Why Universal Health Care Would Work in America

[irishbobcat]

Why Universal Health Care Would Work in America

November 19, 2008

Right here in the U.S., Medicare demonstrates that we can eliminate
some 17 percent in administrative expenses alone through a publicly
administered system. Medicare also shows the power of large group
purchasing to achieve substantially lower health care prices; Medicare
pays about 15 percent less than private insurers for the same
services.


Unlike private insurance, Medicare works for older and disabled
Americans because it pools risk and does not punish people financially
because they need costly health care services. It works because it has
predictable benefits and offers reliable coverage. And it works
because coverage is automatic, unlike Medicaid and SCHIP, ensuring all
eligible persons coverage and protecting them against the risk of
losing coverage for failing to sign up or recertify.


Of course, every health policy expert out there knows that a publicly
administered system would guarantee all Americans good, affordable
health care at far less cost than we can ever achieve through private
insurers, and they'll say so at the dinner table. It's time they went
public.


The truth about the health insurance industry should be at the heart
of the public debate, not the short-sighted and misguided calculus of
what people think is feasible. While they keep silent, an ever-growing
number of Americans are pushed into bankruptcy because of a medical
need or, worse still, forced to forego necessary care. And employers
who offer good coverage to their workforce see their ability to
compete in the global marketplace, and their profits, eroding.


It would be un-American to force Americans to give up their private
insurance coverage if they like it or to undo a multi-trillion dollar
insurance industry in one fell swoop. But, it is inhumane and
unconscionable to offer solutions that we know will not work and wish
this health care crisis away, while tens of millions of Americans
suffer. That's why recent polls show that an overwhelming majority of
Americans—including white, middle-class Republican men—favor health
care reform that gives them the option of a publicly administered
health plan as an alternative to private insurance.


Thinking Green,

Dennis Spisak
Mahoning Valley Green Party
Green Party of Ohio

Http://votespisak.org/thinkgreen/

Http://ohiogreens.org