming vote for health “reform”, we will still be screwed folks. Nothing will change in reality. The insurance companies will get billions more dollars in their pockets and we will wind up losing our sons, daughters, wives, husbands, well you get the message. I was already involved in the health care battles for several years, but now, since the health care system KILLED MY SON, I am more dedicated than ever before.

Even when the Congress and the President put this piece of garbage into law as the “Health Care Reform”, people like me will not stop hammering on their butts. They are going to screw over every man woman and child in this country with the abominations that the current congress is talking up. Hell these bills were written by the lobbyists and their clients, and we the people get the shaft once again. WE need to keep the fight going, month after month, year after year, until a national health care plan is put into law and incorporates the tenets of HR-676 at minimum. No more private for profit greedy bastards involved with health care systems. No more will these greedy slugs have the opportunity of killing more sons and daughters like they killed my son.

HR676, SPUHC, National Health Care Program, what ever. We must keep up the fight until the battle is one. Kick the political hacks out of congress if they can’t support the people who elected them. IF they vote for anything except TRUE HEALTH CARE REFORM, not the Obama plan, not the Democrat Plan, of course the Republicans have no plan, then by all that’s holy, let’s dump them fat fannies out of their cushy congressional pig trough. Find a representative and a senator who will listen to the people and vote for THEIR interests. The damn companies don’t vote, WE do!

The capitol hill cretins need to remember that. WE need to remind them of that on Election Day and through Marches on Capitol Hill. Let them know that Health Care is NOT a consumer product and that we are mad as hell and are not going to take it anymore!!!

Believe this, folks. There are those out there, especially on the right, who are the declared enemy when it comes to our advocacy issue, Single Payer Universal Health Care. In one example, a member had written to the political representatives regarding the aspect of universal health care, and specifically the HR-676 legislation from Conyers and Kucinich of the US House of Representatives. One wrote back and from the member’s comment was full of the proverbial bull feces regarding the aspect of HR-676. In essence this lying congress critter indicated that the costs of HR-676 would be astronomical and would create such a drain on the people in higher taxes, that is would not be feasible.

Strange, in every single industrialized nation, except for two, there is a comprehensive single payer universal health care system in place, and they all cost their governments and the people, less than half what ours costs us. Plus, and this is a real “gotcha” the citizens of these countries actually live longer, healthier lives than we do. Oh yeah, by the way, that other country without a sp-uhc program? South Africa!!!! Don’t that just make your heart swell with pride that the United States and South Africa are the only two developed countries in the world that still treats its citizens as so much cattle with regard to health care?

We have been working on contacting other organizations with similar beliefs in the idea of Single Payer Universal Health Care and believe that the implementation of HR-676 would be a great start. Among these organizations are the http://www.pnhp.org Physicians for a National Health Program an organization of doctors who strongly support the idea of a SP-UHC program.

There is also the California Nurses Association and their support for this program, their web site is at: http://www.calnurses.org/

These are but two of the health care professional organizations, now couple that with the plethora of other groups and it becomes readily apparrent that this type of legislation is needed now. The new Congresss could do a lot worse than please a huge majority of the people by passing this legislation into law.

But we must be constantly vigilant because there are any number of congressmen, lobbists and the major health care industry players themselves who would not balk at all sorts of dirty tricks to savage the idea of a single payer universal health care program for this country.

Admitedly most of these enemy congresscritters are on the right side of the aisle and the Republican party has never made a secret of their preference for private business over the best interests of their constituents. However, don’t be surprised to find that opposition can come from the most unsuspected places. The beauty of all that, is that these opposition “enemy combatants” are in the extreme minority. They are loud, they are vociferous but they are in the minority. Some 75% of United States Citizens state that the time has come for health care for all, and that health care should come from a single payment source, the public sector. The private sector, in the opinion of these majoity folks, has had it’s chance and they blew it big time, through their greed, their insensitivity and their totally uncaring attitude for their very customers, you and me.

The idea behind the HR-676 is to combine the Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP and VA programs into a comprehensive plan for health care delivery. Click on the HR-676 link to see the actual bill, it’s not that long, just 27 pages. Short by legislation standards.

This new approach will take these programs, expand the coverage and establish a health care plan for every single American and the program will be expanded to cover all medically necessary implements as well.

The Senior Citizens Consortium has been an avid supporter and advocate for the Single Payer Universal Health Care program for virtually all of our existance. We fully and unequivocably support Congressman Kucinich and Congressman Conyers in their efforts to bring the HR-676 legislation to the floor of the house for a vote.

We would, as an organization, encourage everyone to seriously consider joining with us in developing and acting upon a March of Washington for Health Care. It is never too late, and you are never too old or too young to get involved in advocacy issues such as this one.

