A
Anonymous
Guest
I think that Senator Saunders from Vermont is on to something here. I signed his petition and left a note about my experience with the Private insurance companies. Below is a statement from his office.
The Week in Review
Date Posted: 06/19/2009
Comprehensive health care reform ran into headwinds on Capitol Hill. The interests of the politically-potent insurance industry collided with the overwhelming support of the American public for a health care plan that includes a public insurance program. Thousands of you sent your stories about health care in America to Senator Bernie Sanders. Tens of thousands signed Sanders’ petition on health care reform. As legislation was being drafted in Congress, E.J. Dionne Jr. warned of “the bipartisanship of fools” in a column that asked these good questions: “Where did we get the idea that the only good health care bill is a bipartisan bill? Is bipartisanship more important than whether a proposal is practical and effective?”
Health Care – Public Option One of the biggest disputes in Washington over health care reform legislation is whether there should be a public insurance program to compete with private insurance companies. In the rest of America, the question has been asked and answered. Three out of four people favor letting people sign up for a public insurance plan that would compete with private companies, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll. The survey published on Wednesday found that 75 percent of the respondents considered it extremely important or quite important that any health care reform should include a public plan administered by the federal government. To read the survey, click here. What’s your opinion? Click here to take our own poll.
Health Care – Sign the Petition “To me, the evidence is overwhelming that we must end the private insurance company domination of health care in our country and move toward a publicly funded, single-payer, Medicare-for-all approach,” Sanders wrote in a column published by The Christian Science Monitor. “Our current private health insurance system is the most costly, wasteful, complicated, and bureaucratic in the world…Despite the fact that we spend almost twice as much per person on health care as any other country, our health care outcomes lag behind many other nations…The main reason we get such bad results is that the function of private health insurance companies is not to provide quality health care for all, but to make huge profits for those who own the companies. As of Friday, more than 27,000 people signed a petition supporting Sanders’ single-payer proposal. To read the column, click here. To sign the petition, click here.
Health Care – Voices from Vermont and America Sanders asked people to share their experiences with health care and insurance. As of Friday, more than 2,700 e-mails came pouring in like this one from Danby, Vt. “I'm active duty military. I have served in the Air Force for almost 13 years now. I have ‘government’ medical coverage. I may have minor complaints here and there, but over all I would say that it's a good system. Seeing how much money my parents pay for health care makes my blood boil. I fail to see the difference between the insurance companies and a mugger who holds a gun to your head demanding ‘your money or your life.’” And this one from Santa Fe, N.M. “I get my health care through the Department of Veterans Affairs. It is, without a doubt, socialized medicine. It is also excellent health care, and it is administratively more efficient than any other system I've used. For example, the other day I had a back injury. From the time I walked into my doctor's office until the time I left the radiology center was 50 minutes. And I had a diagnosis and suggested treatment from my doctor within five hours. No for-profit outfit can match that.” To read more stories or to send a message to the senator, click here
The Week in Review
Date Posted: 06/19/2009
Comprehensive health care reform ran into headwinds on Capitol Hill. The interests of the politically-potent insurance industry collided with the overwhelming support of the American public for a health care plan that includes a public insurance program. Thousands of you sent your stories about health care in America to Senator Bernie Sanders. Tens of thousands signed Sanders’ petition on health care reform. As legislation was being drafted in Congress, E.J. Dionne Jr. warned of “the bipartisanship of fools” in a column that asked these good questions: “Where did we get the idea that the only good health care bill is a bipartisan bill? Is bipartisanship more important than whether a proposal is practical and effective?”
Health Care – Public Option One of the biggest disputes in Washington over health care reform legislation is whether there should be a public insurance program to compete with private insurance companies. In the rest of America, the question has been asked and answered. Three out of four people favor letting people sign up for a public insurance plan that would compete with private companies, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll. The survey published on Wednesday found that 75 percent of the respondents considered it extremely important or quite important that any health care reform should include a public plan administered by the federal government. To read the survey, click here. What’s your opinion? Click here to take our own poll.
Health Care – Sign the Petition “To me, the evidence is overwhelming that we must end the private insurance company domination of health care in our country and move toward a publicly funded, single-payer, Medicare-for-all approach,” Sanders wrote in a column published by The Christian Science Monitor. “Our current private health insurance system is the most costly, wasteful, complicated, and bureaucratic in the world…Despite the fact that we spend almost twice as much per person on health care as any other country, our health care outcomes lag behind many other nations…The main reason we get such bad results is that the function of private health insurance companies is not to provide quality health care for all, but to make huge profits for those who own the companies. As of Friday, more than 27,000 people signed a petition supporting Sanders’ single-payer proposal. To read the column, click here. To sign the petition, click here.
Health Care – Voices from Vermont and America Sanders asked people to share their experiences with health care and insurance. As of Friday, more than 2,700 e-mails came pouring in like this one from Danby, Vt. “I'm active duty military. I have served in the Air Force for almost 13 years now. I have ‘government’ medical coverage. I may have minor complaints here and there, but over all I would say that it's a good system. Seeing how much money my parents pay for health care makes my blood boil. I fail to see the difference between the insurance companies and a mugger who holds a gun to your head demanding ‘your money or your life.’” And this one from Santa Fe, N.M. “I get my health care through the Department of Veterans Affairs. It is, without a doubt, socialized medicine. It is also excellent health care, and it is administratively more efficient than any other system I've used. For example, the other day I had a back injury. From the time I walked into my doctor's office until the time I left the radiology center was 50 minutes. And I had a diagnosis and suggested treatment from my doctor within five hours. No for-profit outfit can match that.” To read more stories or to send a message to the senator, click here