The Black Commentator - May 24, 2007

There is good news on the horizon and it has to do with getting quality, guaranteed healthcare for every person in the United States - from womb to tomb. Michael Moore’s new film SICKO will dramatize the problem of healthcare in America – graphically demonstrating why our country is ranked #38 in the provision of healthcare for our people, just one notch above the country of Slovenia. Why do we need quality guaranteed healthcare for everybody? Is there anyone out there who is not yet convinced?

See the film. Tell the following stories from the people in our country struggling to survive with insecure and unjust healthcare coverage. And be sure to tell people that there is a solution in the offing!

Remember the life of Deamonte Driver. Portions of his story are excerpted here as posted by Mary Otto of the Washington Post.

Twelve-year-old Deamonte Driver died of a toothache in February. A routine, $80 tooth extraction might have saved him.

Response from Healthcare-NOW: If the United States National Health Insurance Act had been in place, Deamonte Driver would be alive today. Under H.R. 676, every child (and every adult) is entitled to quality dental care. Deamonte might have had a brilliant future as a poet, a Congressperson, a farmer, a carpenter, a dentist himself. His mother might be looking forward to grandchildren instead of being grief-stricken and broken-hearted.

If we had a guaranteed national single payer healthcare system, that is.

If his mother had been insured. If his family had not lost its Medicaid. If Medicaid dentists weren't so hard to find. If his mother hadn't been focused on getting a dentist for his brother, who had six rotted teeth.

Response from Healthcare-NOW: If we’d had in place what every other industrialized nation has, a national healthcare system, we would no longer need Medicaid, the sad excuse for healthcare that was created for the poor back in 1964 when Medicare was created to serve the elderly and the disabled. If we had an improved Medicare for All, then Deamonte Driver would have gotten dental care and would be alive today.

Deamonte’s Story: By the time Deamonte's own aching tooth got any attention, the bacteria from the abscess had spread to his brain, doctors said. After two operations and more than six weeks of hospital care, the Prince George's County boy died. Deamonte's death and the ultimate cost of his care, which could total more than $250,000, underscore an often-overlooked concern in the debate over universal health coverage: dental care.

Response from Healthcare-NOW: Under the current system, the tax-payers may pick up the cost of Deamonte Drivers’ six weeks of hospitalization. If we had H.R. 676, a national healthcare system, that piece of the healthcare bill for the nation would not be necessary. Everybody who needs dental care or hospitalization or antibiotics or prescription drugs or other healthcare needs is entitled to get them under this bill. And we all share in a large pool (300 million of us) in paying for whatever healthcare is needed whenever we need it. No more waiting until we die.

We Must Eliminate Insurance Company Profits: This excellent comprehensive healthcare system will only be possible if we eliminate insurance company profits. All we want is healthcare for everybody. We don’t want or need for-profit insurance companies making healthcare decisions for us. We can’t afford to keep wasting one-third of every healthcare dollar on the unnecessary middle man, the insurance company, whose primary interest is in collecting more money, denying care, and making a bigger profit. Instead, we need to spend all of our healthcare money on healthcare. Under the current system, insurance-waste accounts for more than enough money to cover everybody who is uninsured.

MEDICARE FOR ALL, BUT IT MUST BE IMPROVED and NON-PROFIT!

Mr. Wesley writes: “I am a Senior Citizen on a limited income and with multiple physical problems as the body succumbs to aging. I am appalled that Medicare does not cover dental, foot care, hearing problems, and even limits medicare coverage of such items as refraction by the eye doctor and urinalysis by the gynecologist.

Response from Healthcare-NOW: We want improved and enhanced Medicare for All. At the moment, Medicare is increasingly being privatized under Bush administration legislation that has allowed the private companies to sell so-called “Medicare Advantage plans" and receive premiums and subsidies for that insurance, costing 12½% more than regular Medicare. Under John Conyers’ H.R. 676, all of the above symptoms and ailments will be covered without additional cost – foot care, eye refraction, hearing problems and equipment, urinalysis and other lab tests. All necessary medical care will be covered for everybody under an enhanced and improved Medicare for All.

