The U.S. Health Care System - Values, Priorities, and Rankings

A guest blog...

The U.S. Health Care System - Values, Priorities, and Rankings

Written by Brian McAfee

The current battles over American health care system are indicative of a wider philosophical and social divide. What is at stake and what is the desired outcome of each side?

First we must look at the current health care system as it exists in the United States. The World Health Organization ranks the U.S. health system well below most of Europe, Canada and Japan. France and Italy rank at number one and two while the U.S. is at #37. Most of the countries that rank above the U.S. have some form of socialized health care system. Japan,which ranks 10th on the WHO list, is at #1 in life expectancy at 74.5 years, while the U.S. is 24th in life expectancy, again below Europe, Canada and Australia as well. An oft repeated declaration is that the U.S. has the best health care in the World, also that people from all over the World come to the U.S. for health care, such as the King of Jordan who went to Mayo Clinic recently for surgery. This happens, if they can afford to do so. U.S. citizens do the same, Richard DeVos, co-founder of AMWAY and a staunch Republican went to England for a heart transplant and talk show host Charlie Rose went to France for heart surgery. These options of course do not exist for most Americans. The disruptions and shows of righteous indignation" at town hall meetings need a closer look. News reports indicate that those disrupting the town halls of specific Democratic Congress men and women were largely staged by combination's of HMO employees bussed to the town halls for the purpose of disruption and distortion and "FOX NEWS" zealots who believe capitalism and business interests should come before people's health. Misinformation and lies about Obama's health care plans swayed a lot of opinion polls as well as a lack of knowledge about the benefits of Universal health care. The Rights repeatedly comparing Obama's proposed changes as comparable to Nazism was especially ridiculous. The Nazi comparisons are generally a bad idea for public discourse but there is an area that somewhat fits. During the Nazi era particular businesses were given greater privilege and leeway over the well being of people and their rights, the most well known of these were I.G. Farben and Krupp. It was a clear cut idea and system where profit (and of course power) took precedence over people. Like a boomerang the Nazi comparison idea...well you get the idea.

In a recent interview with Dr James Jackson, a well known Muskegon physician and community activist, Dr Jackson stated that the problem in America's health care is that "it is based on capitalism, it puts people second and money fist." When asked if HMOs had a legitimate place in American health care he said "absolutely not." About Obama's health care ideas Dr Jackson said it was not without problems. He said "if it does not include single payer it will continue the same problems that we currently have."

In the ongoing battle for truth, justice and values people should always be valued before and above profits.

Below are charts from the World Health Organization ranking health
care systems and
life expectancies from around the World.

The World Health Organization's ranking of the world's health systems
 was last
produced in 2000, and the WHO no longer produces such
 a ranking table, because
of the complexity of the task.



World Health Organization's (WHO) Ranking of the World's Health Systems.
1 France 65 Uruguay 129 Peru
2 Italy 66 Hungary 130 Russia
3 San Marino 67 Trinidad and Tobago 131 Honduras
4 Andorra 68 Saint Lucia 132 Burkina Faso
5 Malta 69 Belize 133 Sao Tome and Principe
6 Singapore 70 Turkey 134 Sudan
7 Spain 71 Nicaragua 135 Ghana
8 Oman 72 Belarus 136 Tuvalu
9 Austria 73 Lithuania 137 Ivory Coast
10 Japan 74 Saint Vincent & the Grenadines 138 Haiti
11 Norway 75 Argentina 139 Gabon
12 Portugal 76 Sri Lanka 140 Kenya
13 Monaco 77 Estonia 141 Marshall Islands
14 Greece 78 Guatemala 142 Kiribati
15 Iceland 79 Ukraine 143 Burundi
16 Luxembourg 80 Solomon Islands 144 China
17 Netherlands 81 Algeria 145 Mongolia
18 United Kingdom 82 Palau 146 Gambia
19 Ireland 83 Jordan 147 Maldives
20 Switzerland 84 Mauritius 148 Papua New Guinea
21 Belgium 85 Grenada 149 Uganda
22 Colombia 86 Antigua and Barbuda 150 Nepal
23 Sweden 87 Libya 151 Kyrgystan
24 Cyprus 88 Bangladesh 152 Togo
25 Germany 89 Macedonia 153 Turkmenistan
26 Saudi Arabia 90 Bosnia-Herzegovina 154 Tajikistan
27 United Arab Emirates 91 Lebanon 155 Zimbabwe
28 Israel 92 Indonesia 156 Tanzania
29 Morocco 93 Iran 157 Djibouti
30 Canada 94 Bahamas 158 Eritrea
31 Finland 95 Panama 159 Madagascar
32 Australia 96 Fiji 160 Vietnam
33 Chile 97 Benin 161 Guinea
34 Denmark 98 Nauru 162 Mauritania
35 Dominica 99 Romania 163 Mali
36 Costa Rica 100 Saint Kitts and Nevis 164 Cameroon
37 United States of America 101 Moldova 165 Laos
38 Slovenia 102 Bulgaria 166 Congo
39 Cuba 103 Iraq 167 North Korea
40 Brunei 104 Armenia 168 Namibia
41 New Zealand 105 Latvia 169 Botswana
42 Bahrain 106 Yugoslavia 170 Niger
43 Croatia 107 Cook Islands 171 Equatorial Guinea
44 Qatar 108 Syria 172 Rwanda
45 Kuwait 109 Azerbaijan 173 Afghanistan
46 Barbados 110 Suriname 174 Cambodia
47 Thailand 111 Ecuador 175 South Africa
48 Czech Republic 112 India 176 Guinea-Bissau
49 Malaysia 113 Cape Verde 177 Swaziland
50 Poland 114 Georgia 178 Chad
51 Dominican Republic 115 El Salvador 179 Somalia
52 Tunisia 116 Tonga 180 Ethiopia
53 Jamaica 117 Uzbekistan 181 Angola
54 Venezuela 118 Comoros 182 Zambia
55 Albania 119 Samoa 181 Lesotho
56 Seychelles 120 Yemen 184 Mozambique
57 Paraguay 121 Niue 185 Malawi
58 South Korea 122 Pakistan 186 Liberia
59 Senegal 123 Micronesia 187 Nigeria
60 Philippines 124 Bhutan 188 Democratic Republic of the Congo
61 Mexico 125 Brazil 189 Central African Republic
62 Slovakia 126 Bolivia 190 Myanmar
63 Egypt 127 Vanuatu

