Washblog

Health care "reform"? Up to you.

Don't let Congress force everyone to buy the same old lousy health insurance policies from useless
for-profit middlemen!

Health care "reform" can mean anything.  What we get depends on what YOU ask for from Congress and the president.

Toll free number (ask for Cantwell, Murray or your congressional representative) 1-866-220-0044

White House Hotline 1-202-456-1414

Plan A--demand single payer universal health care (HR 676/1200, S 703)
Plan B--demand a public option like single payer that anyone can choose

Single payer legislation (HR 676, HR 1200, S 703) meets the following conditions.  Any public option must do so as well,
or nothing will have changed at all.

  • Guaranteed acceptance--coverage cannot be denied to anyone for health status, pre-existing conditions, or for any other reason.

  • Automatic enrollment and immediate coverage which starts at the point of first medical contact for those without any other coverage. No waiting period, even if previously uninsured.

  • Available to everyone, including employers, employee groups, and any individual. Coverage will follow the individual, regardless of employment.

  • Freedom to choose health care providers, including hospitals, clinics and services.

  • Comprehensive benefit package--one set of benefits for everyone regardless of age, employment status, enrollment group, geography, health status, or any other factor.

  • Appropriate cost-sharing by employers, individuals, and public sources/programs. Health care must be affordable with no financial barriers to access and use.

  • Sustainability--health care must have a dedicated funding source immune from fluctuating economic conditions or from political lobbying.

  • Health care providers should be paid directly. A single, efficient public "payer" (similar to how Medicare operates) should directly pay for services delivered by private health care providers and facilities chosen by the patient.

  • Fair and prompt reimbursement to health care providers for their services.

  • Cost-effectiveness--the plan should be efficient, with low administrative costs, and should include evidence-based practices and preventive care.

We need to push for single payer because even the best public option would result in many fewer dollars saved.  Even if half of all privately insured Americans switched to a public plan with overhead at Medicare's level, the administrative savings would amount to only 9% of the savings under single payer.

If we have to have private plans in addition to a public option, we must demand that private insurers be better regulated than they are now so that the public option does not become a financially crippled dumping ground for unprofitable patients.

Minimum regulations for private plans must include requirements

  • To accept must accept all applicants regardless of age, employment status, or "pre-existing conditions"
  • To use community rating for setting premiums, rather than charging different premiums for each slice of a segmented risk pool.

References:  Ways to Reduce the Cost of Health Insurance
Congressional Testimony of April 2009 by Dr. David Himmelstein
http://edlabor.house.gov/documents/111/pdf/testimony/20090423DavidHimmelsteinTestimony.pdf

http://www.healthcareforallwa.org/
http://www.pnhpwesternwashington.org/
http://www.1payer.net/
http://guaranteedhealthcare4all.org/
http://www.healthcare-now.org/
http://www.johnconyers.com/healthcare
http://singlepayeraction.org/

< Washington Newspapers: Domestic Partnerships Good, Ref 71 Bad | On Being American, Or, "A Hybrid? Not Unless It Has Tail Fins" >
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Almost any nations worldwide have been affected by the financial crisis. Really, corporations came into existence by state legislatures approving charters granted for a limited period of time and for limited purposes and perspectives as well.
Perspective is perhaps the most important thing in life, as it forms more of our reality than most other things, and it helps to improve thinking if things seem unclear. An effort to improve thinking is like a cash advance to your own mind, indeed, your reality. Your cognitive abilities are what make you human, and they are the only thing you are armed with in this world - casting them aside is not successful behavior. Denying value in networking and recruiting others to assist you is also not the best idea, as you will not make it far without other's help at one point or another. A move to improve thinking is like an online cash advance for your mind. To read more, please click the link that follows: http://personalmoneystore.com/moneyblog/2009/05/25/online-cash-advance-tips-change-thinking-success/

by SimonQ on Fri May 29, 2009 at 03:40:41 AM PST

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