Single Payer Insurance Once More

Although I have been busy recently I know I must get back up on my soapbox once more.  (More about what I have been up to in a future post).

While the Insurance companies pile up record profits the uninformed continue to think that privatizing Medicare and Medicaid is the answer.  Pleeeze!    Because Bernie Sanders in the Senate and James McDermott in the House have introduced Single payer legislation that would deny the bloated Insurance companies their obscene profits I am  pleading with everyone, young and old, to make a ruckus.  

The Bernie Sander's bill is  S011 and the McDermott bill is HIR 2011.   Contact your representatives repeatedly and let them know you strongly support these bills.  Call, write letters, send e-mails and let them know we are tired of being at the mercy of the insurance and pharmaceutical industries.   And if you think your representative won't listen to you just remember what the people of Wisconsin did.  The insurance and pharmaceutical industries will spend billions to insure that these bills never see the light of day UNLESS we, the people, make it known to our representatives that they will be defeated in the next election if they ignore the will of the people.  All the money in the world can't influence the Congress and Senate if the electorate let them know we are watching and acting. 

California isn't waiting for the Federal Government to act.  They have introduced legislation that is similar to Medicare for all.  Here is a brief summary of comments from Sen. Mark Leno, Scaremento, CA.

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Universal Health Care Act, authored by Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco). Senate Bill 810 guarantees all Californians comprehensive, universal health care while containing ballooning health care costs and improving the quality of care and delivery of health services statewide. 

“Our single payer plan not only guarantees universal coverage for all Californians, but also contains health care costs, which is essential to solving our state budget crisis in the long term.”

SB 810 creates a private-public partnership to provide every California resident medical, dental, vision, hospitalization and prescription drug benefits and allows patients to choose their own doctors and hospitals. This single payer, “Medicare for All” type of program works by pooling together the money that government, employers and individuals already spend on health care and putting it to better use by cutting out the for-profit middle man.

California currently spends $200 billion annually on a fragmented, inefficient health care system that wastes 30% of every dollar on administration. Under Senate Bill 810, that wasteful spending is eliminated. The bill 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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2000 years ago the great Jewish scholar,Hillel, said:

If I am not for myself, who will be for me?

If I am only for myself, what am I?

           And, if not now, when?

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Wisconsin and California are showing what a populist movement can achieve.  Are we all ready to take back our Democracy or are we going to remain passive thinking it will do no good to write our legislators?   Talk to your family, your neighbors, your blogging friends and your e-mail buddies.  Spread the word that action will get results.  Inaction will get us 'screwed'.