California Senate Approves Single-Payer Health Care Bill
Friday 29 January 2010
by: t r u t h o u t | Report
Despite a firm veto threat from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the California Senate on Thursday passed a measure along party lines to create a $200 billion state-run, single-payer health care system. The bill—SB 810—now heads to the state Assembly for consideration.
The legislation calls for the creation of the California Health System, which would be financed by using a combination of state and federal funds that California already earmarks for health care along with a payroll tax, the amount of which would be decided later.
The Medicare-for-all system would be extended to all California residents and individuals would have the opportunity to purchase private insurance to cover specific types of services not included in the government-run plan.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), closely mirrors what Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) had envisioned when he introduced an amendment last summer that would have allowed individual states to create a single-payer system.
Kucinich’s amendment, however, was quietly stripped from the House version of a health care bill on orders from the White House after the legislation was unveiled last winter.
President Barack Obama and Democrats have seen support for their health care initiatives wane among their most ardent supporters as lawmakers increasingly capitulated to Republicans and conservative Democrats over proposals in early versions of a national health care bill.
Measures that originally called for a government-run heatlh care plan to compete with private insurers, otherwise known as a public option, and extending Medicare benefits to individuals beginning at age 55 are no longer part of the bill currently under consideration by lawmakers in the House and Senate.
In a statement after the legislation cleared the 40-member state Senate, Leno said the "real impetus" behind his proposal "is a growing grassroots movement representing millions of Californians who want a health care system that takes care of their families and is affordable for themselves and employers."
"Solving health care isn’t about leftwing or rightwing politics – it’s about the future of the middle class," Leno said. "Our state is being bankrupted by out of control health care costs, and a single-payer universal health care system has been proven to save billions of dollars a year for businesses, families and government."
Leno said California currently wastes 30 percent of every dollar spent on health care to cover administrative costs, which would be eliminated under his plan. He added that the state already spends $200 billion a year on health care and the single-payer system he proposes would simply use the same funds in a different manner.
Still, many of the details have not yet been worked out, prompting Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) to remark that "single-payer is a long way off."
A "long way off" is putting it midly. If the bill is approved in the state Assembly, Schwarzenegger has said he would veto it when it hits his desk. The governor has previously vetoed two similar proposals.
Schwarzenegger's spokeswoman, Rachel Arrezola, claims budget cuts and the state's $20 billion deficit are the primary reasons the governor intends to veto the bill.
"Any elected official who thinks it's a good idea to strap the state with tens of billions of dollars from a government-run health care system is clearly not in touch with what voters need and deserve," Arrezola said.
But Leno noted that the plan "creates no new spending, and in fact, studies show that the state would save $8 billion in the first year under this single-payer health care plan."
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Comments
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This is long overdue. The
Fri, 01/29/2010 - 16:40 — Anonymous (not verified)This is long overdue. The fascist actor from
Austria has vetoed it twice and threatens again?
Send him back to Austria!
Dare we hope? Is it too
Fri, 01/29/2010 - 16:56 — Anonymous (not verified)Dare we hope? Is it too much to ask that California take the lead in establishing a universal public heath care system? The failure of the Obama administration to implement liberal policies leaves normal Americans with no choice but to look elsewhere for intelligent, progressive solutions. Go California, go.
All right, Ms.
Fri, 01/29/2010 - 17:14 — Anonymous (not verified)All right, Ms. Arrezola---What part of 'saves billions and covers everyone' don't you and the 'gov' understand? What part of 'corporate whores' is unclear to you?
When will our government
Fri, 01/29/2010 - 17:54 — curious voter (not verified)When will our government work for the people who pay their salaries. We want healthcare and we want it now!!! Here's a suggestion: Let's take away all of these career politicians healthcare for the next two years. I'm sure a healthcare bill would pass after that!
What amaze me is the
Fri, 01/29/2010 - 18:03 — Anonymous (not verified)What amaze me is the capacity of people like Arrezola to believe their idiotic rhetoric and arguments. “What voters needs and deserve” is to “terminate” the health insurance and the good salary this lady and her boss are having at the expense of the people of California.
they've passed it twice now,
Fri, 01/29/2010 - 19:36 — Anonymous (not verified)they've passed it twice now, only to be vetoed by the Governator
Anyone else wonder how long
Fri, 01/29/2010 - 19:57 — Eilish (not verified)Anyone else wonder how long this prince will continue to rule in California? Oh, wait, it is 2010. Sorry, Arnie.
With colon surgery, a heel
Fri, 01/29/2010 - 20:09 — nomoredead (not verified)With colon surgery, a heel fracture, root canal and ladder fall with an emergency room visit for me in 2009 I got a first hand education in the nightmare of healthcare in the US. I can not imagine the worry and fear of not being insured. All of the people who oppose any fixes proposed should have to go without coverage then decide.
The concept is great. Gotta
Fri, 01/29/2010 - 22:36 — Whatajokr (not verified)The concept is great. Gotta laugh at those that believe this state can do it, though-just look at how poorly state govt administers EVERYTHING ELSE it does. It is bankrupt already. How can it spend more?
Create a state bank of
Sat, 01/30/2010 - 01:29 — Peter J. of Minneapolis (not verified)Create a state bank of California at the same time that works like the Bank of North Dakota.
That is how Canada created its national health care system. It works.
Typical Rethuglican
Sat, 01/30/2010 - 11:33 — Anonymous (not verified)Typical Rethuglican response. When are these clowns going to give up their stupidity that korporations and tax cuts are our salvation?
No credit seems to be given
Sat, 01/30/2010 - 11:54 — Anonymous (not verified)No credit seems to be given to Sheila Kuehl, the person, we in Southern California believe was a major player in Single Payer Health Care for Califonria?
Brilliant, if the Governator doesn't envoke power of veto.
WOW! California is ready to
Sat, 01/30/2010 - 12:22 — Robert Pool (not verified)WOW! California is ready to step up even when the rest of the blue states balk. You gotta love that.
This would prove to be a useful experiment. We could analyze the California experience carefully for clues about how Single Payer might actually work in the other 49 states.
Arnold will think twice before terminating this bill. Polls will show a majority in the state support it. A veto will increase the odds of electing a Democrat in the fall. Perhaps Arnold will turn into the Good Terminator, as he did in T2.
We can always hope.
The Single-Payer system
Sat, 01/30/2010 - 13:03 — Anonymous (not verified)The Single-Payer system works all over the world. It's the only system that's really going to work in reducing costs and stream-lining our visits to doctors and hospitals. It's coming. We need look no further for an example of a health care system that works than all the other countries in the world that use it. Our corprorate butt kissing politicians can only stall it for so long...
And what does the
Sat, 01/30/2010 - 14:07 — Anonymous (not verified)And what does the Legislative Budget Analyst have to say about it?
Shows what one can do
Sat, 01/30/2010 - 19:26 — Anonymous (not verified)Shows what one can do without Rahm Emanuel.
Who above said "Arnold will
Sat, 01/30/2010 - 21:16 — Anonymous (not verified)Who above said "Arnold will think twice"
before vetoing this again? He won't think much
at all, his schemes are already set in his mind
as were Adolf's schemes set in his mind.
Arnold will do what all fascists do viz.:
affect populism, effectuate the Konkordat with
big business.
California can't not afford
Sun, 01/31/2010 - 08:01 — Anonymous (not verified)California can't not afford this bill. What do they need to overide Arnold's veto?
Just goes to show that he was completely full of it when proposing to lead the nation by achieving health care reform in California.
Just like he was full of it when he set out to reform working conditions for migrant slaves on California's farms.
From health care to vegie pickers
Another one bites the dust
Yeah
Another night in the life
of poison pen Arnie.
More stupid legislation from
Sun, 01/31/2010 - 11:26 — sanguine (not verified)More stupid legislation from the state that has been bankrupt for 2-3 years.
The people of california have to be the stupidest people in the world. The state is bankrupt and now you want more taxes with a single payer bill?
What if you can't pay? Then what? For the millions of unemployed and illegal aliens whose going to pay?
You people deserve what you get.
What a load of sh_t! How
Sun, 01/31/2010 - 13:23 — Anonymous (not verified)What a load of sh_t!
How many of you on here are paid to be in favor of this death care scam?
OH YEAH..health care for Californians!
Which the taxpayers will HAVE TO PAY OR GO TO JAIL!
And all the damn ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WILL GET A FREE RIDE AND NOT HAVE TO PAY!
By the way..this scam won't stop the costs of
medical coverage from skyrocketing. Because
America's health care companies..hospitals and the like ARE ALL OWNED BY FOREIGNERS!
Who could care less about you and your sick
granny!
MY COMMISSERATIONS CALIFORNIA!
YOU HAVE ALL BEEN HAD!
YOUR ONLY RECOURSE IS TO VOTE RENO OUT!
The US government is working
Sun, 01/31/2010 - 13:41 — Anonymous (not verified)The US government is working against
American citizens.
They are the enemy at the gates!
Republican or Democrat...it's all a farce.
Starting with daddy Bush..who sold this
country out the the Arab oil sheiks.
It gets worse.
They recently had a bidding war over in Irag
where the rich elite bought up Iraqi oil fields.
Some fat cats complained that parts of Iraq were still 'too dangerous' to invest in.
That's why our troops went over there.
To fight and die in order to make Iraq safe
enough for these rich people to go in an buy it up!
Wonder how daddy Bush and the rest of these
criminal politicians felt when the walked over
dead AMERICAN troops bones to collect their big pay out?
I guess..much like they felt when they instigated the deaths of thousands in the Twin Towers and the rotting flesh of Katrina victims.
YOU ALL BETTER WAKE UP.
California is leading the
Sun, 01/31/2010 - 14:30 — Domingo (not verified)California is leading the way again! Free healthcare for everyone! This may chase even more businesses out of state but who cares. California liberals will use the same economic magicwand to pay for this that they have been usuing for years. Yippeee Skippeee!
I like Single Payer. I have
Sun, 01/31/2010 - 15:58 — Anonymous (not verified)I like Single Payer. I have had it since age 65, and I have always had Kaiser before that, which is very similar to how Single Payer would work.
However, it is not true that most countries have Single Payer. Yes, they have universal health care and they have non-profit insurance companies. Check out http://www.pbs.com and watch Frontline's documentary "Sick Around the World." We could have a plan like Switzerland's, for instance, and allow private insurance companies to exist. However, these countries control the insurance companies very stringently! That, and universal mandates, are the real secret.
Single payer is the best and
Sun, 01/31/2010 - 16:07 — Anonymous (not verified)Single payer is the best and most logical system to use, that is precisely why it will never happen. Schwarzenegger will soon be out of office and this will no doubt be the last cog in a legacy that doubled California's deficit, laid off home health care workers, forced pay cuts to state employees and gave even more tax breaks to the rich, forced people to conserve water while at the same time allowing private bottling companies to take our water, the list of evil doings goes on and on. Once he's gone and we get a democrat governor, the republican state assembly will take over where Arnie left off, utilizing the ill conceived 2/3rds vote that prevents California from doing anything good or from removing bad legislation that always somehow finds a way to pass anyway!
I do not believe that I
Sun, 01/31/2010 - 17:16 — Anonymous (not verified)I do not believe that I should have to pay for
illegal immigrants in my country!
I do not believe that the government has the
right to THREATEN ME with jail if I disagree.
Where do these publicly funded employees paid by
MY TAX DOLLAR get the right to tell me what to
do?
They are elected officials which take the oath to
SERVE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE!
It's not the other way around!
I WILL NOT PAY FOR SOCIALIZED MEDICINE FORCED UPON ME BY THIS MILITIA
GOVERNMENT!
But you'll continue to pay
Sun, 01/31/2010 - 18:10 — Anonymous (not verified)But you'll continue to pay taxes for that militia government, and support the banks and Health CEO's. Wise up a-hole!
YOU MIGHT BE HAPPY TO PAY
Sun, 01/31/2010 - 18:54 — Anonymous (not verified)YOU MIGHT BE HAPPY TO PAY YOU GOVERNMENT PAID COMMUNIST SHILL!
MILLIONS OF AMERICANS WILL NOT!
If getting someone a job and
Sun, 01/31/2010 - 19:17 — Anonymous (not verified)If getting someone a job and healthcare like the elite in our society have means I'm a Communist, then I'll see you hang with the rest of the tyrants.
"The state is bankrupt and
Sun, 01/31/2010 - 19:17 — Eric Rogers (not verified)"The state is bankrupt and now you want more taxes with a single payer bill?" I would rather pay less for my health care in higher taxes than more in Insurance Company premiums.
Health care for all yields a
Sun, 01/31/2010 - 21:28 — Garrett Connelly (not verified)Health care for all yields a healthier citizenry that produces far more than health care costs. Healthy people think better and create more. A country is strong when the people are healthy, happy and educated.
Dear sanguine: The reason
Sun, 01/31/2010 - 21:29 — Anonymous (not verified)Dear sanguine: The reason California has no money is that the right wing scammed the people into passing Proposition 13, which not only eliminated a huge portion of its revenue via property taxes, but also requires a 2/3 majority to pass a budget. So, just as in the US Senate, a minority of Republicans blocks the budget process until they get enough concessions from the majority. If California had a tax rate comparable to what it had before Reagan was elected, we'd have no problem with money and also would have much better schools and infrastructure. Also, single payer would save billions every year. It's the only good solution.
To the person who said he
Sun, 01/31/2010 - 21:58 — Anonymous (not verified)To the person who said he would be happy to be called a Communist if he could get a job
and healthcare.
Socialized health care is a death trap.
I have lived in other countries where this is
implemented.
People must wait months..sometimes even years
before they are treated for their illnesses.
That includes having to wait while suffering withlife threatening diseases! The fact that you will probably die before you get treated is a very real chance.
A job? I wish you luck with that.
But socializing medicine and forcing people who do not necessarily want it or need it is wrong.
This move is set only to benefit the politicians and foreign investors who have interests in the
controlling corporations.
Because as these past years have proven.
This government has done nothing to help
the American people.
This is no different.
This is a death sentence on the entire population of America.
And the real kicker is..they are trying to make
you pay to hasten your own demise.
Socialized medicine is a
Sun, 01/31/2010 - 22:03 — Anonymous (not verified)Socialized medicine is a death sentence.
CALIFORNIA ONCE MORE LEADS
Mon, 02/01/2010 - 05:51 — Bearzerker (not verified)CALIFORNIA ONCE MORE LEADS THE WAY, WITH OR WITHOUT LEADERSHIP.
why are some people saying
Mon, 02/01/2010 - 06:02 — Anonymous (not verified)why are some people saying that single payer is socialized medicine?...
you can have a single desk on basic health-care needs, guaranteeing health coverage for all and then a 2nd tier coverage that gives extra coverage...
and all this could be covered easily by the payments people currently make, thats what a single desk is, all payments to a single desk where a watchdog can oversee the spending.
Thats what a single desk does, plus it is guaranteeing health coverage and care for all irrespective of prior conditions.
no person should have to die due to lack of coverage, theirs no justifiable excuse especially when for profit HMO's steal from the sick to pay their overpaid and unnecessary salaries...
CUT OUT THE MIDDLEMAN!
Sorry. But IT IS socialized
Mon, 02/01/2010 - 09:37 — Anonymous (not verified)Sorry.
But IT IS socialized medicine.
When you FORCE everyone to pay into a program by threatening the population with fines and/ jail time.
That's what socialism is.
It's the government deciding what is best for the individual. While it impedes on the rights of the
citizen to decide for him or herself.
Not everyone is the same.
Not everyone needs or wants medical coverage.
And certainly..I am certain..no one wants to
pay for those who live in this country through
illegal means.
Especially in California where the illegal
immigrant population is so high.
And corporations stealing profits?
LOL!
What makes you think that this health care scam is designed to prevent them from stealing?
They are attempting to incorporate it for that very reason!
Forcing American citizens to pay so they can
reap an untold amount of profit!
Our medical system is not designed to actually
help the patient..it just a money making
scheme.
"A watchdog can oversee the
Mon, 02/01/2010 - 09:39 — Anonymous (not verified)"A watchdog can oversee the spending?"
LMAO!
Where were you when the President and crooks incorporated were doling out TRILLIONS to
their buddy banksters and Wall Street?
Where were the watchdogs then?
Would a state or national
Mon, 02/01/2010 - 10:55 — Mg (not verified)Would a state or national health plan kill 45,000 people a year because they cannot afford it? Would 50,000,000 people not have access to a state or national healthcare plan because they cannot afford it? NOT likely. A state or national plan paid for with tax dollars should immediately be almost 27% less expensive than private health insurance, and that's before volume discounts for drugs, community health centers, computerized medical records, etc. The current legislation requires everyone to join because that's the only deal AHIP would accept to cover pre-existing conditions. It's true Medicare has waste, fraud and abuse, but not even close to the scale private insurance does. Simply put, the choice is between 30% overhead costs, and 3% for a national plan. It seems like an easy choice to me. Good luck to all Californians in getting a single-payer plan, and all other states considering it too!
Then leave people alone. Let
Mon, 02/01/2010 - 11:26 — Anonymous (not verified)Then leave people alone.
Let each individual decide whether or not they want health insurance.
Not everyone wants it.
That's like you forcing me to pay your bills.
The government is a scam!
This is another big Ponzi scheme.
The guy is right! This is a
Mon, 02/01/2010 - 11:50 — Anonymous (not verified)The guy is right!
This is a question about individual rights!
In California we already have to pay more
money for people who are too poor to afford
car insurance premiums.
So our premiums go up because of them.
Not to mention all the illegals driving around
without so much as a drivers license!
The government allows all these third world
country immigrants in here.
Then they expect the working class citizens to pay for them!
Meanwhile..they give out trillions to their
bankster friends and do nothing for middle class America.
Except raise more taxes to pay for those who
invade our country and are exempt having having to contribute to it.
The politicians and banks want everyone broke so they can control the USA.
I don't work all day long to pay for free loaders.
The government lies. You
Mon, 02/01/2010 - 13:17 — Anonymous (not verified)The government lies.
You must watch this.
They can never be trusted.
Not with our lives, or health, or our country.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2_ahbfyUws
Argue all you want about the
Mon, 02/01/2010 - 18:23 — samd11 (not verified)Argue all you want about the pros and cons of "so-called socialized medicine", but while your fellow citizens are dying and going bankrupt your Medical Provider Corporations are laughing all the way to the bank and giving the "finger' to politicians of both parties. Wake up and smell the coffee, America.Paying a slightly higher tax to ensure the safety and well being of ALL your fellow citizens isn't just altruistic, its the sign of a civilized society. I'm safe in Canada in spite of all the missinformation about our single payer system. I sincerely wish you could benefit as I do. Taxes for Healthcare make a lot more sense than Taxes for Military misadventures. Good Luck!
I really love the right wing
Mon, 02/01/2010 - 20:18 — Unionguy (not verified)I really love the right wing attacks on health care, and especially the public role. You can really see how well the corporate funded anti-people ideological campaign that "the govt is always bad! The govt can't do anything well!" has succeeded.
What the corporate campaign has done so well is to get people to identify with anger and certain angry slogans, without ever presenting the actual facts or ever debating the real issues. Certainly in these times of economic depression, brought on by the massive redistribution of our wealth upwards, from working people to the most wealthy, we ought to be examining who gains when the public role in society is wiped out/privatized. It is the wealthy corporations and individuals, of course.
The public schools educate ALL our students, not just the rich. Social Security has rescued our nation's elderly from poverty & has NEVER missed a single payment! Fire depts are public, unlike a century ago, when private gangs negotiated to put out fires. Our police and military are public, and represent us all. the highway system is public. there are many, many more examples, but the public has to step in, as with OSHA, EEOC, NLRB, and force corporations not to pollute, violate labor laws, force them to provide safe environments for their workers and the general public.
The above are FACTS, not shouted corporate-inspired slogans.
It is also fact that our nation pays far more for our health care costs, while at the same time not only do not cover nearly 50 million, but inadequately cover another quarter of our population. Those of us that are able to gain coverage are, in fact, paying for the public to provide health care for those without it. US companies are burdened by the cost of providing health care and it is an incentive for them to move off shore or just dump workers health care. To the angry (& thoughtless) individuals ab0ve, who are so concerned about providing for "illegal immigrants," they are paying for them right now, due to our inadequate "system!"
Single payer system work wonderfully throughout the entire world. US is the only "advanced" nation to not provide health care for all its people. We are dropping behind in every single health catagory according to the World Health Organization. Only the super wealthy owners of the pharaseutacal & insurance co's are gaining (& they are making BILLIONS)! We need single payer!
and the scariest thing of
Tue, 02/02/2010 - 01:24 — domingo (not verified)and the scariest thing of all about Obamacare is that it enriches the insurance companies beyound anything in our worst Bush nightmare. The insurance companies are licking Obamas boots right now and hes licking back. If we want to reel the insurance companies in we need tort reform and interstate competition but the corporatist Obama will NEVER let that happen. He Empowers corporations and he Empowers the federal Govt over every aspect of our lives. The rich get richer and the powerful get more powerful. The Obama way.
I am against the health care
Tue, 02/02/2010 - 09:48 — Anonymous (not verified)I am against the health care bill.
I am against Democrats AND Republicans
I know our government is working towards
destroying the middle class.
Because I am living it.
Keep all your fancy notions about any
health care bill.
Single pay or no single pay.
This government does nothing to help its
people.
They lie and steal all the time.
Anybody who is supporting this health care
bill must have a vested interest in it for
themselves.
For others..it is to do harm.
Just like all the bail outs.
Just like the false flags about having going to war.
Just like Goldman Sachs stealing trillions and giving back nothing!
How can anybody believe that the government?
Their track record speaks for itself.
Hey! did you all read? The
Tue, 02/02/2010 - 10:10 — Anonymous (not verified)Hey!
did you all read?
The Canadian Premier came here to America
to get an operation for his heart!
You know Canada?
The land of socialized medicine?
But the dude came here to get help.
Tells me all I want to know about
this socialized health care bill.
EVERYONE wants healthcare.
Tue, 02/02/2010 - 16:47 — PM (not verified)EVERYONE wants healthcare. It is an acknowledged human right. Nobody wants their healthcare service impeded by unnecessary bureaucracy. Everyone would like to be able to just go to the doctor and be compassionately examined and speedily treated in accordance with their real medical needs, not the profit needs of a corporation, nor the make-work needs of an unnecessary bureaucratic process. Everyone would like to receive that kind of service with the expenses conveniently paid for by the community. That is what insurance is all about. We all put something in and get more out, in our turn, when we need it. That kind of a service can only exist with a simple government-run program with no profit incentives. The single-payer system is proven to provide that. I personally have had single-payer government funded insurance in Mass. for the last three years and it is just as I have described. If it can exist there, it can exist anywhere. BUT, the question remains, how to pay for it so it won't be what the less informed call "socialist", i.e., inefficient and coercive. Well, of course, single-payer gov. funded healthcare has no mandatory premiums of co-pays. But who and how to pay? You see, the issue is not the health insurance. It is a public finance issue. And that is why the healthcare debate is so critical to our democracy at this point in history. We are at a point where the commonwealth, the great part of the wealth created by society at large, for society as a whole, is in an advanced phase of being privatized. Those who becry “socialism” seem to be deaf and blind to the fact that our entire system is built upon the public subsidy of a minority of society. Land rent, the value that a private landowner retains or charges others, is in fact a communally created value. It is a defacto private tax on all production, charged directly but also integrated into the costs of production and services we pay everyday. THEN, on top of that, the middle class is THREATENED and COERCED into paying out a part of what is left after paying private land rent, in public taxes of all kinds. So, the answer is for the government to collect land rents via a land value tax (which also applies to all natural resources), and by the way, then untax all private compensation and earnings on production (added value). Then we can have our (socialistically funded) wars AND single-payer healthcare, too, AND have enough left over for other “free” services like transportation and education and libraries, etc., as well as a modern infrastructure. Who doesn’t want this? Simple. Those who are riding high on the backs of society, and their willing slaves, admiring lackeys and the general population of malinformed chumps who make up a sizeable chunk of the US population. The rest of us need to wake up and get on the right side of the public finance debate, because, if you haven’t noticed already, there practically isn’t any left to defend (ie, have you seen the deficit, lately?).
Hey! You with all the
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 13:35 — Anonymous (not verified)Hey!
You with all the answers ..the person above me.
Why didn't you mention how Americans will go to jail if they don't pay?
And what about all those illegals not having to pay and NOT going to jail.
Yet they get health care.
Explain that!
Oh yes! And it's like the
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 13:36 — Anonymous (not verified)Oh yes!
And it's like the government really gives a damn
about the people in this country.
Yeah sure.
Tell your story walking!
I just LOVE it when people
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 13:42 — Anonymous (not verified)I just LOVE it when people get on here touting
how much we need reform in order to help Americans.
When all our Presidents do (and Congress) is
screw us every which way they can!
Bail outs to the rich.
We're flipping taxed to death!
Tarp money going to Wall Street when it was told to us it would help people hold onto their houses.
Anybody on here that is for health reform
is obviously making money from supporting it.
The US government is the enemy of the people.
Don't be lulled into believing anything else.
Their actions speak louder than words.
“Use Senate reconciliation
Wed, 02/10/2010 - 16:20 — Journey Home by Paul Burke (not verified)“Use Senate reconciliation and expand Medicare via the Senate’s buy-in provisions. The CBO has already signed off on this as a means of saving money.
More importantly, if more Americans can do a buy-in with Medicare, it creates more cost control (because there’s a genuine “public option” competitor).
It also helps to solve the problems of pre-existing conditions, because Medicare does not deny coverage on this basis.
Allowing a Medicare buy-in to Americans under 65 would give people a genuine alternative to private insurance and thereby render the pre-existing question moot.
It would also lower Medicare costs by expanding the risk pool of patients (the great bulk of medical expenses are accounted for by a small number of people, mostly the elderly, requiring very expensive treatment).
And it would substantially enhance the global competitiveness of American corporations. After all, in what other country in the world is health care a marginal cost of production for business?” - Roosevelt Institute Marshall Auerback
bubble shooter
Thu, 02/16/2012 - 01:45 — bubble shooter (not verified)Exciting ideas, thank you for sharing these in this posting.