Universal Health Care

Written by: Cindy P on Jul 24, 2008 4:12 PM EDT

Linked to groups: Health Care for America Organizers

From 2000 – 2005 in Pennsylvania the employer share for premiums for individuals went up 65.8% and the employees share increased 104.7%.  For family coverage the employer share went up 73.2% and the employee share went up 85.6%. In this same period the number of Pennsylvanians receiving health insurance through employment decreased by an estimated 450,000 people.

The numbered of uninsured Pennsylvanians rose by an estimated 291,000 from 2000 to 2005 to 1,196,000.  An undetermined number were underinsured.

More than one-third of all hospitals in Pennsylvania are in significant distress, and two-thirds are performing at levels considered below long-term economic viability.

Doctors have the license to practice medicine, but they are told what treatments can be given patients by bureaucrats whose job it is to increase the bottom line of the health insurance industry. The current health insurance industry is focused on profits, which is maximized by denying health care to millions of Americans.

From 2001 to 2005, the total profit realized by Pennsylvania health insurance companies grew from almost $462 million to $810 million. The percentage of dollars these companies spend on health care decreased from 87.08% to 50.85%.

Surpluses, not funds needed for claims, maintained by Pennsylvania’s health insurers grew nearly $5.6 billion in 2001 to $8.5 billion in 2005.

FACT: The Market is setting the value of human life and limb.

Tobacco Use: In 2004, health care costs related to tobacco use in Pennsylvania topped $5 billion.

Health Care Solution:

The Family and Business Health Security Act is currently in the Pennsylvania House as HB 1660 and in the Pennsylvania Senate as SB 300. It is a Doctor and Patient Run Health Care System. I believe that with hard work this bill can be passed and that we will ultimately have a Health Care system in this state that will be benificial to patients, doctors, businesses, and unions. It is a tough challenge but together we can rise to meet it. The Bill, in its final form will ultimately achieve the following:

1. All Pennsylvanians will receive comprehensive coverage that will include:
    Medical                                                Hospitalization
    Dental Care                                        Prescription Drugs
    Mental Health                                     Physical Therapy
    Emergency Transport                       Hospice Care
    Addiction Treatment                         Long-Term Care
    Preventive Medicine 

No Co-Pays or deductibles. Patients will choose their doctors. Doctors will be in charge of care.

2. The wasteful/welfare payments to the inefficient health care insurance industry will be REPLACED. Businesses will pay 10% of payroll and citizens 3% of earnings. See examples below.

Business Payments                                       Individual/Family Payments
Payroll  $ 50,000 =     $ 5,000                        Earnings$ 10,000 = $  300.00
Payroll $100,000 =    $10,000                       Earnings$ 50,000 = $1,500.00
Payroll $1,000,000 = $100,000                    Earnings$100,000 = $3,000.00

The revenues go into a Public Fund which cannot be raided for any other use.  The doctors, hospitals and other health care providers are all paid from this Public Fund. Gone are the (in some cases hundreds of) different insurance forms creating a huge overhead cost for the health care professionals.

3. The thousands of employees who will be displaced as the health care industry is replaced will be given compensation for two years and will receive help with retraining. They will find plenty of jobs waiting as hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians will finally be able to get their annual exams, have dental work and a myriad of medical services that were not previously available to them. No longer will we have the have-nots standing with their faces pressed up against the window, forced to beg for help when they are ill.

4. To address the growing need for volunteer firefighters and EMTs in our rural areas, this bill will give a $1,000 tax rebate for PA taxes to active volunteers.

5. To address the need to spend the taxpayers money wisely, the plan will initiate a Certificate of Need program. Hospitals and health care providers who are in close proximity to others will need to justify spending funds on expensive equipment that may be readable available to patients at other institutions, while rural areas may receive funding to help them provide this same equipment to their patients.

6. Funding of a 21st century digital medical record system that will be cost-efficient, eliminate redundant testing, and will reduce prescription and treatment errors.

7. Establish a culture of wellness through:
    A fully funded K – 12 health education and physical fitness curriculum.
    Identifying and eliminating environmental health risks.

Political Will: There are many elected officials from the local levels to those running for President of the United States who have said that there is no political will to truly fix our health care system. Governor after Governor has turned his back on providing health care to everyone with the savings derived from eliminating the wasteful/welfare program that is our health insurance industry. I salute Governor Rendell for taking the stance that Single Payer Health Care myst be our goal; however, I feel that we must be working harder to reach that goal before his term in office expires. The Governor has said he would sign such a bill into law, it is the job of the House and the Senate to get it to his desk.

Please Contribute to my campaign today to help make this a reality, and on November 4th please remember to vote for me for Senate in the 49th District.

Tags: