Jul 27 2009

Is U.S. Health Care Reform Dead Or Alive?

( – promoted by buhdydharma )

The Real News Network talks to Executive Editor Glen Ford of the Black Agenda Report.

Ford has a little different take on the situation and analyzing the current political dynamics surrounding the issue says that by excluding a single payer plan, Barack Obama allowed the right to dominate the reform debate, and concludes that the longer the Democrats wait to reform the health care system, the more likely it is that the public is going to turn against the so-called reforms.

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    • Edger on July 27, 2009 at 19:51
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    more than two aspirin before it’s over…

  2. There may be some face saving ‘reform’ like mandating that poor people buy insurance, but that’s it.

  3. I’ve thought for several months now that the Health Care bill would eventually turn out to be as useless and downright harmful as GWB’s Medicare – D.  The Medical – Insurance – Congressional Complex will once again find a way to stick it to the little guy!

  4. Health care ‘reform’ will be mandated private health insurance – guaranteeing profits for the for-profit health care mafia. Obama and his fellow Democrats will declare it a great victory. In reality, it’ll be a catastrophe and make it worse.

    The analogy I make is FDR gets Congress to pass Social Security, but instead of a public plan, he requires all workers to buy private ‘job security’ insurance. Despite the negatives to Social Security, that sort of plan would have killed it, which, of course, is why the Republicans and corporate Democrats what still to privatize Social Security.

  5. I think that Glen Ford nails it pretty damned aptly!

    Everything and anything that is attempted legislatively these days seems to be for appearances only, because, in reality, underlying whatever it is, it is quite something else.  Now, it’s reform, not a healthcare plan?  Exactly what are we reforming?  A different way of paying for health insurance?  Through our own auspices?  That of our employment?  What?  

    Americans are good at two things, the “privilege” of continuing to pay taxes and getting f..ked . . . . over and over and over again!

    There still seems to be a tendency to “appease” both the Republicans and the mega-healthcare industry (understatement!) — out of fear, what?  

    What have Americans derived from this government in over eight plus years now?  What has been attended to that would benefit all Americans?  Jobs created?  Infrastructure repaired?  Efforts to avert foreclosures?  Efforts to preserve Americans’ 401-k’s?  

    We’ve gotten everything WE DID NOT WANT and we continue to get everything we do not want.  The government controls the Americans, not the Americans controlling it.  Voting the creeps out — yep, good idea.  Just get another set of creeps.

    Our system of government sucks — there is no democracy.  Democracy is for the people, by the people, of the people!  Americans, in general, are headed for “serf” status!

    For those who may not have seen it, here’s a video with the Young Turks:  Single-payer is the WAY . . . .

    • Edger on July 28, 2009 at 02:34
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    Nine More Go to Jail for Single-Payer Healthcare

    by David Swanson, July 27, 2009

    Following a pattern of civil resistance in Washington D.C. and around the country, citizens in Des Moines Iowa on Monday risked arrest to press for the creation of single-payer healthcare, the establishment of healthcare as a human right, and an end to the deadly practices of Iowa’s largest health insurance company, Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield.

    Dr. Margaret Flowers, who has herself gone to jail for single-payer in our nation’s capital, was on hand to speak in Des Moines. She called me with this report. Nearly a month earlier, on June 19, 2009, Des Moines Catholic Workers had delivered a letter (PDF) to Wellmark addressed to its CEO John Forsyth requesting disclosure of Wellmark’s profits, salaries, benefits, denials and restrictions on care. The letter had not been acknowledged by Monday, and the Catholic Workers and their allies decided to take action again.

    [snip]

    The nine latest supporters of single-payer to go to jail for justice are:

    Mona Shaw, Renee Espeland, Frankie Hughes (age 11), and Frank Cordaro, all from Des Moines Catholic Workers; Leonard Simmons from Massachusetts; Robert Cook; Eddie Blomer from Des Moines; Kirk Brown from Des Moines; and Chris Gaunt from Grinnell, Iowa.

    More…

  7. The folks in power cannot be trusted to do anything — anything at all.  $12.8 trillion in promises to the banks, and Dianne Feinstein is telling me that she does not want health care reform to “increase the deficit.”

    • Edger on July 28, 2009 at 03:27
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    Six bipartisan members of the Senate Finance Committee have reached an agreement on healthcare reforms that eschews the president’s insistence on a low-cost, public option, a published report said Monday evening. The plan also drops the requirement for employers to provide their workers’ insurance.

    Though significantly stripped down from prior versions, the group’s compromise would prevent any insurance company from denying coverage and would block higher premiums for patients with pre-existing conditions, the Associated Press reported.

    —RawStory

    The senators’ effort was cheered by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and drug company lobbying group PhRMA, the report noted.

  9. I pay my taxes, a high level as it a sole proprietor business, and I am not going to comply. I will not purchase forced insuance that I don’t want. Screw them.  

  10. Dear Friend,

    If you’re like most Americans, there’s nothing more important to you about health care than peace of mind.

    Given the status quo, that’s understandable. The current system often denies insurance due to pre-existing conditions, charges steep out-of-pocket fees – and sometimes isn’t there at all if you become seriously ill.

    It’s time to fix our unsustainable insurance system and create a new foundation for health care security. That means guaranteeing your health care security and stability with eight basic consumer protections:

    –No discrimination for pre-existing conditions

    –No exorbitant out-of-pocket expenses, deductibles or co-pays

    –No cost-sharing for preventive care

    –No dropping of coverage if you become seriously ill

    –No gender discrimination

    –No annual or lifetime caps on coverage

    –Extended coverage for young adults

    –Guaranteed insurance renewal so long as premiums are paid

    Learn more about these consumer protections at Whitehouse.gov.

    Over the next month there is going to be an avalanche of misinformation and scare tactics from those seeking to perpetuate the status quo. But we know the cost of doing nothing is too high. Health care costs will double over the next decade, millions more will become uninsured, and state and local governments will go bankrupt.

    It’s time to act and reform health insurance, drive down costs and guarantee the health care security and stability of every American family. You can help by putting these core principles of reform in the hands of your friends, your family, and the rest of your social network.

    Thank you,

    Barack Obama

    O.K., so you see it’s just great — all you have to do is make sure your payments are on time for renewal, etc.  Geez, what if you just lost your job?  What if you simply can’t pay?  You’re screwed, that’s what?  (And just think, any employer would be off the hook for providing any kind of group coverage, to boot!)  So, this is just great, so long as nothing happens to prevent you from paying for your insurance!!!!!!  Ah, American ingenuity!!!!  

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