My challenge to any and all who happen to read this blog post,,, contact your senator and congressional representative. ASK them directly, what their position is relative to the HR-676 legislation and the very idea of Single Payer Universal Health Care for all Americans and legal residents!

You may be pleasantly surprised, or you may be very unpleasantly surprised depending on the idological bent of your representatives.

Also, go to the President’s web site for citizen’s input and give him your opinion on SP-UHC and the HR-676 legislation. The web site is: http://www.change.gov. There is also a new section there called the Presidents Briefing Book. Go to that and leave your recommendation, opinion or comments. Let’s take advantage of the fact that this administration is at least willing to read what we have to say.

In my next blog entry, I will put up a listing of links to papers and other documents that we have accrued regarding this important topic.

Congressman Dennis Kucinich, representing Ohio’s 10th District has been on the forefront of Single Payer Universal Health Care for over 5 years. Here is an article from his on web site speaking to health care. Pay close attention to the myth/fact section, it is very enlightening.

Universal Health Care
“Health care is an essential safeguard of human life and dignity and there is an obligation for society to ensure that every person be able to realize this right.” – Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, Chicago Archdiocese

Our health care system is broken, and HR 676, the Conyers-Kucinich bill, is the only comprehensive solution to the problem. It is also the system endorsed by more than 14,000 physicians from Physicians for a National Health Program. Nearly 46 million Americans have no health care and over 40 million more have only minimal coverage. In 2005 some 41% of moderate and middle income Americans went without health care for part of the year. Even more shocking is that 53% of those earning less than $20,000 went without insurance for all of 2005. In fact, the National Academy of Science’s Institute of Medicine estimates that 18,000 Americans die each year because they have no health insurance.

The American health system is quite sick. Pulitzer Prize journalists Donald Barlett and James Steele, in their stunning analysis of the health care industry, Critical Condition (2006 Broadway Books), insist that “… U.S. health care is second-rate at the start of the twenty-first century and destined to get a lot worse and much more expensive.”

Considering the following facts from Tom Daschle’s article for the Center for American Progress: “Paying More but Getting Less: Myths and the Global Case for U.S. Health Reform”:

Americans are The Healthiest People in the World.
FACT: Citizens of 34 nations live longer than Americans.

The U.S. is the Best Place to Get Sick.
FACT: The World Health Organization ranked the U.S. 37th in the world for health system performance. Countries like Australia and the United Kingdom rank above the U.S. Americans have lower odds of surviving colorectal cancer and childhood leukemia than Canadians who do have national health care. Americans also experience greater problems in coordination of care than the previously mentioned countries and New Zealand.

Covering All Americans Will Lead to Rationing.
FACT: Same-day access to primary-care physicians in the U.S. (33%) is far less available than in the United Kingdom (41%), Australia (54%) and New Zealand (60%). Per capita spending for health care averaged $2,696 in countries without waiting lists and $5,267 in the U.S.

Global Competitiveness is Hampered in Comprehensive System.
FACT: “Health care costs are not just a burden and barrier to care for individuals; they are taking a heavy toll on American businesses.” The strain on employers in 2005 was staggering. “The average total premiums for an employer-based family plan was $9,979 in 2005 …” Most of our competitors in the world markets finance their systems outside corporate taxes and employer mandates. Without Medicare for Everyone, the U.S. will continue to hemorrhage jobs.

We Cannot Afford to Cover All Americans.
FACT: We already spend enough to have universal health care. “The truth is, we cannot afford to not reform the health system.” We spend about 50% more than the next most expensive nation and nearly twice per person what the Canadians do. On May 1, 2006 Paul Krugman explained in Death by Insurance how incredibly wasteful the current system is. The doctor he referenced has two full-time staff members for billing, and two secretaries spend half their time collecting insurance information on the 301 different private plans they deal with. This type of waste is easily 20%. Also consider that 98% of Medicare funds are spent on medical care.

IMPORTANT: The hackneyed — and inaccurate — mantra of Republicans when universal health care is introduced is to blame trial lawyers and malpractice cases for our lack of national health care. In fact, 0.46% of our total health spending is spent on awards, legal costs, and underwriting costs — about the same as Canada and the United Kingdom and about the same amount we spend on dog and cat food each year. While “defensive medicine” may drive up the price, it hardly accounts for our stunning health care costs. The belief that citizens should give up their right to fair legal redress for legally proven medical mistakes in exchange for lower health care costs rings as true as the promise that if we must give up our civil rights to be safe from terrorists.

Even those with coverage too often pay exorbitant rates. The current profit-driven system, dominated by private insurance firms and their bureaucracies, has failed.