64 Kazakhstan 128 Guyana


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Healthy life expectancy (HALE) at birth (years)
DEFINITION: Average number of years that a person can expect to live in "full health" by
taking into account years lived in less than full health due to disease and/or injury.
Country
Rank Member
State Total Pop.
(Years) Male Femalee Country
Rank Member
State Total Pop
(Years) Male Female
1 Japan 74.5 71.9 77.2 95 Belize 60.9 58.5 63.3
2 Australia 73.2 70.8 75.5 96 Lebanon 60.6 61.2 60.1
3 France 73.1 69.3 76.9 97 Iran 60.5 61.3 59.8
4 Sweden 73.0 71.2 74.9 98 Samoa 60.5 58.7 62.3
5 Spain 72.8 69.8 75.7 99 Guyana 60.2 57.1 63.3
6 Italy 72.7 70.0 75.4 100 Thailand 60.2 58.4 62.1
7 Greece 72.5 70.5 74.6 101 Uzbekistan 60.2 58.0 62.3
8 Switzerland 72.5 69.5 75.5 102 Jordan 60.0 60.7 59.3
9 Monaco 72.4 68.5 76.3 103 Albania 60.0 56.5 63.4
10 Andorra 72.3 69.3 75.2 104 Indonesia 59.7 58.8 60.6
11 San Marino 72.3 69.5 75.0 105 Micronesia 59.6 58.7 60.6
12 Canada 72.0 70.0 74.0 106 Peru 59.4 58.0 60.8
13 Netherlands 72.0 69.6 74.4 107 Fiji 59.4 57.7 61.1
14 United Kingdom 71.7 69.7 73.7 108 Libya 59.3 59.7 58.9
15 Norway 71.7 68.8 74.6 109 Seychelles 59.3 56.4 62.1
16 Belgium 71.6 68.7 74.6 110 Bahamas 59.1 56.7 61.6
17 Austria 71.6 68.8 74.4 111 Morocco 59.1 58.7 59.4
18 Luxembourg 71.1 68.0 74.2 112 Brazil 59.1 55.2 62.9
19 Iceland 70.8 69.2 72.3 113 Palau 59.0 57.4 60.7
20 Finland 70.5 67.2 73.7 114 Philippines 58.9 57.1 60.7
21 Malta 70.5 68.4 72.5 115 Syria 58.8 58.8 58.9
22 Germany 70.4 67.4 73.5 116 Egypt 58.5 58.6 58.3
23 Israel 70.4 69.2 71.6 117 Viet Nam 58.2 56.7 59.6
24 United States 70.0 67.5 72.6 118 Nicaragua 58.1 56.4 59.9
25 Cyprus 69.8 68.7 70.9 119 Cape Verde 57.6 54.6 60.6
26 Dominica 69.8 67.2 72.3 120 Tuvalu 57.4 57.1 57.6
27 Ireland 69.6 67.5 71.7 121 Tajikistan 57.3 55.1 59.4
28 Denmark 69.4 67.2 71.5 122 Marshall Islands 56.8 56.0 57.6
29 Portugal 69.3 65.9 72.7 123 Kazakhstan 56.4 51.5 61.2
30 Singapore 69.3 67.4 71.2 124 Kyrgyzstan 56.3 53.4 59.1
31 New Zealand 69.2 67.1 71.2 125 Pakistan 55.9 55.0 56.8
32 Chile 68.6 66.0 71.3 126 Kiribati 55.3 53.9 56.6
33 Cuba 68.4 67.4 69.4 127 Iraq 55.3 55.4 55.1
34 Slovenia 68.4 64.9 71.9 128 Solomon Islands 54.9 54.5 55.3
35 Czech Republic 68.0 65.2 70.8 129 Turkmenistan 54.3 51.9 56.7
36 Jamaica 67.3 66.8 67.9 130 Guatemala 54.3 52.1 56.4
37 Uruguay 67.0 64.1 69.9 131 Maldives 53.9 54.4 53.3
38 Croatia 67.0 63.3 70.6 132 Mongolia 53.8 51.3 56.3
39 Argentina 66.7 63.8 69.6 133 Sao Tome Princi 53.5 52.1 54.8
40 Costa Rica 66.7 65.2 68.1 134 Bolivia 53.3 52.5 54.1
41 Armenia 66.7 65.0 68.3 135 India 53.2 52.8 53.5
42 Slovakia 66.6 63.5 69.7 136 Vanuatu 52.8 51.3 54.4
43 Saint Vincent & The Grenadines 66.4 65.0 67.8 137 Nauru 52.5 49.8 55.1
44 Georgia 66.3 63.1 69.4 138 Bhutan 51.8 51.4 52.2