Kathy writes: I am sickened by the fact that I pay more and more for premiums with less and less coverage each year. My husband had a successful kidney transplant six years ago. In September 2006 he had a hernia repair. Just six years later, the cost of the hernia repair was almost the same as the transplant!

Response from Healthcare-NOW: Under our bill, none of us will ever pay premiums again. We will pay a small payroll tax on a sliding scale – those who make more money will pay more, those who can’t work will pay nothing. Virtually all but the very rich will be paying less money than we are paying now in co-pays, deductibles, and denials of healthcare. Yes, Kathy, kidney transplants will be fully covered. Hernias too. Every necessary procedure.

Writes Marvin: Why do doctors’ offices have huge staffs just to handle the paper work? Why do insurance companies make a fortune off our backs? Why are so many people without coverage? Almost everyone has no long term care coverage other than Medicaid. And in order to get Medicaid they must impoverish themselves.

Response from Healthcare-NOW: Everybody will be entitled to long term care under H.R. 676. How will we pay for it? The money that we used to spend on Medicaid for the poor will go directly into providing long term care for the poor and everybody else. This savings as well as the costs of providing COBRA for those who have lost their jobs and a lot of the costs of disability insurance will be covered. Doctors’ offices will no longer need huge clerical staffs to handle 1500 insurance companies and thousands of types of claims. They can devote their time and their staff to helping the sick. People will no longer have to impoverish themselves to get the long-term care they need.

From a nurse in Camden: My own three hard-working children who are young adults don’t have coverage. They are unable to be covered under my husband and my insurance policies without us paying outrageously high premiums and are unable to afford the premiums that any high quality insurance would [require of] them.

Response from Healthcare-NOW: All adult children, teens, students, young workers, old workers, everybody will be covered with comprehensive quality care. No more high premiums, no more insurance company profits. Everybody in; nobody out.

Mary Lee writes: After breaking my leg in Scotland and being cared for by the National Health Service of Lothian in Edinburgh, I am committed viscerally (to National Health Care). I had fantastic care through my 12-day hospital stay. And hospitalization, surgery, and treatment [that] would have cost $30,000 or more in the U.S. was given to me, a U.S. citizen and tourist, at no charge. Being free from worry and stress at times of serious illness and injury helps promote healing…

Response from Healthcare-NOW: Everybody whose feet are on the ground will be covered – all residents of the United States and its territories under H.R. 676. Nations with National Healthcare systems believe that everybody residing in their countries should be healthy – for the sake of the people and the sake of the nation.

Writes Taylor: The kids are covered under state health insurance but my husband and I are not. We both have previous conditions that keep us from buying any individual healthcare insurance plan; they turn you down if you have any previous health conditions. We have had to file for bankruptcy and our credit is ruined because of medical debt that we could not pay. Even our dream of getting a home that was big enough for the five of us is ruined. Just one medical emergency can wipe out your savings and your hopes.

Response from Healthcare-NOW: The increasing poverty caused by the health care crises and most bankruptcies (over 50% of which are caused by healthcare emergencies) would be gone. No one would have to worry about not getting care because of a previous medical condition; under H.R. 676 everything is covered for everybody.

These are just a very few excerpts from thousands of letters we have received on our website from people who signed the petition in favor of H.R. 676 and told their stories in the comment section.

The booklet of thousands of Petitions to Congress is available to the press and the public. They were sent to us on the internet for all to see. Call 1-800-453-1305, or go to our website www.healthcare-now.org. to read the stories, and sign on with your own comments and stories. Don’t forget to tell Congress what they should do. We are seeking more stories and more signatures for our next book of petitions to Congress. Send us yours. Congress must begin to hear us, hold hearings on this crisis, and vote for H.R. 676. Then we’ll see how President Bush or the next president deals with it. Now is a good time to push forward. We are gaining ground.

Marilyn Clement is the National Coordinator of Healthcare-NOW. Click here to contact Ms. Clement and Healthcare-NOW.

Click here to read any of the articles in this special BC series on Single-Payer Healthcare.

