Single-Payer insurance could help solve U.S. health care crisis

[antigop]

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/02/business/health.php?page=1

International Herald Tribune
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What is the most pressing problem facing the U.S. economy? A good case can be made for the developing health care crisis. Soaring costs, growing ranks of uninsured and a steady erosion of corporate health benefits add up to a giant drag on the country's future prosperity.

While the outlook seems scary, it doesn't have to be. There is a solution, proven effective for hundreds of millions of people: single-payer health insurance.

Yes, single-payer — that much-maligned idea that calls for everyone to pay into one insurer, typically the government or a public agency. The insurer then pays doctors, pharmacists and hospitals at preset rates. Patients who want unapproved procedures and doctors not willing to accept the standard payment remain free to deal with one another directly, outside the system.

Such a system makes it much easier to deal with the growing costs of medical care, like administrative expenses and prescription drugs. It could also reduce the mountains of paperwork plaguing the current system and provide insurance coverage for the 46 million Americans now doing without it.
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[Demeter]

1. It would fix a lot of problems:

retiree health insurance burdens on companies, small business competitiveness, nobody but the insurers would be hurting, and they would probably actually get better returns out of the business, too.

[rurallib]

2. Gee, once our politicians see how much sense this makes

they will pass it tomorrow!
The only way to make this happen is to take health insurance away from Congress and not give it back til everyone is covered. Health is a commodity in this country.

[antigop]

4. Yes, let's demand that Congress lose its health insurance

They get their cadillac pensions and medical plans -- make them live like the rest of us!

[twilight_sailing]

3. I wish we were a modern country

[demodonkey]

5. It must include "long term" care, and make homecare an option...

... when someone has a devastating stroke, or gets a traumatic brain injury, or even loses their memory and mind due to Alzheimer's, this is a medical problem and for it THEY NEED CARE. And the care should be available in their own homes as much as possible, not by being warehoused in an institution.

People who work all their lives and save; if they are unlucky enough to get hit with a tragedy like the above, and as it is now they -- and their families -- have to lose pretty much everything to get a little care. This is unacceptable, un-American, and downright immoral!

http://www.paelderlaw.com/targets.html#3

And God help you if you are the adult child of who has contributed work and money to a family farm or business:
http://www.paelderlaw.com/family_farm.html#1
http://www.paelderlaw.com/Medicare_Figures.html#2

Another criminal act of Bush and Company and his Rethuglican Congress -- take money that could be used for sick and old people's care and use it for war funding!

http://www.paelderlaw.com/DRA_seniors_at_risk.html

Dems need to repeal this "Deficit Reduction Act" ASAP. The best way to reduce the deficit is get out of Iraq and help people HERE AT HOME who need it!

[endarkenment]

6. File this under: no duh

Oh and well over 60% of the population supports just such a system. The funny thing is, it never gets proposed by any 'serious' candidates.

In other news Big Pharma and Big HealthCo once again reported record profits. CEO compensation packages in the health industry reached another record.

Who loses with UHC?

                                     comp (thou)  5yr    stock (mil) age 
3  William W McGuire  UnitedHealth Group 124,774   342,284    31.1   57 
4  Howard Solomon  Forest Labs            92,116   294,895   241.7   77 
7  Edwin M Crawford  Caremark Rx          77,864   93,563      3.2   56 
26 Raymond V Gilmartin  Merck & Co        37,787   49,629     21.0   64 
46 Larry C Glasscock  WellPoint           24,970   46,787     34.0   57

http://www.forbes.com/static/execpay2005/company.html

[GOPBasher]

7. That's what bugs me so much. A strong majority of the population

supports this, but the Democrats, even after a huge victory, are still too scared to propose it.