45 Poland 66.2 62.3 70.1 139 Myanmar 51.6 51.4 51.9
46 Yugoslavia 66.1 64.2 68.1 140 Bangladesh 49.9 50.1 49.8
47 Panama 66.0 64.9 67.2 141 Yemen 49.7 49.7 49.7
48 Antigua+Barbuda 65.8 63.4 68.3 142 Nepal 49.5 49.4 49.5
49 Grenada 65.5 62.4 68.5 143 Gambia 48.3 47.2 49.4
50 U.A. Emirates 65.4 65.0 65.8 144 Gabon 47.8 46.6 49.0
51 North Korea 65.1 51.4 53.1 145 Papua New Guinea 47.0 45.5 48.5
52 Venezuela 65.0 62.9 67.1 146 Comoros 46.8 46.1 47.5
53 Barbados 65.0 62.4 67.6 147 Lao 46.1 45.0 47.1
54 Saint Lucia 65.0 62.4 67.6 148 Cambodia 45.7 43.9 47.5
55 Mexico 65.0 62.4 67.6 149 Ghana 45.5 45.0 46.0
56 Bosnia Herzegovina 64.9 63.4 66.4 150 Congo 45.1 44.3 45.9
57 Trinidad+Tobago 64.6 62.8 66.4 151 Senegal 44.6 43.5 45.6
58 Saudi Arabia 64.5 65.1 64.0 152 Equatorial Guinea 44.1 42.8 45.4
59 Brunei 64.4 63.4 65.4 153 Haiti 43.8 42.4 45.2
60 Bulgaria 64.4 61.2 67.7 154 Sudan 43.0 42.6 43.5
61 Bahrain 64.4 63.9 64.9 155 Co˘te d'Ivoire 42.8 42.2 43.3
62 Hungary 64.1 60.4 67.9 156 Cameroon 42.2 41.5 43.0
63 Lithuania 64.1 60.6 67.5 157 Benin 44.2 41.9 42.6
64 FYRO Macedonia 63.7 61.8 65.6 158 Mauritania 41.4 40.2 42.5
65 Azerbaijan 63.7 60.6 66.7 159 Togo 40.7 40.0 41.4
66 Qatar 63.5 64.2 62.8 160 South Africa 39.8 38.6 41.0
67 Cook Islands 63.4 62.2 64.5 161 Chad 39.4 38.6 40.2
68 Kuwait 63.2 63.0 63.4 162 Kenya 39.3 39.0 39.6
69 Estonia 63.1 58.1 68.1 163 Nigeria 38.3 38.1 38.4
70 Ukraine 63.0 58.5 67.5 164 Swaziland 38.1 37.8 38.4
71 Paraguay 63.0 60.7 65.3 165 Angola 38.0 37.0 38.9
72 Oman 63.0 61.8 64.1 166 Djibouti 37.9 37.7 38.1
73 Turkey 62.9 64.0 61.8 167 Guinea 37.8 37.0 38.5
74 Colombia 62.9 60.3 65.5 168 Afghanistan 37.7 36.7 38.7
75 Tonga 62.9 61.4 64.3 169 Eritrea 37.7 38.5 36.9
76 Sri Lanka 62.8 59.3 66.3 170 Guinea-Bissau 37.2 36.8 37.5
77 Suriname 62.7 60.2 65.2 171 Lesotho 36.9 36.6 37.2
78 Mauritius 62.7 59.0 66.3 172 Madagascar 36.6 36.5 36.8
79 Dominican Republic 62.5 62.1 62.9 173 Somalia 36.4 35.9 36.9
80 Romania 62.3 58.8 65.8 174 Dem. Rep. Congo 36.3 36.4 36.2
81 S. Korea 62.3 59.9 64.7 175 Ctral African Rep 36.0 35.6 36.5
82 China 62.3 61.2 63.3 176 Tanzania 36.0 35.9 36.1
83 Latvia 62.2 57.1 67.2 177 Namibia 35.6 35.8 35.4
84 Belarus 61.7 56.2 67.2 178 Burkina Faso 35.5 35.3 35.7
85 Algeria 61.6 62.5 60.7 179 Burundi 34.6 34.6 34.6
86 Niue 61.6 61.0 62.2 180 Mozambique 34.4 33.7 35.1
87 St.Kits & Nevis 61.6 58.7 64.4 181 Liberia 34.0 33.8 34.2
88 El Salvador 61.5 58.6 64.5 182 Ethiopia 33.5 33.5 33.5
89 Moldova 61.5 58.5 64.5 183 Mali 33.1 32.6 33.5
90 Malaysia 61.4 61.3 61.6 184 Zimbabwe 32.9 33.4 32.4
91 Tunisia 61.4 62.0 60.7 185 Rwanda 32.8 32.9 32.7
92 Russian Federation 61.3 56.1 66.4 186 Uganda 32.7 32.9 32.5
93 Honduras 61.1 60.0 62.3 187 Botswana 32.3 32.3 32.2
94 Ecuador 61.0 59.9 62.1 188 Zambia 30.3 30.0 30.7





