http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/11/08-0
Why I Voted NO
by Dennis Kucinich
We have been led to believe that we must make our health care
choices only within the current structure of a predatory,
for-profit insurance system which makes money not providing health
care. We cannot fault the insurance companies for being what they
are. But we can fault legislation in which the government
incentivizes the perpetuation, indeed the strengthening, of the
for-profit health insurance industry, the very source of the
problem. When health insurance companies deny care or raise
premiums, co-pays and deductibles they are simply trying to make a
profit. That is our system.
Clearly, the insurance companies are the problem, not the
solution. They are driving up the cost of health care. Because
their massive bureaucracy avoids paying bills so effectively, they
force hospitals and doctors to hire their own bureaucracy to fight
the insurance companies to avoid getting stuck with an unfair
share of the bills. The result is that since 1970, the number of
physicians has increased by less than 200% while the number of
administrators has increased by 3000%. It is no wonder that 31
cents of every health care dollar goes to administrative costs,
not toward providing care. Even those with insurance are at risk.
The single biggest cause of bankruptcies in the U.S. is health
insurance policies that do not cover you when you get sick.
But instead of working toward the elimination of for-profit
insurance, H.R. 3962 would put the government in the role of
accelerating the privatization of health care. In H.R. 3962, the
government is requiring at least 21 million Americans to buy
private health insurance from the very industry that causes costs
to be so high, which will result in at least $70 billion in new
annual revenue, much of which is coming from taxpayers. This
inevitably will lead to even more costs, more subsidies, and
higher profits for insurance companies - a bailout under a blue cross.
By incurring only a new requirement to cover pre-existing
conditions, a weakened public option, and a few other important
but limited concessions, the health insurance companies are
getting quite a deal. The Center for American Progress' blog,
Think Progress, states, 'since the President signaled that he is
backing away from the public option, health insurance stocks have
been on the rise.' Similarly, healthcare stocks rallied when
Senator Max Baucus introduced a bill without a public option.
Bloomberg reports that Curtis Lane, a prominent health industry
investor, predicted a few weeks ago that 'money will start flowing
in again' to health insurance stocks after passage of the
legislation. Investors.com last month reported that pharmacy
benefit managers share prices are hitting all-time highs, with the
only industry worry that the Administration would reverse its
decision not to negotiate Medicare Part D drug prices, leaving in
place a Bush Administration policy.
During the debate, when the interests of insurance companies would
have been effectively challenged, that challenge was turned back.
The 'robust public option' which would have offered a modicum of
competition to a monopolistic industry was whittled down from an
initial potential enrollment of 129 million Americans to 6
million. An amendment which would have protected the rights of
states to pursue single-payer health care was stripped from the
bill at the request of the Administration. Looking ahead, we
cringe at the prospect of even greater favors for insurance companies.
Recent rises in unemployment indicate a widening separation
between the finance economy and the real economy. The finance
economy considers the health of Wall Street, rising corporate
profits, and banks' hoarding of cash, much of it from taxpayers,
as sign of an economic recovery. However in the real economy - in
which most Americans live - the recession is not over. Rising
unemployment, business failures, bankruptcies and foreclosures are
still hammering Main Street.
This health care bill continues the redistribution of wealth to
Wall Street at the expense of America's manufacturing and service
economies which suffer from costs other countries do not have to
bear, especially the cost of health care. America continues to
stand out among all industrialized nations for its privatized
health care system. As a result, we are less competitive in steel,
automotive, aerospace and shipping while other countries subsidize
their exports in these areas through socializing the cost of
health care.
Notwithstanding the fate of H.R. 3962, America will someday come
to recognize the broad social and economic benefits of a
not-for-profit, single-payer health care system, which is good for
the American people and good for America's businesses, with of
course the notable exceptions being insurance and pharmaceuticals.
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