Health Care is a major issue this your. In spite of the certainty that the President would veto it if anything remotely useful was passed, many of us feel that this is the year to begin a serious educational campaign. I believe that it’s not just an issue of the 46 million uninsured. I think it’s just wrong for our health care to depend on the priorities of our boss.
This stems from the days when I worked 40 hours a week at a part time job — and because my job was part time, I didn’t qualify for the Health Plan. I even offered to pay the full price — no luck. They weren’t going to add me to the plan because I wasn’t a full time employee. I had that status for 4 years. As if the situation wasn’t ironic enough, full time employees worked only 39 hours!
I happen to have a very good health insurance plan right now. So what? I dream of my own business — but how can I, a 53-year-old diabetic qualify for my own insurance if I’m not part of a group? How do all those folks with their cute downtown shops qualify? How about you? Do you have a good health insurance policy?
I admit that I’m frustrated. It seems to me that even if we can’t bring ourselves to support a switch to Single-Payer, someone could come up with something that would Cover Everyone. Something that would Cover Everyone no matter their employer or employment status.
The Cover Everyone Site of the Day
The Physicians for a National Health Program have made a lot of information available on their site. They’re clear about their mission — Supporting a Single-Payer health plan covering everyone:
Single-payer national health insurance is a system in which a single public or quasi-public agency organizes health financing, but delivery of care remains largely private.
(snip)
Under a single-payer system, all Americans would be covered for all medically necessary services, including: doctor, hospital, long-term care, mental health, dental vision, prescription drug and medical supply costs. Patients would regain free choice of doctor and hospital, and doctors would regain autonomy over patient care.
Physicians would be paid fee-for-service according to a negotiated formulary or receive salary from a hospital or nonprofit HMO / group practice. Hospitals would receive a global budget for operating expenses. Health facilities and expensive equipment purchases would be managed by regional health planning boards.
From their Frequently Asked Questions page:
Won’t this raise my taxes?
Currently, about 64% of our health care system is financed by public money: federal and state taxes, property taxes and tax subsidies. These funds pay for Medicare, Medicaid, the VA, coverage for public employees (including teachers), elected officials, military personnel, etc. There are also hefty tax subsidies to employers to help pay for their employees’ health insurance. About 17% of heath care is financed by all of us individually through out-of-pocket payments, such as co-pays, deductibles, the uninsured paying directly for care, people paying privately for premiums, etc. Private employers only pay 19% of health care costs. In all, it is a very “regressive” way to finance health care, in that the poor pay a much higher percentage of their income for health care than higher income individuals do.
A universal public system would be financed this way: The public financing already funneled to Medicare and Medicaid would be retained. The difference, or the gap between current public funding and what we would need for a universal health care system, would be financed by a payroll tax on employers (about 7%) and an income tax on individuals (about 2%). The payroll tax would replace all other employer expenses for employees’ health care. The income tax would take the place of all current insurance premiums, co-pays, deductibles, and any and all other out of pocket payments. For the vast majority of people a 2% income tax is less than what they now pay for insurance premiums and in out-of-pocket payments such as co-pays and deductibles, particularly for anyone who has had a serious illness or has a family member with a serious illness. It is also a fair and sustainable contribution. Currently, over 41 million people have no insurance and thousands of people with insurance are bankrupted when they have an accident or illness. Employers who currently offer no health insurance would pay more, but they would receive health insurance for the same low rate as larger firms. Many small employers have to pay 25% or more of payroll now for health insurance – so they end up not having insurance at all. For large employers, a payroll tax in the 7% range would mean they would pay less than they currently do (about 8.5%). No employer, moreover, would hold a competitive advantage over another because his cost of business did not include health care. And health insurance would disappear from the bargaining table between employers and employees.
Another consideration is that everyone would have the same comprehensive health coverage, including all medical, hospital, eye care, dental care, long-term care, and mental health services. Currently, many people and businesses are paying huge premiums for insurance that is almost worthless if they were to have a serious illness.
Take a look at the PNHP proposals and see what you think for yourself.
Just 4 Today, I’ll drink my fiber supplement twice (I’ve drunk it once), drink 2 liters of water (I’ve drunk 1/3!), not weigh myself (hanging head, I totally forgot), and NOT eat between meals and NOT take seconds.