189 Malawi 29.4 29.3 29.4





190 Niger 29.1 28.1 30.1





191 Sierra Leone - 25.9 25.8

Time to talk about socialized health care

This is an excellent article (see below). I would encourage its widest possible distribution while noting several points that are not included based upon what I think is the most important point mentioned in this article other than what is demonstrated, the continued widespread support for single-payer universal health care which Obama and the Democrats have so effectively killed while manipulating public opinion to believe they would like to go with single-payer but they can't--- using a variety of lame excuses... the issue I think needs to receive greatest attention from this article is this statement:

“I’ve never had an insurance company even talk to me on the quality of services I delivered,” he said. “But I have been nudged by Medicare.” Government responsiveness to demands for quality, he added, had turned around the VA hospital in Butler from what was once “basically a detox center for alcoholics 30 years ago” to what is now a medical center with some of the highest quality care in the country. “And remember,” he concluded, “with the VA, you’ve got socialized medicine that reaches beyond single payer. It refutes the claim that government can’t do anything positive.”

The statement above also provides a very important opportunity to expand the movement for real progressive health care reform, if, picked up with single-payer some kind of "people's lobby" were to be created advocating single-payer as a first step towards socialized health care which could bring the required and needed maximum participation in this struggle by the American people to force this corporate bribed U.S. Congress to for once act in the best interest of the American people instead of the corporate interests they have been bribed to serve.



In addition, at this point, single-payer may not even receive the fake hearing that Nancy Pelosi originally agreed to give it since the only U.S. Congressman, House member Weiner, now appears to be reneging on the commitment he made to bring single-payer forward in Committee.



And this, below, is a very important statement as it completely refutes the lies begun by Sarah Palin now being peddled by the racist and fascist Tea Baggers and their Birchite and Klan backers:

Bob Schmetzer from the IBEW spoke up next. “People need health care. But they don’t need insurance companies taking more than 20 percent in administrative costs while single-payer plans like Medicare take two or three percent. “Real death panels exist already; they’re called insurance companies denying coverage.”

Unfortunately, Schmetzer proclaimed the following, below, which we all know is not true and will not happen unless there is a massive organized rank-and-file awakening across this country demanding such action because to date such talk has been just that--- talk, with no action to back it up:

Then Schmetzer delivered the warning of the hour from labor. Referring to both the outgoing and expected incoming presidents of the AFL-CIO, he added that “both John Sweeny and Richard Trumka have been very clear. We’re going to examine every vote in Congress, and those that don’t come through for us shouldn’t expect any support when reelection time comes around.”

I would encourage each and every single worker paying union dues going to support the AFL-CIO to closely monitor this "warning" while taking action--- including open letters to Richard Trumka and petitions based upon this "warning"--- insisting that the leadership of the AFL-CIO makes good on this threat.



What are the issues not addressed in this article:



There is not a single mention by any of those quoted here, that these wars and militarization along with squandering trillions of tax-payers dollars building and maintaining over 800 U.S. military bases on foreign soil is the single largest contributor to "deficit spending."



Perhaps Congressman Altmire had been challenged when he stated this; but, if he was, Davidson certainly was remiss in not reporting what exchange, if any, developed:

At this point, Altmire engaged the discussion. “When it comes to health care, first of all, I’m a ‘deficit hawk,’” he led off. “Any plan that increases our deficit, I will oppose. Any plan that doesn’t, I will give a fair hearing.” The “deficit hawk” label is one Altmire pinned on himself when he recently joined the ‘Blue Dog’ caucus of right-leaning House Democrats, a move that didn’t sit well with the local labor forces who helped his campaign.

Obviously, with Obama himself acknowledging that he has plunged our Nation on course towards a $9 trillion dollar federal deficit throughout his term of office should it be two terms, there is no government spending of any kind which would not rise to Congressman Altmire's definition of "increasing our deficit." Although, as previously stated, Congressman Altmire has no objections what-so-ever when it comes to squandering our tax-dollars on any and every military expenditure. .. all of which contribute to increasing the federal deficit.



It would have been very simple to have challenged Altmire at this point by insisting that he explain his complete and total disregard for using the same thinking regarding health care and militarism and war.



Let us be perfectly clear:



Single-payer universal health care is, for all intents and purposes, legislatively dead... dead because, with the help of the Progressive Democrats of America, Barack Obama killed single-payer at the time he made sure single-payer was not included in the National Democratic Party Platform.



The issue before single-payer advocates is not PROVING single-payer is a best alternative to anything that anyone in Congress or Obama has brought forward to date...



Like the 72% of the delegates to Minnesota's Farmer-Labor State Convention who endorsed a resolution for single-payer universal health care one can go to any nook and cranny in this country and find solid and unwavering support for single-payer universal health care.



Now, what we need is the kind of movement taking the kind of required action... some kind of very well organized massive "people's lobby" which brings forward into action all those supporting single-payer and the only way to get this kind of momentum is by expanding beyond the demand for single-payer to include a vastly expanded public health care sector, the cheapest and most efficient way to deliver health care: publicly funded, publicly administered and PUBLICLY DELIVERED... it is this public delivery we need to include to bring Americans out in full force to win progressive health care reform... and, let us be perfectly clear: public delivery of health care services has nothing in common with Barack Obama's and the Democrat's public option which will only benefit the middle class and the wealthy but will be of no use or value to the working class--- at least those workers making less than $60,000.00 a year... and I don't see many workers around making that kind of money in America today with so much of our basic industries having moved into high-profit areas over-seas.



The one and only real issue before us as liberals, progressives, the left and the entire working class is this:

How do we force Barack Obama and the United States Congress to pass HR 676 along with vastly expanding public health care? This is the only question remaining.

We know those Blue-Dogs like Altmire and most of the rest of the United States Congress including both the House (and more-so) the Senate are completely and totally opposed to single-payer. .. there is not going to be any "convincing" them that single-payer is anything other than the first step towards solving this health care mess... these health industry and wholly corporate bribed politicians are going to have to be forced to pass single-payer; my gosh, that won't even adequately fund VA, the Indian Health Service or even the National Public Health Service as mandated by the very laws they passed.



Given that Barack Obama's popularity in the polls is rapidly dropping; we have a "window of opportunity" of only about 14 months before we end up with a substantially more reactionary congress.



Actually, it wouldn't be a bad idea for the AFL-CIO and Richard Trumka to not only withdraw their funding from these crooked and corrupt politicians who are only swayed by corporate bribes... but use these funds to create a worker's party free from the corruption of the Democratic Party, and build this new party on the basis of reordering the priorities away from war and military spending and towards meeting the needs of the people--- beginning with real health care reform... and, this is the message that working people should be delivering to the politicians of this country whether-or-not labor officialdom is prepared to act... there is no reason grassroots and rank-and-file activists who have been working for single-payer universal health care and peace and social and economic justice can't put what they have learned in these struggles together and come up with a very credible political alternative to this two-party trap that is only heald together by corruption, racism and war--- all those dirty things that every decent American is opposed to.



I notice from this article by Carl Davidson that the health related issue of some two-million casino workers emloyed in smoke-filled casinos at poverty wages without any rights under state and federal labor laws in the Indian Gaming Industry is still not being addressed even though if anyone in this country seriously wants to talk about cutting health care costs, making these casinos smoke-free would be the place to begin.



I am convinced that our Organizing Council has always had the most appropriate position when it comes to single-payer universal health care and that it should be viewed as a first step towards socialized health care... had the entire movement for single-payer taken this stand, we probably wouldn't be "in a pickle today"... perhaps the difference between winning and losing this struggle for real progressive health care reform since Barack Obama and most of those in congress have been working for the Wall Street crowd so lavishly bribing them.



Alan L. Maki
Director of Organizing,
Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council

58891 County Road 13
Warroad, Minnesota 56763
Phone: 218-386-2432
Check out my blog:
http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/

Cc: Maggie Bird
President,
Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council

Western PA vs. Blue Dogs:

Progressive Democrats

Take ‘Medicare for All’

To Congressman Altmire



By Carl Davidson

Beaver County Blue



Progressive Democrats and labor unions in the 4th Congressional District west of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania held a special meeting on health care reform Aug 20 with Congressman Jason Altmire at the Beaver County Community College Student Union in Center Township. The roundtable discussion with Altmire was pulled together by the 4th CD Progressive Democrats of America (PDA).



The discussion was civil but the issues were sharply posed. If Altmire votes against the Weiner Amendment for single-payer health care (HR 676) when it comes to the floor in Congress in a few weeks, it won’t be because he hasn’t heard strong and passionate arguments for “Medicare for All.”



Seated around a large conference table were nearly 20 representatives of important grassroots players in the district’s politics—the Beaver County Labor Council, United Steel Workers union, the Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees, the Electrical Workers Union (IBEW Local 712), Western PA Progressive Network, Western PA Coalition for Single Payer Health Care, the PA Association of Staff Nurses, PDA, Beaver County Peace Links, and several others.



“We all know why we’re here,” stated Tina Shannon, 4th CD PDA Chairperson. “Our people are hurting. The economic crisis is taking away our jobs and health care, and the insurance companies are making matters worse. We want everyone here to speak their minds, so Congressman Altmire knows exactly what we want from him.”



Lou Hancherick from Democracy for America in Butler County started off by denouncing the current health insurance system as a “trap of the insurance companies.” “It’s really modeled on slavery, at least for many of us. You’re bound to your employer, even if it’s a lousy job and you have better prospects elsewhere. If you’re older or have what they call a ‘pre-existing’ condition, you often can’t get insured with a new employer. You can’t start a business, so it hurts job creation as well.”



Bob Schmetzer from the IBEW spoke up next. “People need health care. But they don’t need insurance companies taking more than 20 percent in administrative costs while single-payer plans like Medicare take two or three percent. “Real death panels exist already; they’re called insurance companies denying coverage.”



Then Schmetzer delivered the warning of the hour from labor. Referring to both the outgoing and expected incoming presidents of the AFL-CIO, he added that “both John Sweeny and Richard Trumka have been very clear. We’re going to examine every vote in Congress, and those that don’t come through for us shouldn’t expect any support when reelection time comes around.”



