The Black Commentator - June 21, 2007

From our hearts and from our suffering: the following – and sprinkled about - are stories from petition signers on healthcare-now.org., petitions calling for passage of H.R. 676 for a single payer, non-profit healthcare system in the United States.

Pearl V., FL

I have visited a number of European countries all of whom are much less wealthy than the United States , and they had universal health care for all. Furthermore, they do a better job for less money according to worldwide reports. We cannot allow the privatization of health care to continue in our country as it delivers spotty care, eliminates many citizens, and allows huge profits to the organizations running the health care facilities. Medicare, more disciplined than it is presently, is an example of how universal care could be used to cover all age groups and be more effective. I am sure the majority of Americans would like such coverage and wonder why they cannot have a vote on this important issue put on an election agenda. Thank goodness for Mr. Moore's "Sicko" which may encourage change in our bloated health care system.

Kathy R., NY

This is such an important issue and needs our immediate attention.

Joe V., CA

The world’s leading economy comes in last on healthcare!

Lisa S., FL

The incident with the woman who lay dying on the floor, in a Los Angeles hospital while hospital staff DO NOTHING to help is absolutely horrific. This is an enormous wake up call to our government. OUR HEALTH CARE SYSTEM IS FAILING US!

Joseph P., NJ

To ALL members of Congress, vote now for HR-676 or hand in your resignations on November 2008. We will not tolerate this present system one more day.

William T., OR

Health insurance was a bad idea to start with. As soon as the insurance system was in place, doctors and hospitals no longer had to deal with patients having "sticker shock" and sales resistance. The medical community could charge what it felt like. As we learn more about predicting an individual's health care needs from his DNA, the insurance model would suggest that high cost individuals should not be covered or that they should pay higher premiums. If, on the other hand, insurance companies are told they must cover such high cost people and charge a standard premium, then we might as well give up the idea of "insurance" because "insurance" companies will have become nothing more than profit-making private tax collectors.

What would it mean for a Single Payer, Non-Profit Health System to be enacted in this troubled Nation of Ours, a nation trapped in the "capitalist model" of governance?

Fewer Dying and Suffering People

Too many people are dying, all because of inequality. It's not just that we have a broken healthcare system, it is a system based on profit and on a capitalist model. This is a system which will always and always put money and profit before the well being of its customers and/or consumers. That reference, “customer and consumer,” instead of “patient”, in itself says a lot about what relationship will ensue. The insurance model says, “How much can you/we afford? It is not one of care, and much less of health. The current system is broken and has actually become anti-health, since it is more profitable for them to not cure people's illnesses but to just medicate them for life, if possible. They then reap the sinful profits, ill-gotten gain, from the people's lives and well being. It is not noted that healthcare is a universal human right. And yet this illegal denial of a right that is recognized worldwide is happening in the United States of America. Come on people, how can we as a people and the citizens of this nation allow such injustice any longer?

Barbara P., PA

I'm tired of suddenly finding that I have to fight my insurance company to cover things I need to stay alive. HR 676 will make it possible for me to simply LIVE. The same applies to millions of other people, especially my fellow Baby Boomers, who, as we grow older, will learn that more and more of us have multiple medical problems and no desire to wage battles for our lives against insurance companies!

The insurance and pharmaceutical companies are so powerful and politically connected that they have concocted a health system within the capitalist model - of profit and greed which go hand in hand – that has allowed them to create a system where only the upper filthy-rich class can afford to live a long and healthy life and without the long lines and economic red-tape with which "the rest" have to cope. And when you know that genocide, and specifically ethnocide, is a reality, you start to look at the current U.S. health system as an easy way to kill off the poor and lower classes. This includes poor whites, but also and as always, a disproportionate percentage of people of color, simply due to slavery, the lack of reparations and historical racism within civilization as a whole but also here in America, with it's very repressed/hidden past of colonizing sins.

Another issue is that too many doctors and health practitioners across this Nation are prescribing "medications" instead of curing the patient. They don’t understand or prescribe economical or sometimes 110% safer herbal remedies. Some pills cause five new ailments. Then you need more pills and the next thing you realize is that you and I are taking a handful of pills everyday. And the cost of the pills is outrageous/a small fortune.

The doctor has to make a living because nothing in a capitalist system is free. All the while the people suffer and die. Many surely wish they would just die, rather than endure this heartless system of so-called healthcare. Many go through hours, days and weeks, some even months and years of "that ole' red tape" that has so many dead bodies and uncountable moments of agony and pain that the sick and suffering go through in these so called centers of health and care.

Praise for the True Caregivers

I'd like to give all due praises and respect to all the true caregivers, the doctors and nurses within this sad health system who go beyond the call of duty - and specifically paychecks, bonuses and house bills – who cut corners, and break rules and regulations simply to be able to provide healthcare to the sick.

People, come on. We need to recognize profiteering as the real culprit in the healthcare system. It has become blatant, for all to see. Anytime you have a system where someone has to break the law to be able to provide care, something is obviously, gravely wrong. And it does not take a rocket scientist - as the Good ole' Brother Mumia Abu-Jamal always reminds us – to know that the reason this is the way it is, is simply because of the capitalist model that requires profit-making institutions. They place shareholder "profit-mandates" before life and even before the whole premise and reason for a healthcare system.

The Critical Social Issue of Privatized Healthcare in an Overcrowded City of Sick People

Visit any urban area in this Nation and you will find the majority of People coughing, aching, limping, suffering and yes, dying.

We all interact with each other throughout daily life, especially in the overcrowded and overpopulated cities and ghettos, and as it so happens – there is always a great percentage of the poor people/workers struggling in these regions. Sick people get others sick. It seems like this is the perfect social-situation for anyone profiting from the healthcare industry. More sick people mean more profits.

Patricia A, HI

We have slipped so low as a nation in providing for the less advantaged. Now the disadvantage has reached up to the working and middle class. This is a Country of "we the people" not we the corporations. We must take back our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for "we the people."

Fighting and slaving for life and healthcare is a daily reality of the most impoverished, and surprising to many, also the "working middle class", which in America is supposed to be a good and comfortable living in all aspects of life, especially healthcare coverage. People in all classes and walks of life are suffering and dying from this system in America. All of this is due to the evil indifference in the decisions laid out by guidelines, administrative procedures and what can be called "economic red tape", all to ensure that no medical procedure is performed on anyone if there exists a "legal loop hole" that allows insurance companies to refuse to pay for any needed operations, surgeries, cures, medicines or mental health care.

The problem with the for-profit insurance industry is this: the more care they give to us, the less profit they make. And their job is to make a profit, not to provide care. They are letting people die all because of money, while others have millions and billions in banks. Does this make sense? Inequality is the first cause of this anti-health system. Inequality, because a human rights system has been turned into a for-profit system.

Read more about socialism and please stop accepting things as they are. Be brave and remember that only with action can we accomplish and effect change.

Since this is an article about/for healthcare, I'm obliged also to include the very vital issue of Planet and Species extinction. It is not a theory; it is a fact! If we care anything about the all encompassing future, or our children and their continuity in all of the essence and meaning of the future - including existence within the expanse of this chaotic and indifferent universe – we need first to start by curing and healing the sick of our nation and then the world. See the movie “SICKO” by Michael Moore, and then take action.

Jon B., MO

We are a great nation; we need to start acting like it.

Socialism, or looking for the common good for all our people will be the only way for us, as a species, to be able to act and cope with the great tasks ahead. We've been at a point of no return for quite a few decades now, since the beginning of industrialization and imperialism. Come on, how can we allow a system like this to continue? We are all affected.

Kathryn W., NC

Why is this so hard??? We are building a wall to protect our borders. Using billions of dollars. Candidates are raising MILLIONS to be elected into office. And diabetic test strips are $1.11 A PIECE. What is going on? We must all step up to the plate and fight for what Americans deserve. Our country CAN afford this. Our Veterans DESERVE BETTER..we must ALL hold our so called elected officials accountable. We MUST WORK TOGETHER to change this. Would a massive phone campaign work??? LET"S DO IT Tell me how to get this going..AND IT WILL BE DONE ! I do love my country, always will. But we can make it better, together.

Until we accomplish this grand move ahead, toward Utopia and as much of a Heaven on Earth that you/we can achieve with unity - while working within this capitalist system - the most economically viable bill I've come across is H.R. 676. “for quality healthcare for all, guaranteed by single-payer financing - a non-profit improved and enhanced Medicare for All.”

Click here to sign the petition.

Richard B. MI

Please represent us citizens and not special interests in the insurance and pharmacy industries. Support and co sponsor HR 676 Expanded Medicare for all - Single Payer - National Health Insurance.

Irma C., AZ

Please read H.R. 676, debate it, enact it. Thank you and Blessings.

Brief Summary of Legislation

The United States National Health Insurance Act establishes a unique American national universal health insurance program. The bill would create a publicly financed, privately delivered health care system that uses the already existing Medicare program, by expanding and improving it to all U.S. residents, and all residents living in U.S. territories. The goal of the legislation is to ensure that all Americans will have access, guaranteed by law, to the highest quality and most cost-effective health care services, regardless of their employment, income, or health care status. With over 45-75 million uninsured Americans, and another 50 million who are under- insured, the time has come to change our inefficient and costly fragmented non-healthcare system.

Who is Eligible

Every person living or visiting in the United States and the U.S. Territories would receive a United States National Health Insurance Card and ID number, once they enroll at the appropriate location. Social Security numbers may not be used when assigning ID cards.

Health Care Services Covered

This program will cover all medically necessary services, including primary care, inpatient care, outpatient care, emergency care, prescription drugs, durable medical equipment, long term care, mental health services, dentistry, eye care, chiropractic, and substance abuse treatment. Patients will have their choice of physicians, providers, hospitals, clinics, and practices. No co-pays or deductibles are permissible under this act.

Conversion To A Non-Profit Health Care System

Private health insurers shall be prohibited under this act from selling coverage that duplicates the benefits of the USNHI program. Exceptions to this rule include coverage for cosmetic surgery, and other medically unnecessary treatments. Those who are displaced as the result of the transition to a non-profit healthcare system are the first to be hired and retrained under this act.

Cost Containment Provisions/ Reimbursement

The National USNHI program will set reimbursement rates annually for physicians, allow for global budgets (annual lump sums for operating expenses) for healthcare providers and negotiate prescription drug prices. A "Medicare For All Trust Fund" will be established to ensure a dedicated stream of funding, as well as an annual appropriation to ensure optimal levels of funding for the program.

The conversion to a not-for-profit healthcare system will take place over a 15 year period, through the sale of U.S. treasury bonds.

Click here to sign the petition.

Only when you live it and see and therefore feel the "nitty gritty" of the "struggle for health and life" do you/we know the severity of the suffering that is happening throughout this Nation (and World).

Click here to read the stories of many of the people who signed the petition. Note: they are heart wrenching, so have some tissue, if you have a heart, and for some, if you have a conscience.

Lana R., NY

I have a sever pain on the right side of my body. I haven't gone to the doctor because I fear it might be cancer or something worse and I can't afford to pay for it as I have very little money. I will probably have to wait till I have to be taken to the emergency room since I can't afford a doctor I will have to wait till I can't function anymore. I am so frightened and there is no one to help. The big corporations control everything in this country including all of the presidential administrations. I don't see how we will be able to beat them. They have all the money and they control everything. they are bloated with money, and we are just poor and small and all the politicians are bought... how can we beat them? Bush and the right wingers as well as the democrats have been bought and sold by the insurance companies. I don't see how we will ever be able to get universal healthcare. The corporations on top control everything and everyone and they will never allow it. I am so hopeless. I will just wait till I have to be taken to the emergency room, what ever happens, I will probably not survive this, I am so frightened...

We constantly experience unnecessary and sinfully neglectful deaths and suffering of newborns, grandmothers, mothers, women, children, handicapped, grandfathers and veterans. Kids die from simple things that really cost nothing, nothing, and should cost nothing, but yet, yet...we endure.

But no more! With tears of frustration but with strong emotions of human devotion from our ancestors, I end here...for now.

Thank you for listening, reading and moving together with us to take action.

Claude V: human, son, father, activist and Healthcare-NOW webdesigner.

Call us if we can help. 1-800-453-1305 or Click here to contact Claude V. and Healthcare-NOW.

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