10 Reasons to Support Universal Health Care

[irishbobcat]

10 Reasons to Support Universal Health Care

December 16, 2008

TOP 10 REASONS TO SUPPORT H.R. 676,
THE U.S. NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE ACT

From a PDA E-mail....

1. Everybody In, Nobody Out. Universal means access to health care for everyone, period.
2. Portability. If you are unemployed, or lose or change jobs, your health coverage stays with you.
3. Uniform Benefits. No Cadillac plans for the wealthy and Pinto plans for everyone else, with high
deductibles, limited services, caps on payments for care, and no protection in the event of a
catastrophe. One level of comprehensive care for everyone, regardless of the size of your wallet.
4. Prevention. By removing financial roadblocks, a universal health system encourages preventive
care that lowers an individual's ultimate cost and pain and suffering when problems are neglected and
societal cost in the over-utilization of emergency rooms or the spread of communicable diseases.
5. Choice. Most private insurance restricts your choice of providers and hospitals. Under the U.S.
National Health Insurance Act, patients have a choice, and the provider is assured a fair payment.
6. No Interference with Care. Caregivers and patients regain their autonomy to decide what's best
for a patient's health, not what's dictated by the billing department. No denial of coverage for preexisting
conditions or cancellation of policies for "unreported" minor health problems.
7. Reducing Waste. One third of every private health insurance dollar goes for paperwork and profits,
compared to about 3% under Medicare, the federal government's universal system for senior citizen
healthcare.
8. Cost Savings. A guaranteed health care system can produce the cost savings needed to cover
everyone, largely by using existing resources without the waste. Taiwan, shifting from a U.S. private
health care model, adopted a similar system in 1995, boosting health coverage from 57% to 97% with
little increase in overall health care spending.
9. Common Sense Budgeting. The public system sets fair reimbursements applied equally to all
providers, private and public, while assuring that appropriate health care is delivered, and uses its
clout to negotiate volume discounts for prescription drugs and medical equipment.
10. Public Oversight. The public sets the policies and administers the system, not high priced CEOs
meeting in private and making decisions based on their company's stock performance needs.


Universal Health Care should be a right for all Americans in these hard economic times.

Dennis Spisak

Mahoning Valley Green Party
Ohio Green Party

www.ohiogreens.org

www.votespisak.org/thinkgreen/