“I know you’ve stated your concern for health care costs,” said Tina Shannon to Altmire when her turn came. “So I’ve done some research about how single payer has been rated over the years.” She delivered a wealth of statistics and a timeline going back decades showing that proposed legislation on single payer scored better than private insurance every time for delivering wider coverage at less cost.



Why does single payer win on costs, Shannon asked? “Because single payer doesn’t have to deliver profits to insurance companies. From 2000 to 2006, the insurance companies’ profits doubled. Kaiser alone reported that it paid some $96 million just to its top four consultants. For what? Think of what could have been done with that!”



Shannon was followed by Dr. Joe Talarico, an anesthesiologist from Zelienople in Butler County, and chair of the Western PA Progressive Network. Talarico focused on the quality of health care, arguing that the insurance companies had little regard for it.



“I’ve never had an insurance company even talk to me on the quality of services I delivered,” he said. “But I have been nudged by Medicare.” Government responsiveness to demands for quality, he added, had turned around the VA hospital in Butler from what was once “basically a detox center for alcoholics 30 years ago” to what is now a medical center with some of the highest quality care in the country. “And remember,” he concluded, “with the VA, you’ve got socialized medicine that reaches beyond single payer. It refutes the claim that government can’t do anything positive.”



“It’s been downhill ever since Reagan,” followed Sandy Moore, a nurse from New Castle, PA and a member of the Lawrence County Progressive Democrats. “Under our existing privatized system, we’re faced with more sick people and fewer nurses. From the things I’ve seen with school children ill and with no insurance, doing away with school nurses is truly frightening.” Addressing Altmire directly, she concluded with, “What’s the problem with people having an option to the insurance companies?”



Cathy Gatian, a PDA steering committee member and lab technician residing in Center Township, reminded Altmire of a recent painful episode in local health care, the closing of the former Aliquippa Community Hospital.



“Like the No Child Left Behind Act, this legislation you’re proposing, the ‘Quality First Act,’ would reward state-of-the- art, well-endowed urban hospitals and penalize already distressed small rural and non-urban hospitals. Quality healthcare is needed in rural and non-urban areas too. In Aliquippa, we benefitted from access to a community hospital built by the steelworkers. In the current market-based medical system, this gem in our industrial community was swallowed up and spit out by UPMC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center). Aliquippa Community Hospital is gone. It no longer exists. The building it once occupied is vacant.”



“By contrast,” Gatian added, “HR676 provides for regional allocation of operating budgets, capital expenditure budgets and reimbursements to clinicians. It also establishes the Office of Quality Control. Therefore with Medicare for All, small communities like Aliquippa, rather than being punished could enjoy the highest quality healthcare service.”



Next up was Janet Hill, from the USW staff and also a PDA member from Beaver, PA.

“We have a healthcare emergency,” Declared Hill. “Fifty million people have no health insurance, and lack of economic security has led to even more people having their care delayed or denied. Many companies are going bankrupt, and anyone employed at a bankrupt company loses their insurance.”



“Insurance companies are inefficient and wasteful,” Hill continued. “Twenty to 30 percent of health care dollars are going to administration and profit – not to health care. This is just a private tax by insurance companies on the majority of people who have health insurance. The American people wouldn’t accept that kind of overhead in charities so why should we in health care? Is there any benefit for the people being taxed? At least with gas taxes, I get to drive on the roads. No, it goes to people like Dale Wolf, the head of Coventry Health Care who made 20.86 million last year.”



Randy Shannon, PDA’s Treasurer, focused on the role of health care in the economy. “About 10 percent of all jobs, and 12 percent of all wages,” he explained, “are part of providing health care and maintaining its infrastructure. But the existing setup is irrational. If we had single payer over private insurance, the extra money going to healthcare instead of insurance would create 2.6 million new jobs and $317 billion in new business revenues. Direct healthcare spending of one dollar creates three dollars in the economy.”



Del Linville, a former Obama campaign volunteer, pointed out that most young adults do not have healthcare, but in other countries everyone is covered. “Where is our compassion? This is an uncaring system. Congress is not cutting costs by leaving the insurance companies in the system.”



Maryanne Weaver, a Democratic Committee member from New Castle pointed out that Altmire needs to take into account the needs of the people if he wants to get re-elected. She pointed out that his election was won by a coalition that included progressive and center Democrats that he cannot afford to lose. She also condemned the waste in insurance company advertising and profits and the $1.5 million per day lobbying expenses to prevent health reform.



Ed Grystar, the co-chair of the W. PA Coalition for Single Payer Healthcare, and an organizer for the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses & Associated Professionals pointed out that private corporations are taking over community hospitals and eliminating nursing staff and cutting pay and benefits to nurses. He added: "Real reform just can't happen under the domination of the insurance companies. They'll turn any public option into what we call 'junk insurance.' It's got so many holes in it and so pay co-pays that it's
worthless.”


"Their idea of reform,” Grystar continued, “is to force those without insurance to buy ‘junk’ insurance. More guaranteed customers for insurance companies, less real coverage, and more profits. It's a welfare program for them, while we get nothing worthwhile."



At this point, Altmire engaged the discussion. “When it comes to health care, first of all, I’m a ‘deficit hawk,’” he led off. “Any plan that increases our deficit, I will oppose. Any plan that doesn’t, I will give a fair hearing.” The “deficit hawk” label is one Altmire pinned on himself when he recently joined the ‘Blue Dog’ caucus of right-leaning House Democrats, a move that didn’t sit well with the local labor forces who helped his campaign.



“To your credit, you’ll get an up-or-down vote on single payer” Altmire continued, referring to the recent deal struck by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with the twenty percent of Congress backing HR 676 and the movement behind them. “You’ve won that. But that also means HR 676 will be ‘scored’ by CBO, the Congressional Budget Office, as to what it would cost. They are tough, but fairly objective. If HR 676 comes out as not increasing the deficit, then I will have to look long and hard at it. But until it’s scored, we’re in a holding pattern.”



“Many of you here think I’m in the pocket of the insurance companies because of their donations to my campaign,” Altmire continued, dealing with that topic. “But let me assure you, that’s not the first thing I think of when the words ‘insurance companies’ crosses my mind.” He went on to tell how he was denied coverage for reconstructive knee surgery from old sports-related injuries.



Altmire also insisted he wasn’t simply a nay-sayer on health care reform. “I don’t want us to end up with nothing, for all the reasons stated here tonight.” He shared a story of a confrontation at a Town Hall session where “a very angry woman got in my face, very upset. She didn’t want to pay for anything for people who had no insurance. ‘It’s their tough luck, she said, they should have made better choices in life.’ I decided to reply by telling her that she was already paying for the uninsured, in the most inefficient and most costly way, when they showed up at emergency rooms.”



“She suddenly softened,” Altmire added, “and told me she had learned that was true after examining a bill for a recent hospital procedure she had been through. ‘I checked every item, and every one was way overcharged. When I asked why, they told me they had to charge more from those who could pay, to make up for those who couldn’t pay.’ So in this way, I could find some common ground that things couldn’t stay as they are.”



Despite being interesting and insightful, Altmire’s comments were hardly disarming to those at this meeting.



Tina Shannon responded that the true cause of the high hospital and other medical bills is the for profit delivery of healthcare and the insurance company overhead. Charlie Hamilton responded that we have a really good single payer system already – Medicare.



“We understand deficits, borrowing from the future,” said Randy Shannon, replying to Altmire’s central argument. “We also know that they’re not always bad. It’s one thing to go out and run up the credit card buying cases of beer. It’s something else altogether to spend and invest the public’s money in providing medical care and building new health facilities. The latter has a multiplier effect, adding new value and new growth in the economy that brings back two or three times the amount initially laid out.” Shannon referred Altmire to a new study on the role of health care spending as a positive economic stimulus.



Marion Prasjner, a PDA steering committee member from Raccoon Township, and president of the Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees (SOAR), followed up. “It’s not just about money. All these 45 or 50 million people uninsured—this is all wrong. In the steelworkers, we learn that we help each other, and only by helping each other, do we all get ahead. There’s a moral question here. It’s terrible, all these ads they’re running on TV—Me, me, me, it’s all about ‘me.’ All then all these people getting rich from it. It’s not about cost; it’s about greed. And that makes it a class struggle. If that’s what they want, so be it. They’re not going to win that battle. But thank you for listening, Congressman.”



As the session was winding down, Geri DeSena, a PDA activist from Aliquippa, took the floor. “We want to remind you that the city councils of both Aliquippa and Ambridge have passed resolutions in favor of HR 676, and they urge you to vote for it.” She handed Altmire his own official copies of the text.



Although Congressman Altmire was warned by several people not to support a bill that mandates citizens to buy private insurance without a low cost public option, he did not commit to voting against such as bill. He also did not commit to supporting the Weiner amendment. When reminded that HR 676 was actually a net revenue saver, Altmire stated that previous versions of HR 676 had spending caps while the present version did not. This statement is untrue, as there has never been a limit to healthcare benefit coverage under HR 676. Altmire also stated that a health insurance co-op would have the same value as a public Medicare option, although this position has been thoroughly discredited because the coops will not have the size to compete with private insurance.



Although the meeting did not move Altmire, it did show him that there was a wide and deep alliance of progressive Democrats and union members who expect him to support serious healthcare reform by expanding Medicare. It also served to strengthen the unity of the coalition fighting for healthcare reform in the 4th Congressional District. And it enabled the groups to come together and argue their positions for single payer healthcare.



Through efforts like these, and more to come, the popular alliance for decent health care for all becomes more conscious, more united and stronger and keeps drawing more allies to its side. Meanwhile those on the other side are more constrained, less credible and wind up painting themselves into a corner. It’s time for Altmire to consider the class nature of the vast majority of his constituents. Their interests are not the same as the insurance companies and banks that would sabotage and deny public health care for all. Otherwise he might find that his ticket of admission to the Blue Dogs has a very steep and not-so-hidden delayed price to pay.



[Carl Davidson is a National Co-chair of Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism--- a small splinter group broken from the Communist Party USA as well as webmaster for ‘Progressives for Obama’

The United States has 800 military bases on foreign soil...

What we need--- instead--- is 800 public health care centers spread out across the United States where people can universally access, for free, all their health care needs from pre-natal care, to general health care to eye, dental and mental care right through to burial.

Instead of moving in this progressive direction, President Barack Obama and the United States Congress are moving in a most reactionary direction towards establishing military bases in outer space as they seek to insure the profits of both the merchants of death and destruction and the profit-driven health care industries... talk about skewed priorities and your wacky ideas devoid of common sense.