We must establish streamlined national health insurance, “Enhanced Medicare for Everyone.” It would be publicly financed health care, privately delivered, and will put patients and doctors back in control of the system. Coverage will be more complete than private insurance plans; encourage prevention; and include prescription drugs, dental care, mental health care, and alternative and complementary medicine.

Perhaps the clearest and most eloquent explanation of the Conyers-Kucinich National Health Insurance Bill was given on February 4, 2003, in Washington, D.C. by Dr. Marcia Angell in introducing H. R. 676. Backed by over 14,000 doctors, this is the future of American medicine.

“We are here today to introduce a national health insurance program. Such a program is no longer optional; it’s necessary.

“Americans have the most expensive health care system in the world. We spend about twice as much per person as other developed nations, and that gap is growing. That’s not because we are sicker or more demanding (Canadians, for example, see their doctors more often and spend more time in the hospital). And it’s not because we get better results. By the usual measures of health (life expectancy, infant mortality, immunization rates), we do worse than most other developed countries. Furthermore, we are the only developed nation that does not provide comprehensive health care to all its citizens. Some 42 million Americans are uninsured (nearly 46 million today — updated figure) — disproportionately the sick, the poor, and minorities — and most of the rest of us are underinsured. In sum, our health care system is outrageously expensive, yet inadequate. Why? The only plausible explanation is that there’s something about our system — about the way we finance and deliver health care — that’s enormously inefficient. The failures of the system were partly masked during the economic boom of the 1990′s, but now they stand starkly exposed. There is no question that with the deepening recession and rising unemployment, in the words of John Breaux, ‘The system is collapsing around us.’

“The underlying problem is that we treat health care like a market commodity instead of a social service. Health care is targeted not to medical need, but to the ability to pay. Markets are good for many things, but they are not a good way to distribute health care. To understand what’s happening, let’s look at how the health care market works … ”

“Mainstream” writers like Ph. D. economist and columnist for the New York Times Paul Krugman now agree with those doctors and Dennis that “covering everyone under Medicare would actually be significantly cheaper than our current system.” They all recognize that we already spend enough to provide national health care to all but lack the political courage to make the tough decisions that doctors, nurses and medical professionals must run our health care system, – not “for profit” insurance companies who make money by denying health care.

It is time to recognize that all the civilized countries have a solution that we must adapt to this country. American businesses can no longer be competitive shouldering the entire cost of health care. Health care is a right that all Americans deserve.

With the rising unemployment, company cash flow problems, and the stock market sinking ever lower with each passing day, there has never been a better time for us to begin raising our voices to the incoming government about Single Payer Universal Health Care. Or as Mr Kucinich and Mr. Conyers, sponsors of HR-676 term it, National Health Care Program.

With the new government starting up in a few days, we have a prime opportunity of telling them what we the people want to see in our world. A great hue and cry should emanate from all the people to the halls of Congress and the rooms of the White House. We showed the politicians in November that we were tired of the same old stuff and that we wanted to see CHANGE. Well, the time has come, to put up what was stated all during the interminable campaign.

We have been seeing the effect of the for profit motives within the health care industry. Higher and higher rates for group coverage to our business entities, entire families being thrust into bankruptcy because of a lack of proper health insurance and medical bills that are astronomical and patients having to forego their critical medications because they cannot pay for them.

We, the people of the United States of America are the ones who are paying for the current broken health care system. Every day our money goes to cover health care, either directly thorugh cash payments to doctors, clinics, pharmacies, or through our co-pay amounts and our premiums for group health care insurance. Even the emergency care health access that the uninsured people of this country is actually paid by every single American citizen.

The idea that a Single Payer Universal Health Care program would be too expensive is simply a well worn mantra issued by the health care industry, and repeated by their shills until a portion of the American public actually believes that tripe. The fact is folks the United States health care costs from two to three times what BETTER health care costs in other countries. We pay out almost 7,000 dollars a year for every single person in this country. France on the other hand shells out less than 2200 dollars. Their people live longer, have healthier lives, their medical treatment outcomes are better and their infant mortality rates are far lower. What’s wrong with this picture?

Interest is Growing

Two years ago, when I first got involved in the idea of Single Payer Universal Health Care, it was difficult to find anyone who had even considered it, let alone would support the idea. Now, across the country, interest groups, professional organizations, union assocations, and senior citizens groups are beginning to advocate for a Single Payer Universal Health Care program across the USA. In fact, now, recent statistics show that over half the physicians and health care workers in the USA fully support the idea of this approach to health care access. OVER HALF of the medial professionals are in favor, and many others have simply not been appraised of the benefits to them and their practice.

