This is just classic.
Sylvia@californiaonecare.org
Posts Tagged ‘Dennis Kucinich’
Rep. Dennis Kucinich Schools Corporate Healthcare Shill
August 12th, 2011GOP Repeals Healthcare Law Even Though About Half of Americans Have Preexisting Conditions
January 20th, 2011On Wednesday, the House Republican majority made good on its dog and pony show of repealing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). All 242 Republicans in the chamber voted to repeal, along with three Democrats. Never mind that 129 million Americans would be denied health coverage because they have preexisting conditions, according to a report released by the Department of Health and Human Services.
And never mind that these same congresspeople, who want to deny their constituents health coverage, receive gold-plated, government-sponsored coverage subsidized by their taxpaying constituents. Only a handful of congressional lawmakers have pledged to give up their own coverage. We should all find this sort of “healthcare hypocrisy” especially offensive.
Rather than repealing the good parts of the healthcare law, Congress should make it better by expanding Medicare to everyone. This would eliminate the problem of preexisting conditions. It also doesn’t make sense to require everyone to buy insurance, while at the same time allowing insurance companies to charge as much as they want. Treating health care as a public service like police, fire protection, public education and libraries, would make the individual mandate unnecessary. During the debate on whether to repeal PPACA, Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio renewed his call to end profit-driven health care and to expand Medicare to everyone:
Sylvia@californiaonecare.org
Kucinich Says Healthcare Law Repeal Could Revive Single Payer
January 4th, 2011In advance of the Republicans’ ascendancy to the House majority tomorrow, Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio has been making the television rounds, keeping the flame alive for a national single payer program. Appearing on Fox News and on MSNBC (see video below), Kucinich believes that if the Republicans are successful in repealing federal healthcare legislation — passed with great fanfare last year — that move could revive calls to adopt single payer as the only viable alternative for healthcare reform.
However, the chances of the Republicans actually succeeding in repealing the law in the near future are pretty slim. They won’t be able to drum up enough votes in the still Democratic-controlled Senate, and they certainly can’t get past President Obama’s veto. The worst they can do at this point is try to defund the parts of the legislation that are starting to go into effect, particularly the temporary high risk insurance pools for people with preexisting conditions. So far, only a little more than 8,000 of the 6 million people eligible nationwide have enrolled in the pools.
Whether the Republicans succeed in dismantling health reform or not, the country’s healthcare system will continue on a slow-motion collision course with disaster. Today, a record 50.7 million people nationwide are uninsured, according to new Census Department figures. And premiums for the insured keep going through the roof. Hopefully sooner, rather than later, this country is going to have to face up to the fact that a profit-driven, employer-based healthcare system will never be fair nor financially stable. It simply doesn’t work, and none of our competitors in the developed world operate their healthcare systems this way.
A renewed focus on establishing a more humane and affordable universal healthcare system — a publicly-funded, privately-delivered system — will have to be undertaken by the states. Vermont is well on its way, with a new governor who is a strong single-payer advocate. Here in California, with a strong Democratic majority in Sacramento, we have a great chance at finally getting a self-insurance program, SB 810, passed into law. Once one state — or more — shows just how successful single payer can be, this healthcare solution will quickly spread to the rest of the country.
Sylvia@californiaonecare.org