In addition to these 800 U.S. military bases on foreign soil, Barack Obama and the United States Congress continue funding--- with our tax-dollars--- the Israeli killing machine to the tune of tens of billions of dollars.

A network of 800 public health care centers spread out across the United States would create over four-million good-paying, decent jobs--- talk about your "economic stimulus" package!

We would be planting the seeds of socialism while helping to eradicate poverty as we keep people healthy and get them well when sick.

Think about this kind of solution in relation to what Barack Obama, the U.S. Congress and the Wall Street bankers and coupon clippers are offering the American people, and the peoples of the world... just what is the reason for bailing out the banks and AIG and maintaining more than 800 expensive U.S. military bases of foreign soil?

The Mt. Carmel Clinic in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada offers us a glimpse at what militarization and wars continue to rob us of.

The problems created by Wall Street will not be solved as long as the military-financial-industrial complex is allowed to squander human and natural resources on militarism and wars... we might just as well be dumping these resources out into the ocean... at least no one would die in wars.

These merchants of death and destruction must be stopped if humanity is to survive in a livable world.

The time has come to talk about the working class Marxist politics and economics of livelihood... capitalism has failed humanity miserably and left us a real mess.

Something for working people to think about and discuss around the dinner table... the capitalist sooth-Sayers certainly are not going to broach such solutions to the problems of working people as they hide behind the skirt of Rosy Scenario as this global capitalist economic depression intensifies.

Alan Maki

Why we need a comprehensive all inclusive People's Bailout

From school children going hungry to people without access to health care all complicated by a capitalist economic system on the "skids to oblivion," we need a National "People's Bailout" in keeping with the "Minnesota People's Bailout" to begin solving the problems of the working class.

This article appeared today...

As we travel down this short, bumpy road to perdition, the needs of working people are only an after-thought, when thought about at all, by Barack Obama and the Democrats...

Republicans have never had concern for anyone except the National Association of Manufacturers and the Chamber of Commerce...

Obama and the Democrats are now directly looking after the needs of Wall Street bankers and coupon clippers in a way these business organizations never could.

Here is one of thousands of such articles appearing about health care:

Obama's Billions for Health Care leave unemployed workers sick in the cold---


"Uncertainty over new health safety net for jobless"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090301/ap_on_go_pr_wh/stimulus_health_insurance

Associated Press Writer Erica Werner,

Sun Mar 1, 2009

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration rushed to include a health care safety net for laid-off workers in the recently signed stimulus bill, but has not told employers exactly how to make it work.

As a result, tens of thousands of jobless people could wait months before getting help paying for health insurance that their employers previously had covered.

"Too many people are still trying to figure this out," said Heath Weems, director of human resources policy at the National Association of Manufacturers. "There is a lot of confusion."

At issue is the program called COBRA, the acronym for the law that allows workers to keep their company's health insurance plan for 18 months after they leave their job, if they pay the premiums.

The policies are so expensive that only a minority of eligible workers sign up, often those with medical conditions that demand attention. Costs for a family of four can top $1,000 per month.

A $25 billion provision in the stimulus bill aimed to cut COBRA's price tag, reducing its cost by 65 percent for workers laid off as far back as Sept. 1.

The bill gives eligible workers 60 days to apply. Then they get the reduced-cost premium for nine months.

But it's not going to happen right away.

Employers are waiting for instructions from the Labor Department and the Internal Revenue Service on how to put the program into place. Both agencies posted some information online Thursday.

Until employers get the guidance they need and notify potentially eligible ex-employees, most workers will not apply for the new benefit. Many probably will not know it exists.

Left waiting are people such as Cassandra J. Kelsey, 55. The District of Columbia resident lost her job with Verizon in January. She says she can barely pay her rent and is eating less to save money to cover the $550 a month premium to keep her health coverage under COBRA.

Kelsey walks with a cane and lists a litany of ailments, including degenerative arthritis and hypertension. For her, going without health insurance is unthinkable.

Outside a D.C. career center on a recent morning, Kelsey clutched copies of her COBRA invoice, clippings from a local newspaper about the stimulus bill and a form letter she received from the White House after writing to Obama about her troubles.

Kelsey knew about the reduced premium and said it would bring her COBRA costs below $200 a month. But when she called her benefits department, she was distressed to learn that she would not be able to get the reduced cost immediately, probably not until May.

"I can't take advantage of it now which I think is totally unfair," Kelsey said. "I don't know how I'm going to make it."

The stimulus bill contemplated that workers might not get the reduced premium immediately, and contains a provision that would allow them to be reimbursed later on.

That would be little help to Kelsey and others who need the benefit now.

An IRS spokesman said the agency is moving as fast as it can. A Labor Department spokeswoman responded to questions with an e-mail linking to a short agency fact sheet.

One question that employers are struggling with is how to go back and find employees who were laid off as far back as September.

Also, the legislation says only workers who were "involuntarily terminated" are eligible, but never defines that term. Does it include only people who are laid off? Or those who take buyouts offered by their employers?

No one knows how many people will actually seek a share of the stimulus money to pay their COBRA premiums. Congressional experts estimated 7 million, but that may be too high.

Advocates fear that even cut-rate COBRA could prove too little, too late for some jobless Americans.

"For many people it will remain unaffordable," said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA.