[Vision2020] Health care

Donovan Arnold donovanjarnold2005 at yahoo.com
Thu Apr 17 22:08:39 PDT 2008


Ralph,
   
  Universal Health Care, and Universal Health Coverage are two totally different things. Forcing people to buy health insurance doesn't cure anybody, it just makes doctors and insurance companies even wealthier than they are.
   
  I am 100% against forced health insurance purchasing, because it will not help the poor and will just be another tax benefiting the rich while hurting the poor.
   
  The problem is not how can we pay for a $60 band-aid, but rather, why we cannot reduce the cost of the band-aid to 60 cents, or even $6.00. If you bring down the cost of the band-aid, the middle class can afford health insurance and charity can afford to cover the poor. 
   
  Best Regards,
   
  Donovan

Ralph Nielsen <nielsen at uidaho.edu> wrote:
  I thought it was a very informative program in that it covered a 
variety of systems for universal coverage. Unfortunately, most 
Americans seem to have been indoctrinated with the idea the universal 
health insurance is "socialized medicine," and therefore to be 
avoided like poison A couple of months ago a repairman at my house 
used that term with an air of dislike. So I asked hem what he meant 
by that term. He replied that it means that all doctors will be 
working for the government.

So I told him about my Canadian brother, who is a self-made 
millionaire, and lives in the Okanagan Valley, just north of the 
Washington border. About a year ago he had a hip replacement. He had 
to wait less than a month because he was willing to go to a younger 
doctor instead of an older, more popular one. Most Canadian doctors 
do not work for the government, they work for themselves. Only the 
insurance is paid by the government, like our Medicare, and ALL 
residents are covered, not just the rich, as down here. This is paid 
for by income taxes, which, of course, are based on ability to pay, 
and everybody is covered, regardless of income.

Last month there was a provincial election in Alberta, where the 
Conservative Party has been in power for 37 years. In February they 
called for a provincial election on March 3. I listened on my 
internet radio to a 2-hour debate between the party leaders: 
Conservative, Liberal, New Democratic (like the British Labour 
Party), and a small new party called the Alberta Wild Rose Party, 
which sounded like dogmatic libertarians. There were frequent 
questions about problems with health care but no one, not even the 
libertarian, proposed that their "socialized" medicine be scrapped 
and Alberta return to the old American-style system they had before. 
In fact, it was the Conservatives who had set it up in the first place!

Later, on March 3, the Conservatives were not only returned to power; 
they gained 11 new seats! Wouldn't it be nice if our conservatives 
learned something from the Province of Alberta?

Ralph Nielsen


Saundra Lund sslund_2007 at verizon.net
Thu Apr 17 13:41:57 PDT 2008

I'm wondering if anyone cares to share any comments about Frontline's 
"Sick
Around the World"? For those interested but who perhaps missed the 
show,
you can watch it online at:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sickaroundtheworld/

I'll start out by stirring the pot a bit J

After watching the show and looking into things further, I'm personally
convinced that neither Clinton's nor Obama's health care proposals are
adequate, but I'm far more supportive of Clinton's plan than Obama's.
Affordable universal health care coverage (considered a basic human 
right
even in Switzerland) mandates that all actually have coverage, something
Obama's plan neglects.

Health care is likely to be a litmus test of sorts for me between two 
very
similar (IMHO) candidates in the upcoming election because we're long
overdue to address the unconscionable and deplorable state of health 
care
access and affordability in this country.

Saundra Lund

Moscow, ID

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