Single Payer Health Insurance in Trouble
June 24, 2009 · Print This Article
Single payer health insurance is in trouble in Congress. It becomes more and more evident everyday that many Senators and Representatives have sold themselves to the health insurance industry and that meaningful health insurance reform may be a fleeting dream.
It’s like the American people are driving a convertible behind a truck driven by Congress that is carrying a load of &*@$ – under an overpass – and the truck is not going to make it. The people are oblivious to what is about to happen, and they will soon find the load dumped right on them…and wonder what happened.
A Gallup Poll conducted September 24 – 27, 2007 showed "Establishing a national healthcare system funded by the government, similar to the ones in Canada and Europe (54% in favor)." On March 5, 2009, CNN reported, "Seventy-two percent of those questioned in recent CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey say they favor increasing the federal government’s influence over the country’s health care system in an attempt to lower costs and provide health care coverage to more Americans, with 27 percent opposing such a move. Other recent polls show six in 10 think the government should provide health insurance or take responsibility for providing health care to all Americans."
whorunsGov reported, "A new poll by a nonpartisan, D.C.-based research group finds truly overwhelming support for the public option. The kicker: The poll was bankrolled partly by previous opponents of health care reform, including one of the nation’s best-known insurance companies. The poll — which was just released by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, a D.C. policy think tank — finds that a majority (53%) strongly back the availability of a public plan, while another 30% “somewhat” support it. That’s a total of 83% in favor of a public plan — a staggeringly large majority."
Then there’s the Washington Post/ABC News Poll taken June 18 – 21, 2009. Question 21 was this: "Would you support or oppose having the government create a new health insurance plan to compete with private health insurance plans?" 62% said yes. (continued below)
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So What’s the Problem?
The folks in Washington have not provided details for the American public to consider. Americans overwhelmingly favor a single payer health insurance program similar to Medicare (how about expanding Medicare?) but the anything-but-statesmen working in the Beltway are pretty much refusing to consider it.
On May 21, 2009, "Twenty-eight U.S. Senators today introduced a resolution calling for the inclusion of federally-backed health insurance option in health care reform. The Senators resolution says that any reform of our nation’s health care system should give consumers a choice of an affordable, federally-backed option to introduce competition in the health insurance market and contain health care costs." Folks, twenty-eight ain’t enough.
Those twenty-eight are Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), Chris Dodd (D-CT), Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Barbara A. Mikulski (D-MD), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Carl Levin (D-MI), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Bob Casey (D-PA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Tom Udall (D-NM), Daniel K. Inouye (D-HI), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Ted Kaufman (D-DE), Roland W. Burris (D-IL), Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), and Benjamin Cardin (D-MD).
When America has needed a major change, people across America have stood up. Think of the suffrage movement of the early 20th Century that got women the right to vote. Think of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s that moved America forward to a degree. Think back to 1776 and the people’s wish to change government entirely.
We haven’t yet stood up…but we need to.
More About Health Insurance Reform
Sen. Blanche Lincoln Co-sponsors SHOP
Single Payer Health Insurance for America
Public Insurance Option is Not Optional
Medical Bankruptcy Shows Broken Health Care
What others are saying about Single Payer Health Insurance
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When is the Congressional Budget Office going to come out with a cost evaluation of H.R. 676 ? How can we continue to let the Senators and others fret about how they are going to raise lots of new money for their plan when we know we have a Single-payer plan ready that will save us up to 350 billion each year once it is established? If we can get the facts out, single-payer wins.