How’s this for one benefit for doctors and other medical practitioners, a guarantee of claim payment within 30 days. My goodness, from the medical folks I have spoken to over the past 24+ months, if they got their reimbursement within 180 days it would be a miracle. Yet here is a program that guarantees reciept of payment wtihin 30 days. What’s not to like if you are a medical professional?

The Naysayers

There is of course a rather large group of naysayers regarding the idea of Single Payer Universal Health Care. Most of these folks simply repeat what they heard someone else say, the majority who have never performed any research on the subject matter at all. I also refer to these people as the “DENIERS” because they issue such marvelous claims that “you will never see government run health care in our nation”. But they forget that we already have that, with Medicare, Medicaid and the VA health care systems. All are run by the government and franklyl all are working considerably better than the “for profit” side of the equation.

Of course it is quite easy to be a Naysayer or Denier, simply take a stated position and deny it. Remember you really don’t need any facts, just a constant denial or naysaying attitude will suffice.

What these naysayers and deniers don’t think about is the over 42 MILLION Americans who are without access to health care. Within that group are more than 8.5 million Children!!! 8 out of 10 in that group are gainfully employed and go to work every day. But their health care consists of putting off a problem until it is critical and then using the hospital emergency room, because in most of these facilities they know that they will recieve treatment.

Entire families live on the brink of an abyss with regard to health care, millions of your neighbors are praying every day that they can stay well just one more day. Any illness or injury will bring them to financial crisis immediately because the have no recourse.

These are our fellow Americans folks and the current thrust is to implement MANDATORY insurance coverage. Yep, that will work, you bet, that’s the ticket… FOR THE INSURANCE COMPANIES. Not for the working poor citizens who make JUST enough to be excluded from any government supports under these plans.

But the insurance companies, the administrative HMOs well they are really for this approach, because by golly their risky participants will be paid for by the government and the last big risk will be removed from their bottom lines. But the Naysayers and the Deniers will accept this plan, because the GOVERNMENT is not running the program!!

Let our new President Know

Our incoming president, Barack Obama has created a web site that solicits your suggestions and comments. There is a lot of focus on health care issues with his administration and his transition team. The site is at a URL named Change.gov and there is a facility for you to submit your idea for the new administration and our incoming government. Go out to his web site and let him know how you feel about the issues that matter most to you. While you are there, please also give him your input on the health care crisis in our nation today. Also suggest that he might take a look at the HR-676 legislation while the government is still brand new and his party has a majority.

More Organizations are getting involved

As I peruse the various discussion forums, organization and association web sites, I find that more and more each day, interest in the idea of Single Payer Universal Health Care continues to grow. We see physicians groups, nursing and clinician associations, medical technicians union associations, senior citizens groups, and state governments are all starting to get behind this idea of a national health care program.

They are starting to discuss the possibility of moving toward this type of health care access program. Perhaps it is due to the excitement of the Obama Administration taking control in 2009, or perhaps it is just that so many people have realized that what we currently have is not working at all anymore. I don’t know what the impetus is behind this awakening, but I for one am darn glad.

Small business is starting to get involved, because they are impacted significantly by the rising cost of health insurance for group coverage. These small companies cannot keep pace when the coverage premiums increase by 20 to 40 percent each year. A severe drag on their bottom line and many of the small business organizations are begining to join in the cry for total reform of the health care delivery system.

An article in the New York Times a few days ago (December 23, 2008) described a “House Party” at the home of a Vienna, Virginia couple regarding health care. These small gatherings in homes are part of the Obama approach to getting people involved in the decisions of the country. It does appear that they are serious. The link to the NYT article is:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/23/health/23health.html?_r=2

Bear in mind this gathering did not discuss the aspect of Single Payer Universal Health Care, but there was some talk that would indicate a willingness by all gathered to consider positively such a program. There was discussion about the Obama proposal to create a “public health care program” that in essence would compete with the private sector insurace plans. While close, it is still not the cigar as yet.

Demonstrating our Commitment

I have, for the past several months, been engaged in attempting to get some organizations interested in a March on Washington For Health Care. For months on end, it seemed that no one was home to my repeated knocks (emails and postal letters). A good friend suggested that I not be disheartened, that most likely all the groups were more focused on the elections and just didn’t have the time to respond. So, based on that, the ELECTIONS ARE OVER and here comes the lettes and emails again folks.

Hope someone is at the office and has some time to read. The idea is to make our government representatives understand that we are not fooling around anymore. We want them to listen to the people who voted to put them in office, not the health care industry including insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies and the like. Oh I realize that for us to start down this road is like David challenging Goliat or the Marshall High School Football Team challenging the Super Bowl Champion NFL Team.

But hey folks, if we don’t try, what does that say about us?

So any of you who may read this blog entry, if you know of an organization that has any advocacy leanings, and you think that they might be interested in hearing about this idea of Marching on Washington, please let me know. I can be reached at executivedirector@seniorcitizensconsortium.org

And I will be very happy to send along any information they might wish about the plans. I am also willing, within reason, to make the journey to speak with them face to face. But remember, every nickle of that travel will come out of my pockets, we have no advocacy funds in the SCC. I don’t mind spending the money to visit, IF there is interest so let us know.

We are also trying to establish a group of interested folks who can help organize, communicate and assist with the planning for this demonstration of our desire for a national health care plan. If you have any interest at all, please feel free to contact me either at the email listed above, or on our member forum.

The Senior Citizens Consortium had adopted the Single Payer Universal Health Care program as one of our advocacy issues As an advocacy issue for our organization of caring seniors, we look forward to finally getting the United States of America on a reasonably even par with the rest of the world regarding access to health care. When we first began to explore the aspect of Single Payer Universal Health Care (SP-UHC) we found very little discussion of this subject in our nation.

However, over the past year or so, we have noticed that our voices are no longer simply a small cry in the wilderness. We see more and more evidence of the American People’s will issuing a demand for Single Payer Universal Health Care. From various state legislation to member directed organizations we hear more ane more people saying that they want to have a nation where EVERYONE is provided with access to health care.

However, there is a real danger that this growing momentum will be drowned out by the people and corporations who are vehemently opposed to any sort of SP-UHC in this country and they are well funded as usual. We must stay active and must let our voices be heard loudly and consistently that this country MUST implement a SP-UHC plan for all of our citizens.

We were sorely disappointed when the presidential candidates presented health care programs that did nothing to ensure access for all people to a health care system that took the insurance companies and hmo organizations out of the mix. None, save the Representative from Ohio, Mr. Dennis Kucinich offered up a plan that would put health care decisions back in the hands of the doctor patient relation and take it out of the hands of some administrative claims manager thousands of miles from the situation. The closest of the top three beauty pageant stars (Clinton, Obama, Edwards) to a similar plan is John Edwards and his plan is a long long way from a SP-UHC. Clinton, Obama and Edwards all three tout a universal health plan but their plans simply put more money into the coffers of the health care INDUSTRY, they do nothing to improve the access for citizens other than make participation mandatory.

Mr. Kucinich, along with Mr. Conyers co authored a bill known as HR 676 which essentially takes the program currently used by us seniors Medicare, and expands the services and extends it to cover ALL Americans. This program would be administered by the Department of Health and Human Services through the auspices of the CMS which currently administers the Medicare program. Under the HR676 or the National Health Care Plan would replace the existing programs for Medicare A, B, C and D along with the State operated Medicaid.

The top countries in the developed world for universal health care are France and Germany. But every single developed country in the entire world, EXCEPT the United States of American has a single payer universal health care plan in place and the medical outcome statistics PROVE that these plans provide citizens with a better, healthier, and longer life. We will have white papers and other fact pages available for review in subsequent postings, both here on the SCC web site and links to other web sites where data will be made available.

I will say a lot more about this program and the aspect of Universal Health Care under a single point of payment in another blog but this particular blog is focused on the aspect of bringing more attention to the idea of SP-UHC. In poitn fo fact, there are several blog entries earlier that address SP-UHC.

After a number of online discussions with various people, and following our question to the AARP about SP-UHC (they are against it), we all came to the conclusion that it was time for the Senior Citizens to once again let the powers that be in Washington know of our displeasure. As you will recall, several years ago, a group of seniors known at the Gray Panthers marched and frankly scared the hell out of the politicians.

Well we say it is time for the old gray hairs among us to get our sneakers laced up, our walking clothes on and once again tell the congress, the administration and these wannabe’s running for office that it is time to stop catering to the big money people and actually listen to the people who VOTE.

We are planning, over the next few months to contact senior organizations across the country to see if they would care to join in our March on Washington for Health Care. We will also reach out to the various organizations that have been active in promoting health care access changes, and the single payer aspects.

So we will be reaching out to solid senior issue organizations such as the Alliance of Retired Americans, to the Gray Panthers, and to other organizations. We would encourage the Divided We Fail and the AARP to join in this advocacy, but they have already made their position clear and have stated clearly that they do not support the idea. However, the Alliance of Retired Americans do support it.

We will also request that reasonable political personages participate, including Messrs Kucinich and Conyers. We will request that other notable persons join in this effort to bring the attention of the entire country and our politicians to this important subject.

More will be posted on this blog, and on the SCC web site. We may, if conditions warrent, put up a special web site for communications in the near future.

Care to join us? We will welcome all serious assistance. Simply contact us either through this facility or send and email to the SCC Executive Director at

executivedirector@maturecommunications.org
or
spuhc@seniorcitizensconsortium.org

and we will respond immediately to your serious inquiries.

Thank you for your consideration,
The March on Washington for Health Care Committee.

More states are coming around to the idea of a single payer health plan for all citizens.

http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessioncurrent/bills/HB1688_.htm

Now coupled with the activity in Colorado, California and other places around the country, we might actually see a Single Payer Universal Health Care program in our lifetime. Or maybe not.

Frankly, it depends on you, the public, you the American citizen, and you the American Voter to make this happen. Trust me, left to their own devices, our congress critters will NEVER move legislation for SP-UHC off the dime. They will gnash their teeth, beat their breasts and shout out how they want to do good things for their consitituents. Then they will take a few hundred thousand in “contributions” from the Health Care Industry and we will get the short end of the stick.

When the United States has the lowest ranking among the major industrialized nations in health care across the board, doesn’t that make you want to get angry? It certainly does me!!! We rank below every single nation in Europe, and a number of countries around the world. Why you are ranked 37 in the world for health care and you are supposed to be the richest, most powerful country, what does that say about our government, our elected officials and more importantly, about our people.

Tired of being subject to the profit hogs of the Insurance and Health Care Industries? Sick of being denied care prescribed by your physician because some jake legged clerk or accountant, several thousands of miles away, decides to delay or refuse simply to keep more profits coming into their organization? Makes this old man madder than a wet hen!!.

It is time for the American people to stand up, shout out loud and clear that we want, at minimum, action to pass HR676 and make it the law of the land NOW!. It is time for us to take responsibility for our country’s dire position regarding health care access. I frankly am sick and tired of hearing the right wing armchair slugs deriding the provision of Single Payer Universal Health Care as SOCIALISM. It is NOT!

And anyone who continues to make such a statement is a bald faced liar!

Worse, they are criminally negligent every time a child dies in this country because of a lack of access to health care.

Don’t like statements like that? Then get up off your ass and do something about it!

Yesterday in a meeting I heard the CEO of a small business (over 500 employees) saying that it looked like next year 2008, that his company may have to investigate dropping their health care plan due to continuing increases in premiums from the insurance company that provides coverage for his employees. He indicated that his premiums increased over 35 percent for the 2007 year and all indicators were that even higher increases would be expected for 2008 and beyond. This is a CEO who just a few months ago was adamantly opposed to Single Payer Universal Health Care coverage. Now? starting to think it is not such a bad idea to get rid of the ever increasing insurance costs and go to a different larger pool of risk. Such would be the SP-UHC program.

Frankly, folks, you can expect more and more of this to come about in the very near future. Health care costs are going through the roof and small businesses are being strapped for money to continue providing health care access programs for their employees. Each year, more companies drop coverage and their employees are left swinging slowly in the breeze. But you can’t lay the blame at the feet of these companies, they are caught between the needs of their employees and the callous disregard by the insurance programs. This includes the non-profit companies folks, the Blues get not pass on this problem, they are just as guilty as the for profit greed hogs for the sharp increases over the past few years. Look for more and more small businessses to become strapped and then to reluctantly drop coverage for their employees. Many will shift more of the premium payment to their employees where possible, but most will not be able to do so and simply have to stop it altogether.

This is not a scare tactic people, it is the stark truth, understand it and either live with it or get mad and start doing something about it!

Now as we move into the late summer and early fall, our presidential campaign is gaining more and more interest by the mainstream media. Daily there are articles on the candidates, what they said, what was said about them. Interesting isn’t it that only the very top tier candidates are getting the press and notice by the public?

Most of these candidates (from the Democratic Side) have issued some semblance of broad brush statements about their version of a health care plan for Americans. But none have made this a talking point for the media. Even though their plans are simply a whitewash and a sop to the health care industry companies, there is precious little about them in the mainstream media.

Naturally the Republicans have said nothing of value regarding health care reform. To them, the current system is fine for the common folk and let the insurance companies have their way. They are also vehemently opposed to implementing a “socialistic” health care program. I find that terribly sad and funny all at the same time. Sad that such supposedly intelligent people are too dumb to recognize that SP-UHC is NOT socialistic or socialized medicine, and funny that they are so stupid as to believe and parrot the political propaganda put out by the water carriers of the health care industry. I may be a tiny bit harsh here, but not really. Most people have discovered that the majority of Republican Conservatives do not believe in universal health care unless it continues to fatten the pockets of the greed hogs in the health care industry, including medical insurance companies, HMO’s and phamaceutical companies. Hmm, perhaps I was not being harsh at all, simply stating the truth.

So far, our illustrious Democratic candidates have shown very little of the concern formerly exhibited by the Democratic Party for helping all Americans, not just a small rich cadre. I refer to their sad lack of a reasonable health care plan that the majority of Americans have stated is HIGH on their list of concerns and interests. What is it with the Clinton, Obama, Edwards, Biden, Richardson, etc. camps? Have they totally lost interest in listening to what their constituents, the AMERICAN PEOPLE want and need? Sure looks like it to this old man. It is really irritating that we, the average Joe American are the ones who put these damn people into office, it would be really nice, if for one moment, they started to listen to what WE say instead of the corporate interests and lobby slimeballs have to say.

Now it is not like we are not awash in potential solutions to the health care crisis in this country. Hell, they could swing their arms and hit several plans across the country. There is a bill in Congress (HR-676) to address reform of health care and provid access to all legal residents of this country. There are legislative programs in California, Colorado and other states that are attempting to address the solution to the crisis with a single payer universal health care program. The California legislation has already passed the State Senate with a large majority and is currently working through the House of Representatives.

So what is it with the talking heads on the campaign trail that they cannot spend a couple of buck of the millions upon millions they are collecting and actually ask the American people what kind of health care access programs THEY want? Do they not understand that our country, the richest, most powerful in the world is 37th on the list of developed countries with regard to health care outcomes? We are almost dead last in that race folks. The other countries have citizens living longer, healthier lives, fewer infant mortalities, fewer children dying young from disease. Why is our country so far behind? Simply because the politicians will not listen to people, only to their big money slimeballs.

Dennis Kucinich, is the ONLY presidential candidate who has stepped up to the plate with a program that has been identified as THE Single Payer Universal Health Care reform that will work on a national level. The only candidate in the eight who are running and are gathering up your dollars folks. It is your hard earned cash and these slugs don’t give a damn about your potential losses from a health care emergency or your possible loss of health care coverage because the rates are getting far and away more than your company can afford.

None of them, from Clinton to Richardson have given any indicatation that they give a Rat’s Ass about providing the United States with the type of health care access that the rest of the developed world has for its citizens.

Dennis Kucinich is the ONLY one of the eight who has a plan, (and a real one at that, with a bill in Congress entitled as HR-676, waiting for action) that addresses the concerns of the citizens of this country and this guy has a snow ball’s chance in hell of getting elected president. He has not the money, the presence or the organization to beat back the big STARS of the election. But he has the right plan, at the right time and somebody needs to get behind this guy and help him move on up.

So once again, we are faced with the prospect of going to the polls on election day 2008, holding our noses over the stench of the candidates and pressing a vote for one of the money people. Not a valid candidate, who gives a crap about this country or it’s people, not a candidate that will actually consider what is best for the health and well being of the American people, but one who had the organization to pull millions of dollars in from the lobbyist slimeballs, from big corporations and health care industry greedy slime. They won’t give a damn about your continuing loss of health care access, they will simply MANDATE that all people are covered one way or another and put billions more into the pockets of their big contributors.

Take a look at the other web sites regarding health care initiatives, in California, Colorado and other states. Look at the HR-676 bill put forth by Conyers and Kucinich in the House of Representatives. Educate yourself on this situation and then yell loudly to your political prostitute that “You Are Mad As Hell And Are Not Going To Take It Anymore”.

You can also let us know by sending an email to SPUHC@seniorcitizensconsortium.org and we will get information to you regarding the program and what you can do to help.

Or we can sit back and watch more of our people lose health care access and the 18,000 who die each year because of no health care access to increase diametrically.

It’s our choice.

This blog entry will replace a more verbose entry that I felt was simply too much for most blog readers to focus on and provide feedback. So that blog entry has become a white paper and will be retrievable from this blog entry, if you so desire. Check at the end of this blog for the link.

Again we turn to the primary issue from our perspective at the Senior Citizens Consortium, that of Single Payer Universal Health Care. Consider that the health care system in the US, based on a private sector commercial approach to medical care results in the highest cost per capita in the developed countries. Most of the European countries, all democracies, have a health care cost of less than 50% of ours and they consistently produce far better medical outcomes for their citizens. Consider also, the United States, the richest, most powerful country in the world, is ranked 38 on the list of developed countries with regard to health care for its citizens!

With our seemingly perpetual election cycles considering that this Presidential election started almost immediately after the 2006 mid term elections, we now have a plethora of candidates all angling to be nominated as their party’s candidate for the elections in NOVEMBER of 2008!!! However, these people are basically talkng a lot, yet saying nothing, which is pretty typical for politicans in a campaign. They are full of platitudes, obfuscation of issues, and in far too many cases, outright lies, to convince the public that they are the most deserving to be our government’s chief executive. Frankly, none of them are listening to the people, they are hearing what they want to hear.

With this attitude on the part of the candidates, it seems more and more important that we, the American People, need to get out of our comfortable homes and hit the streets, figuratively speaking. Now I know that the call for street demonstrations at the places where the candidates meet will be met with a huge ho hum. With the exception of a few people against the War In Iraq, we don’t seem to have the stomach for letting our politicans know what we, as taxpaying citizens want to see in the way of legislation. We need to get out there and tell them in no uncertain terms that if they want our votes, they must listen to us, not the fat cat health care industry! Do we need to march in the streets in reality? Probably not, even though that would make a huge difference. What we do need to do, folks is let these people know, in no uncertain terms, that we are truly an angry citizenry and they had better start listening to us.

Now, really, I don’t expect much from the Republican candidates on the aspect of Single Payer Universal Health Care, but I would have thought that the Democrats would have had better ideas for their consituents! Not so. Clinton, Edwards, Obama, Richardson, the entire slate of wannabe presidnts, are basically espousing a plan that requires ALL citizens to have MEDICAL INSURANCE, but does nothing to slow or halt the alarming increase in the cost of medical care and pharmaceuticals. Their “plan” is essentally based on the plan put in place in Massachusetts, where people were required to have health insurance and the state would “assist” them where necessary with the cost of premiums. They are basically tinkering with the health care system instead of trying to fix it.

The only candidate who is in support of the idea of Single Payer Universal Health Care is Dennis Kucinich! He is supporting Congressman Conyers’ National Heath Insurance bill HR676 currently in the congress but languishing as it has done for several years. The HR-676 bill is available for reading or downloading either from Congressman Conyers web site of at the link below.

HR676 National Health Care

The bill is only 27 pages long folks and it is well worth a few minutes of your time to read it. Congressman Conyers and his staff have put together a very good start for universal health care. It it not the optimal solution, but it will provide an excellent baseline.

Further, we need to establish an American Health Care Bill of Rights. The following is a starting list of these bill of rights. We would encourage any of you reading this, to submit your idea for further enhancements to this preliminary list.

I was truly disappointed when the Democratic candidates all started spouting the Health Care Industry line of expanding the care through expanding the insurance and HMO theft. Clinton, Obama, Edwards, Biden, Richardson, well you get the picture! ALL of these so called Democrats have totally bought into or have been bought by, the insurance and health care industry. While that stuff is expected from the Republican candidates, it was and is truly disappointing that the Democrats are not stepping up to the plate for all Americans in providing health care as a right for all citizens.

I will tell you all that the Senior Citizens Consortium is going to be more and more active in this advocacy for Single Payer Universal Health Care and we will be contacting our elected representatives and those candidates who are sniffing around for our votes. We will, even if the AARP will not, take the side of senior citizens, along with all other citizens and legal residents in this fight for a recognized RIGHT to health care.

We, at the SCC will work diligently to let all politicians know that the people of the United States believe that health care is NOT a consumer product as our so called president keeps trying to sell us on. Health care decisions are not and they should never be, subject to a consumer product decision. The very idea of health care as a consumer product shows that our adminitration has no clue and frankly does not care a whit about the regular American Citizen.

Our SCC membership is encouraged to take an active role in pushing their political representatives to recognize the NEED for single payer universal health care. If they can’t recognize that need, and our demands for this RIGHT, we need to replace them with politicians who will!

Now, for those of you who want to read the original blog posting that this entry has replaced, click on the link below:

Universal Health Care-Redux

I do get a bit verbose, but this subject is, or should be, among the most important subjects for this country.

The Republicans are now totally owned and operated by the far right conservative leg of the party and these people are all water carriers for the insurance, medical, and pharmaceutical lobbies in the health care program area. Republicans have not cared a whit for the average American for so long that no one can even remember when that might have been the case. So don’t look to the Republicans to help in this area, they are going to fight it tooth and nail and will bring in their pals in the industry with the deep pockets to present lies and half truths to once again defeat a chance at a reasonable health care access program. Remember the Harry and Louise lying ads on TV and Radio? Who do you think put up the millions of dollars for those lies?

So, keep the candidates, both presidential and congressional on their toes. Write them, call them and send them emails. Let them know that we want a total restructuring of the health care access sytem in this country. Let them know that at the very least, they must support Congressman Conyers’ HR676 bill.

Step up to the plate folks, you are the owners of this country, not the politicans and their cronies in the industry. Let them know how you really feel. Comments on this blog can be forwarded to our candidates if you wish. Just let us know.