More about why we desperately need health care for all:
This past weekend, I visited a festival at a church in a
working class area of my district. These events are
opportunities for people from the community to gather, to
eat ethnic foods, listen to music and enjoy each other's
company; before the brisk, brooding Cleveland winter begins
to set in. When I walked through the doors, I felt as though
I had stepped back in time, to when I was a child growing up
in the inner city of Cleveland where I witnessed people
struggling every day to make ends meet. From this early
experience I have learned to recognize poverty, the clothes
it wears and the physical appearance it presents.
What I saw in the church were humble people whose shoes were
well worn and whose clothes were in need of repair. I also
saw people struggling with various stages of ill health,
with obvious physical difficulties. I know what poverty
feels like and I felt it here and I was surprised. What made
this visit memorable was that it occurred in a suburban
community which had formerly been known for its solid middle
class housing.
Meanwhile about 400 miles away, in Washington, DC, the
insurance companies have wielded enormous influence to knock
a public option out of the Senate Finance Committee health
care bill and we still struggle to keep the public option
alive in the House. A decision is due soon from the full
Senate. Will they actually pass a bill which requires that
Americans buy private insurance? The House continues to try
to determine the shape and content of our legislation.
The political system is failing the American people. Money
for Wall Street, not for Main Street. Money for War, not for
Peace. Money to move jobs out of America, not to create new
jobs here. Money for insurance companies, but what about the
people?
While 47 million uninsured wait for an answer, and another
50 million underinsured stand by, Americans are losing their
jobs, their homes, their health care and their retirement
security. How long can people wait for help?
I am asking you to continue to join me in the push to have a
state single payer amendment in the health care bill.
Whatever passes the Congress will be insufficient to meet
the broad based health care needs of the American people,
which is why it is important to give the states the option
to move toward single payer. Call your representative now
and demand that the Kucinich state single payer amendment
remain in the bill.
In my community, and many others across our nation, the
level of human suffering from an economy "gone bad" is
rising to shocking levels. A recent US Census report states
that in this decade the number of northeastern Ohioans who
live fractionally above the poverty line has risen 10% - to
a quarter of a million people.
But I do not see cold statistics. I see real people. I see
the poverty lining their faces. I see their eyes asking:
Why?
Sincerely,
Dennis
Healthcare: Change the Debate
Support a Real Public Option
Dear Friends,
In mid-May, in an effort to reach consensus, President
Obama secured a deal with the health insurance companies
to trim 1.5% of their costs each year for ten years saving
a total of $2 trillion dollars, which would be
reprogrammed into healthcare. Just two days after the
announcement at the White House the insurance companies
reneged on the deal which was designed to protect and
increase their revenue at least 35%
The insurance companies reneged on the deal because they
refuse any restraint on increasing premiums, co-pays and
deductibles - core to their profits. No wonder a recent
USA Today poll found that only four percent of Americans
trust insurance companies. This is within the margin of
error, which means it is possible that NO ONE TRUSTS
insurance companies.
Then why does Congress trust the insurance companies?
Yesterday HR 3200 "America's Affordable Health Choices
Act," a 1000 page bill was delivered to members. The title
of the bill raises a question: "Affordable" for whom?.
Of $2.4 trillion spent annually for health care in
America, fully $800 billion goes for the activities of the
for-profit insurer-based system. This means one of every
three health care dollars is siphoned off for corporate
profits, stock options, executive salaries, advertising,
marketing and the cost of paper work, (which can be
anywhere between 15 - 35% in the private sector as
compared to Medicare, the single payer plan which has only
3% administrative costs).
50 million Americans are uninsured and another 50 million
are under insured while for-profit insurance companies
divert precious health care dollars to non-health care
purposes. Eliminate the for-profit health care system and
its extraordinary overhead, put the money into healthcare
and everyone will be covered, everyone will be able to
afford health care.
Today three committees will begin marking up and amending
HR3200. In this, one of the most momentous public policy
debates in the past 70 years, single payer, the only
viable "public option," the one that makes sound business
sense, controls costs and covers everyone was taken off
the table.
In contrast to HR3200 ... HR676 calls for a universal
single-payer health care system in the United States,
Medicare for All. It has over 85 co-sponsors in Congress
with the support of millions of Americans and countless
physicians and nurses. How does HR-676 control costs and
cover everyone? It cuts out the for-profit middle men and
delivers care directly to consumers and Medicare acts as
the single payer of bills. It also recognizes that under
the current system for-profit insurance companies make
money NOT providing health care.
This week is the time to break the hold which the
insurance companies have on our political process. Tell
Congress to stand up to the insurance companies. Ask
members to sign on to the only real public option, HR 676,
a single-payer healthcare system.
Hundreds of local labor unions, thousands of physicians
and millions of Americans are standing behind us. With a
draft of HR3200 now circulating, It is up to each and
every one of us to organize and rally for the cause of
single-payer healthcare. Change the debate. Now is the
time.
The time to act is now!
Sincerely Yours,
Dennis
PS - Over the next several months, I will be engaging all
of you with frequent updates and will ask you to continue
a movement to fight for what needs to be done now; ending
this war in Iraq and stopping the escalation in
Afghanistan, attaining true single-payer healthcare for
all Americans, standing up for my brothers and sisters of
organized labor.
After you have contacted your member of Congress, please
tell us your thoughts and ideas on how you are organizing
your friends and neighbors towards a single-payer movement
and all of the other issues that are important to us.
Single-Payer Universal Healthcare Is Hands Down The
Best Health Care Plan
Healthcare for All
Over 46 million Americans do not
have any health insurance. Tens of millions more have inadequate
or incomplete coverage. As the richest country in the world,
Congressman Kucinich believes this is simply unacceptable.
Four out of five of the uninsured are in working families.
Forty-six percent of all bankruptcies are tied to medical bills
piling up due to an illness in the family. Three-quarters of
those bankrupted by illness were insured when they first got
sick.
Now, more than ever, it is clear that our current health care
system does not work.
It is not because we do not pay enough. Rather, we’re not
getting what we’re paying for. American taxpayers alone pay
almost twice as much per capita in health care costs as
taxpayers in countries that provide universal health care. In
short, we are already paying for a universal standard of care,
we are just not getting it.
That is why Congressman Kucinich has co-authored legislation,
with Congressman John Conyers, HR 676, Medicare for All, to
provide full health care coverage for every American. It would
expand Medicare’s benefits and grant Medicare’s coverage to
everyone in our country. This legislation would cover all
medically necessary procedures, with no premiums, no co-payments
and no deductibles.
Economists have estimated that a Medicare for All system could
be paid for simply by reallocating money that is currently in
the system. It would eliminate waste and capture dollars from
current inefficiencies. In short, patients would get better care
and pay less for it.
Congressman Kucinich believes health care should be about
patients not profits.
Congressman Kucinich will continue to work on this legislation
to ensure everyone can access health coverage, that medical care
is of a universally high quality, and patients no longer face
financial barriers to getting the care they need.