May 24, 2007 - Issue 231
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Single-Payer Healthcare - Part 20 "Sicko" A Contrast of What Is and What Could Be By Marilyn Clement National Coordinator, Healthcare-NOW



There is good news on the horizon and it has to do with getting quality, guaranteed healthcare for every person in the United States - from womb to tomb. Michael Moore’s new film SICKO will dramatize the problem of healthcare in America – graphically demonstrating why our country is ranked #38 in the provision of healthcare for our people, just one notch above the country of Slovenia. Why do we need quality guaranteed healthcare for everybody? Is there anyone out there who is not yet convinced? See the film. Tell the following stories from the people in our country struggling to survive with insecure and unjust healthcare coverage. And be sure to tell people that there is a solution in the offing! Remember the life of Deamonte Driver. Portions of his story are excerpted here as posted by Mary Otto of the Washington Post. Twelve-year-old Deamonte Driver died of a toothache in February. A routine, $80 tooth extraction might have saved him. Response from Healthcare-NOW: If the United States National Health Insurance Act had been in place, Deamonte Driver would be alive today. Under H.R. 676, every child (and every adult) is entitled to quality dental care. Deamonte might have had a brilliant future as a poet, a Congressperson, a farmer, a carpenter, a dentist himself. His mother might be looking forward to grandchildren instead of being grief-stricken and broken-hearted. If we had a guaranteed national single payer healthcare system, that is. If his mother had been insured. If his family had not lost its Medicaid. If Medicaid dentists weren't so hard to find. If his mother hadn't been focused on getting a dentist for his brother, who had six rotted teeth. Response from Healthcare-NOW: If we’d had in place what every other industrialized nation has, a national healthcare system, we would no longer need Medicaid, the sad excuse for healthcare that was created for the poor back in 1964 when Medicare was created to serve the elderly and the disabled. If we had an improved Medicare for All, then Deamonte Driver would have gotten dental care and would be alive today. Deamonte’s Story: By the time Deamonte's own aching tooth got any attention, the bacteria from the abscess had spread to his brain, doctors said. After two operations and more than six weeks of hospital care, the Prince George's County boy died. Deamonte's death and the ultimate cost of his care, which could total more than $250,000, underscore an often-overlooked concern in the debate over universal health coverage: dental care. Response from Healthcare-NOW: Under the current system, the tax-payers may pick up the cost of Deamonte Drivers’ six weeks of hospitalization. If we had H.R. 676, a national healthcare system, that piece of the healthcare bill for the nation would not be necessary. Everybody who needs dental care or hospitalization or antibiotics or prescription drugs or other healthcare needs is entitled to get them under this bill. And we all share in a large pool (300 million of us) in paying for whatever healthcare is needed whenever we need it. No more waiting until we die. We Must Eliminate Insurance Company Profits: This excellent comprehensive healthcare system will only be possible if we eliminate insurance company profits. All we want is healthcare for everybody. We don’t want or need for-profit insurance companies making healthcare decisions for us. We can’t afford to keep wasting one-third of every healthcare dollar on the unnecessary middle man, the insurance company, whose primary interest is in collecting more money, denying care, and making a bigger profit. Instead, we need to spend all of our healthcare money on healthcare. Under the current system, insurance-waste accounts for more than enough money to cover everybody who is uninsured. MEDICARE FOR ALL, BUT IT MUST BE IMPROVED and NON-PROFIT! Mr. Wesley writes: “I am a Senior Citizen on a limited income and with multiple physical problems as the body succumbs to aging. I am appalled that Medicare does not cover dental, foot care, hearing problems, and even limits medicare coverage of such items as refraction by the eye doctor and urinalysis by the gynecologist. Response from Healthcare-NOW: We want improved and enhanced Medicare for All. At the moment, Medicare is increasingly being privatized under Bush administration legislation that has allowed the private companies to sell so-called “Medicare Advantage plans" and receive premiums and subsidies for that insurance, costing 12½% more than regular Medicare. Under John Conyers’ H.R. 676, all of the above symptoms and ailments will be covered without additional cost – foot care, eye refraction, hearing problems and equipment, urinalysis and other lab tests. All necessary medical care will be covered for everybody under an enhanced and improved Medicare for All. Kathy writes: I am sickened by the fact that I pay more and more for premiums with less and less coverage each year. My husband had a successful kidney transplant six years ago. In September 2006 he had a hernia repair. Just six years later, the cost of the hernia repair was almost the same as the transplant! Response from Healthcare-NOW: Under our bill, none of us will ever pay premiums again. We will pay a small payroll tax on a sliding scale – those who make more money will pay more, those who can’t work will pay nothing. Virtually all but the very rich will be paying less money than we are paying now in co-pays, deductibles, and denials of healthcare. Yes, Kathy, kidney transplants will be fully covered. Hernias too. Every necessary procedure. Writes Marvin: Why do doctors’ offices have huge staffs just to handle the paper work? Why do insurance companies make a fortune off our backs? Why are so many people without coverage? Almost everyone has no long term care coverage other than Medicaid. And in order to get Medicaid they must impoverish themselves. Response from Healthcare-NOW: Everybody will be entitled to long term care under H.R. 676. How will we pay for it? The money that we used to spend on Medicaid for the poor will go directly into providing long term care for the poor and everybody else. This savings as well as the costs of providing COBRA for those who have lost their jobs and a lot of the costs of disability insurance will be covered. Doctors’ offices will no longer need huge clerical staffs to handle 1500 insurance companies and thousands of types of claims. They can devote their time and their staff to helping the sick. People will no longer have to impoverish themselves to get the long-term care they need. From a nurse in Camden: My own three hard-working children who are young adults don’t have coverage. They are unable to be covered under my husband and my insurance policies without us paying outrageously high premiums and are unable to afford the premiums that any high quality insurance would [require of] them. Response from Healthcare-NOW: All adult children, teens, students, young workers, old workers, everybody will be covered with comprehensive quality care. No more high premiums, no more insurance company profits. Everybody in; nobody out. Mary Lee writes: After breaking my leg in Scotland and being cared for by the National Health Service of Lothian in Edinburgh, I am committed viscerally (to National Health Care). I had fantastic care through my 12-day hospital stay. And hospitalization, surgery, and treatment [that] would have cost $30,000 or more in the U.S. was given to me, a U.S. citizen and tourist, at no charge. Being free from worry and stress at times of serious illness and injury helps promote healing… Response from Healthcare-NOW: Everybody whose feet are on the ground will be covered – all residents of the United States and its territories under H.R. 676. Nations with National Healthcare systems believe that everybody residing in their countries should be healthy – for the sake of the people and the sake of the nation. Writes Taylor: The kids are covered under state health insurance but my husband and I are not. We both have previous conditions that keep us from buying any individual healthcare insurance plan; they turn you down if you have any previous health conditions. We have had to file for bankruptcy and our credit is ruined because of medical debt that we could not pay. Even our dream of getting a home that was big enough for the five of us is ruined. Just one medical emergency can wipe out your savings and your hopes. Response from Healthcare-NOW: The increasing poverty caused by the health care crises and most bankruptcies (over 50% of which are caused by healthcare emergencies) would be gone. No one would have to worry about not getting care because of a previous medical condition; under H.R. 676 everything is covered for everybody. These are just a very few excerpts from thousands of letters we have received on our website from people who signed the petition in favor of H.R. 676 and told their stories in the comment section. The booklet of thousands of Petitions to Congress is available to the press and the public. They were sent to us on the internet for all to see. Call 1-800-453-1305, or go to our website www.healthcare-now.org. to read the stories, and sign on with your own comments and stories. Don’t forget to tell Congress what they should do. We are seeking more stories and more signatures for our next book of petitions to Congress. Send us yours. Congress must begin to hear us, hold hearings on this crisis, and vote for H.R. 676. Then we’ll see how President Bush or the next president deals with it. Now is a good time to push forward. We are gaining ground. Marilyn Clement is the National Coordinator of Healthcare-NOW. Click here to contact Ms. Clement and Healthcare-NOW. Click here to read any of the articles in this special BC series on Single-Payer Healthcare.

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