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Notice how the right wing-nuts rely on anecdotal worst-case evidence while single payer supporters rely on valid polls, economics & macro level evidence. The "I know somebody who had to wait 6 weeks for brain surgery in Canada" can easily be countered with "I know somebody who died in Oregon- after a $200,000 hospital state -because his insurance company would pay for his diabetes medication". The fact is that Medicare was the most efficient health care delivery system in the world until Congress saddled it with an utterly stupid drug benefit designed by and for the drug and insurance companies. If the private sector is so superior then they shouldn't mind competing with a public option, should they? But methinks they protest too much.
If we get a single-payer system, people will pay their health care premiums to the U.S. government instead of a myriad of insurance companies. The government will then write the checks to pay self-employed doctors and private (or public) hospitals and pharmacies. Doctors, hospitals and pharmacists will only submit claim forms to one place, instead of having to have a large staff of people billing a bunch of different places.
No more co-pays! You pay your premium (yes, it will instead be called the dreaded "T" word, tax, but it's really no different than an insurance premium) and you get full coverage.
In other words, single-payer would stream-line the system, make it equitable, and far less expensive.
It's a system only a greedy insurance corporation could hate!
I am advocating a system like the British have, so it is not true to say that no one advocates that. The health care debate should be between those who support expansion of Medicare to create universal Single Payer, which is HR-676 and advocates of expansion of the Veterans Health Administration, which would be like the British system. Patents of the VHA have the best health outcomes at the lowest cost of any group in the U.S.A. I believe our best choice would be to expand the VHA to cover everyone. It solves the problems created by fee for service because the health care professionals are salaried, so there is no financial incentive for excessive tests or procedures
All their lives come on, She was unlucky to live in a country where had to wait.
I like the manner in which you refute the complaints heard from some Canadians. As Tim said, of course some fall between the cracks. But if you are right that polls show 87% - 92% suport for the system, well that about says it all. Let the heavy breathing friends of the insurers, pharmeceuticals and the AMA huff and puff all they want.
I like to put that same argument to anyone who offers up complaints about the difficulty and desireability of ballot initiatives. The argument suggests that if the majority of the citizens living in any of the 24 states which grant ballot initiative procedures disliked being so empowered then they can vote to give that power away. I doubt many would.
But here we have Max Baucus refusing to even hear the will of the people.
I hope all readers will check out www.vote.org
It's a good thing that Americans who are not health industry lobbyists (or millionaire CEO's) are overwhelmingly ready to give the boot to a "system" that rewards a few (CEO's and top executives) with big $$ over the healths and lives of themselves and their children.
PS: I'm an unemployed volunteer in what has become a huge movement to improve the health of Americans by providing them with affordable access to health care. Not a paid lobbyist.
The bottom line regarding an alternative health care system is: don't knock it until you've tried it. So far, the people profiting the most from our system is the people running it and raking in the $$$$$.
To be fair, let them look at systems that work well in OTHER countries instead of picking out the worst to try to make their feeble case against it, so they can help protect the rich capitalists in this country.
Your plan: give everybody health care, including illegals, raise taxes on the upper 5% and hope for the best, although it hasn't worked well in any other country.
But these stories, like Robert's, lend little to a debate about a new, American plan designed to meet the needs and situation of our country. Thanks Tim, for your excellent and thoughtful commentary.
but as a professional Rhetorician and scholar of journalism & media writing, I would argue that your post is a canned statement prepared by a professional media or lobbyist for the for-profit health care industry.
With so many millions of Americans doing without critical health care due to your sector of the industry--which makes health insurance unaffordable for working Americans and their children--I'm forced to focus my volunteer efforts in conversation with the majority of working families who have stated their preference for the health of their families over the profits of your companies.
Then after getting on an HMO coverage package once my husband became insured through the County government, I found that the HMO made me wait six weeks to receive back the results of radiology tests.
If those tests had proven to show cancer - would that six week wait have been a good thing? And the operation that I needed was constantly stalled.
Meanwhile one out of every 700 bucks spent on health care go the bonus of one individual - the President of United HealthCare of Minnesota!
Sell the big Screen television drop cable TV stop eating out every night. Get health and go shopping for the best plan out there
Earlier your director was on FOX news promoting which gave fair balance and speech to your idea. Get the facts on healthcare It is incorrect to say 47 million do not have healthcare insurance it is 8 million. 85% of Americans like the current healthcare system, have access to ED or physician, equipment in a timely manner. It is the administration and reimbursement methods,amounts by the government for medicaid, medicare that needs to be brought up to date Healthcare does not to rushed through this year. Take the time to review all the data, how is it going to be paid for? This administration is running out of money and other peoples money and proposing another tax to take care of current affairs. Once the new system or program is in place, it should be reviewed every 30 years for the growing population have Congress be accountable for the tax dollars being spent on the program.
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/hlthins/hlthins....
and I notice that Dz does not provide the sources for the "facts" he presents, whereas PDA's Tim Carpenter stated on the Foz show exactly where he got the info he gave.
All the reliable data supports the PDA position: main-stream polls, as well as scholarly studies, and think-tank research NOT biased by money from pharma & insurance companies & their paid lobbyists.
I don't know if Fox will ever get it but I think we can organize circles around them and their money because Americans have said they are fed up and want the fairness you can only get from a single-payer plan. Thanks Angie!
Hey what does Mexico have let's try that.
And the fact that we spend close to twice as much as Canada per capita and can't even cover our own population.
What do you have against your fellow American citizens that you don't even want them to live as long as Canadians? Or do you just love profit more than your country's health?
Our greed-driven health care "system" is a national embarrassment.
And btw, all of my Canadian relatives think our private-insurer health care financing is insane and immoral, with Americans dying for insurance profit.
without letting an answer get on the air. They LIE without compunction . WHY ARE THEY ALLOWED
TO USE THE AIRWAVES TO LIE AND PRETEND TO BE A 'NEWS' OUTLET???? Propaganda is
a tool of Fascism; not democracy.
I'm impressed with Tim's ability to deliver as much dialog as he could in such a short amount of time.. remaining so focused in the face of such hostility.
Universal Health Care is the ONLY way to properly cover every citizen in the U.S. and eventually pay for itself. No other system involving the private sector will survive.
Unfortunately, Both Tim Carpenter and Megyn Kelly were speaking at the same time throughout much of the interview. If the healthcare debate is to result in real progress for the American people, each side needs to be respectful of the other's right to speak and be heard. Each side needs to listen to the other.
anyhow, 6 months to see a neurosurgeon, at least she gets to see one! 22 thousand americans die a year he says right after! love how he thanked them too! Bam!
Tim, you did a good job on this pitiful show.
Anyone who is against single payer is a fool and the insurance companies love you.
Good job Tim.
Also, with all due respect , Tim was not exactly telegenic alongside the blonde tart from Fox. We need well-dressed pretty faces WITH BRAINS to go up against the likes of Fox. Tim has the brains and is well-informed for sure. Intelligent, well-informed, rational people in frumpy brown suits and messy hair just don't cut it. Swallow hard and play their game at their level. Go for the gut.
Tim was superb against Megyn Kelly, he was relentless and focused against the right wing attack from the bitch, and Carpenter has the right kind of moxie and determination to lead the fight for Single Payer Health Care !
God Bless Tim Carpenter !
Anyone from the Left who visits a Fox News show for an interview from those Sluts, needs to always remember to "take total control and dominate their F'ing interviews, otherwise they will, and it would be better for anyone from the Left if they are going to go on Fox News, to "always appear in a studio along side those ass-holes" and dominate their interviews and really take control in their Fox News studios rather than from a remote satellite feed where the Fox News munchkin technicians can silence the Progressive Voices !
the interviewer.
A Single Payer system will eliminate the waste of 1/3 of the money spent on health care, that currently
goes to the parasitical health insurance industry, who provide nothing of value to anyone, and only
exist for their profits.
Thanks to FOX news for providing some forum for a little truth here.
Karen, My understanding is that under single payer all citizens would pay a modest premium (tax) for coverage but that citizens would remain free to get additional insurance to pay for additional special care. It's like public school. We all pay for basic educational services for everyone so that society as a whole is strong...those that want more send their kids to private schools. As it stands now 45 million people don't have the coverage they need to get regular checkups for preventative care, so their problems begin to snowball.
I've always maintained that the only doctors that I know are named Bill. I will never forget reading an article in Newsweek about 10-12 years ago which said the AMA was lobbying to limit the number of doctors graduating from medical school. The Association which represents doctors is not interested in the Hippocratic Oath any more than the insurance companies are.
One other thing I would like to ask Megyn. Would Jesus Christ ask for a green card if someone needed healing?
They get great coverage, they just don't want the same for the rest of us.
Americans who has health care, but I think Fair is Fair and everybody should be covered. Even if that means my own coverage is not as good. Leave the Insurance companies out and use that money to pay for some more coverage.
Read the entire report at this link:
http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/fu...
Angela, you obviously own stock in the insurance industry or are just amazingly ignorant to, without even the slightest reservation or question, take FOX's lies and corporate-backed political dialogue as some holy grail of knowledge. The thing about being indoctrinated like you must be is that you are seldom ever aware of the subconscious control over your own free will. And always to your ultimate detrement.
Mr. Carpenter should have kept to the facts and statistics, and not been vocally combative and defensive at all, though I am sure it was hard. His initial verbal presumption of FOX's readiness to refute his position likely did more to reinforce the blind loyalty of FOX's viewership, than serving their educational enlightenment. He might have been best served by relenting on the most important distinctions that cause the public's confusion, and challenged viewers to visit specific (non-partisan) web sites that explain in greater and clearer detail the overall debate. He was a marked man just by the name of the organization, so that didn't help either. We need those guys that were on Bill Moyers Journal last week to get on FOX and other networks. They know how to have fun with it.
So was this a step forward or a step back? Hard to say what really goes on in the tiny ostrich minds of the FOX Sheeple Empire.
I live in Japan where care is publically funded, privately run. There are doctors on every corner. No system is perfect, and that is important to remember, but single-payer is a lot closer to it than what we have now. Come on, speak to the people listening.
Given the hysterical shouting of Megyn Kelly, Tim Carpenter did a good job of keeping his cool and getting out some information on the essential advantages of a Single Payer Health Care System. As someone who lives in England and the U.S., I can attest to the benefits of universal health care, where the annual cost per individual in England is $2,700 compared with $6,700 per person in the U.S., and the care in England is, in my experience, infinitely superior. And as it is not tied to your employment, there is freedom to chamge jobs, and no loss coverage if you lose your job. Persons 60 and over, having paid into the system all their life, no longer pay any premiums and there are no copays for medicines.
Without a Single Payer Health Care System, not linked to employment, we in the U.S. are moving to the bottom of the leauge of developed nations.
A 'me' society, indeed.
Say it with me folks:
GOOD RIDDANCE TO HEATHCARE DENIAL PROFITEERING
Another suggestion ... when they play the racist dog-whistle about "brown people who sneaked in" ... point out that public health requires treating everybody, for infectious disease reasons as well as treatment cost reasons. Eventually sick people who are socially despised will get bad expensive treatment, and we'll pay for that instead of the good inexpensive treatment they could have had.
Finally ... on the somewhat true point that countries with single payer have issues ... you might make the rose garden point. Single payer is not perfect ... but it's better. We have rationing right here today, but the gatekeepers wear insurance company name tags.
These large companies created Medical insurance groups to protect themselves from anyone being able to sue them. The current Medical Insurance Complex is a Trojan Horse!! It's much more than that now, but its true identity is the Trojan Horse.
In the famous Erin Brockovitch case we had all the victims of PG&E being served by PG&E company doctors. PG&E sent in their own doctors to take care of the sick town’s people and to treat them for problems they knew were caused by PG&E's own toxins. These doctors, paid by PG&E, lied straight out to these people. The first insurance legislation was created by Kaiser, a big corporation that specializes in mining and metals world wide. This is one of the dirtiest industries in the world. The Medical Insurance Agency is a Trojan Horse created to protect the world's giant corporations ability to dispose of filth cheaply right in our own backyards. Cheaply, if you don't count the cost of human suffering, pain, grief, loss, etc. They also enjoy the luxury of running dirty work sites that aren't expensive to run with disposable employees.
If you have medical problems that the medical insurance group approves of or that won't keep you from working all day, they will help you. Otherwise, you're going to be put on the short list for ending service one way or another. The doctors operate without too much conscience because they are relieved of making these decisions by the bean counters and they don't have to feel conflicted. Any problems you might have involving possible exposure to industrial toxic chemicals will never be considered, tested for, or discussed. No matter how often you bring up this concern there will be no notes taken of this for the record.
I have been dealing with HMOs providers that are completely married to huge polluters in my town. Very long story involving city water, 200 years of history, the railroad and oil industry, superfund sites, and thousands of documented illnesses at world record numbers in my hometown.
Nothing protects a polluter more than a sick person with no access to health care. But to insure complete dominance of the land and resources at a cheap price, the medical health care industry provides a controlled health care designed to deflect victims from information regarding their illnesses and knowledge of exposure to chemical industrial waste. Most importantly, these victims are unable to create documentation. They are completely censored from understanding and proving a case against anyone in any way.
This is the veiled truth of the Medical insurance companies. We are not just fighting the medical insurance companies for single payer health care; we are fighting all the other major polluters sitting quietly in the corner protecting their interests.
I know this might sound kind of conspiracy theory-ish, but if you think about it, you will see why big business isn't clamoring to relieve themselves of the burden of health care.
You go!
It was an opprotunity for Tim to speak but like sending a lamb into a lions den to tell them no meat for lunch.
Agree, the moderator was rude rather unprofessional, but her actions don't change any facts, and we ARE Democrats!!!!!!
Lest you think this is unusual, I just had to wait 6 weeks to see a specialist in Ohio.
Had she lived in Canada or England she wouldn't have waited 5 months to see a doctor because she couldn't afford to see one..She wouldn't have had to risk losing her home or life savings just because she got sick..This happens every single day in the United States and that is a disgrace.. The richest country in the world and the ONLY one that allows this travesty to exist.. Every member of Congress who takes a nickel from the for profit health insurance companies should be arrested for taking bribes..That this nightmare of a healthcare system has been allowed to exist with no government intervention is a national disgrace!!I will take Canada's ,Englands or France's system any day..For profit health insurance companies are not part of the problem,,THEY ARE THE PROBLEM.. They are in no way part of the solution..
The New York Times says that >100,000 people leave the U.S. each year for elective surgeries.
Canadian wait times are a scandal because everyone in Canada expects to be seen and treated. In Canada when someone "falls through the cracks" as you said, it is a public scandal.
U.S. wait times, which are much worse than Canada's, are not a scandal because the system values money, not people. The poor will be seen at the emergency room (which by law cannot turn them away) but whether or not they are treated appropriately depends upon the ability to pay. In the United States when someone falls through the cracks, it is a private tragedy.
Single payer now!
Aside from countering her with examples of perfectly good health care in countries like Norway (single payer) he should about how plenty of people in THIS country have to wait for long lengths to see anyone.
That was a stupid comment, Glenn!
Your plan: give everybody health care, including illegals, raise taxes on the upper 5% and hope for the best, although it hasn't worked well in any other country.
We agree with Tim all americans should have single payer healthcare.
congress and the senate has had excellent health care plan for years
and their no better than the average person. And their's is at a reasonable price.
And it's passed time for them to come with an excellent plan for the people that pays their salaries. Or be voted out of office. Enough said.
If you doubt me, just check into the profits, shenanigans, and ill gotten gains of some of the health insurance CEOs, especially: 1) William W. McGuire, former CEO of United Health Group, or 2) Jay Gellert, CEO of Health Net Inc. Just google these and you'll find out more than you would wish to know about the nether worlds of money and fraud.
Single Payer, the cost-effective, just and fair way to go.
I recently went to the UK last year to support my sister through bilateral mastectomy surgery. The treatment was exemplory. Supportive care and the availability of many alternative therapies were offered for free while she was receiving chemotherapy and radiation. This is amazing. Treating people holistically was of prime importance while I was in training. There was no waiting and psychological care and the fitting for prosthesis or follow up reconstruction was available if desired as part of the healthcare program.
We do not offer any of this here in the USA. In fact many insurance companies discharge post operative mastectomy patients with drains coming from their wounds on the same day as the surgery. It is outrageous.
We are very aware that diabetes is a big killer. The UK health system invests a huge amount of money in preventive care so that patients blood sugar is better controlled in order that they do not suffer from the chronic diseases of heart and kidney failure. They realize this is one of the many ways to save costs.
My young 22 year old neice benefitted from the best of care which she got from blood and disease specialists in a London Hospital to help combat her rare cancer.
I met a lady when I was visiting in Denver who told me that her insurance company denied her coverage for chemotherapy. I dont know about you but I want my doctor to have the last word not a non medical person working for the insurance company. As for waiting ... I have personally waited 6-7 weeks in the USA to see a neurosurgeon and a rheumatoidologist. I have also been asked to help a friend choose a local physician from the list his insurance company provided. Sadly I was unable to recommend anyone on the list. He didnt really have the choice of the best physicians in the area. Another acquaintance chose not to see the neurosurgeon on the list provided because he wanted someone who came more highly recommended for the procedure that was advised. Many insurance companies do not cover rehabilitation which is extremely important to get the patient back to work.If people are unable to return to work, guess what, they nolonger have insurance. If they find another job they often find that they cannot afford the deductibles and premiums.
We subsidize insurance companies who take our money when we are well and deny us when we are ill so the tax payer picks up the tab. It is a terrible system where we have to beg for money for bone marrow transplants and other proceedures for our loved ones etc.
When single payer healthcare is allowed to be introduced here, we shall be able to benefit from knowing the pros and cons of other systems available in the free world so we can provide the best practises and have The American Model of Healthcare for All with preventive care at a cost savings.
Excellent, Tim!!!!!
CANCER that is eating all of us : THE INSURANCE COMPANIES AND THE PIRATES
IN THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY.
LET'S GET 250,000,000 (TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY MILLION) signatures and send
them to Washington;then hold our breath to see who waters-down our efforts.
Let's see who the lobbyists are and which politicians they have bought and
paid for.
My friends in Canada said people get the care they need, but here my friend who has medical insurance is being denied medical care, and treated as if she is just a person who likes to complain. She has alarming symptoms and has not even been given blood work in Kentucky.
They are cutting off medical benefits for children of lower income parents in California, and the receptionist at my Doctor's does not know how she will get along with no insurance for her child and it being too expensive through her job.
My friend works full time and her employeer does not provide medical insurance. Now she has pre-conditions and is close to 60, so what company with medical insurance is going to hire her with Diabetis and having been hit by a car so back damage, with so many applying for similar jobs who are healthy.
I am for Single Payer Health Care with private ownership. Bring down the Pharmaseutical and Insurance Companies who are keeping people with insurance from getting the proper care they need.
Now, if you loose your job due to illness, and the insurance stops. How is that a good system?
Sure he said a lot of things that *we* can appreciate, but nothing that Fox viewers were likely to respond to. Why couldn't he have emphasized that about 1/3 of every dollar directed toward the U.S. health care system never actually gets there but instead is absorbed in insurance company profit and overhead and in the overheads providers experience in dealing with that complex and obstructive system? Even Fox viewers aren't likely to be all that fond of the idea that such a large percentage of *their* money is being wasted that way.
Why couldn't he have made it clear that we're not talking about decreasing money paid to providers (or about changing the way services are provided at all), just about eliminating unnecessary overhead before that money gets to them? So there's no reason that care quality should decrease because of this change: if, say, Canadians sometimes experience waits for health care, it's because they aren't paying for the level of service that we already pay for and (if that's what we want) will continue to pay for and receive.
Why couldn't he have countered the 'illegal immigrant' red herring by responding that those who need health care still get quite a lot even if they can't pay for it - by visiting emergency rooms and getting care the most expensive way possible. Those unpaid services, of course, then become 'overhead' the cost of which is passed back to those who *can* pay: we'd actually *save* money if we underwrote more sensible (proactive rather than reactive) health care for those people - even illegal immigrants.
Why (as others have mentioned) didn't he state clearly that the kind of system he was talking about was the kind that we already have in Medicare - a system presumably both familiar and comfortable to Fox viewers?
Why didn't he mention the ability of a single-payer system to negotiate better deals with drug companies (or any other provider whose profits exceed competitive levels) to reduce costs? (Well, that may be a bit much to expect Fox viewers to comprehend, but it's still a valid advantage to offer up if there's sufficient time.)
Stating that 22,000,000 Americans die each year due to lack of health coverage was an unfortunate slip of the tongue that they caught him on. But he wasn't prepared to call *them* out when they claimed that doctors opposed a single-payer system (when in fact a majority support it - perhaps they were talking about the relatively conservative AMA contingent, but they're in the minority these days). Sticking to the points mentioned above would have helped keep Fox on the defensive, but he still should have been prepared to take on their talking points as well.
Fox somewhat surprisingly gave Tim ample opportunity to make a good case, had he been sufficiently organized to do so. The strengths that make him a good leader for PDA were obviously not the ones needed to do this job, at least if the job was to be an effective spokesperson for single-payer health care rather than simply to garner publicity for PDA.
I think single-payer care as advocated by PDA and their partners is the best - and possibly the only - answer. Insurance Cos. and Big Pharma MUST be bypassed so that all may have time-and cost-effective care.
Go to the website Tim named and get the details...and talk to anyone who will listen!!
Suggestions:
Re "waiting times": Yes, Canadians sometimes experience unacceptable waiting times. Doubling the expenditure per person would clearly fix that. That's what we already pay now, and would continue to pay under Medicare for All. Hence, no waiting time problem.
Re "How can we pay for universal coverage?": We're already paying for it, just not getting it. For every $100 of health care services the health insurance companies pay for, they charge policy holders $150. Supermarkets thrive on markups of 2-3%, Medicare charges 5%, but healthcos have to impose a 50% markup because the system is inherently inefficient. That 50% markup adds up to over $1 billion down the drain every day, enough to extend coverage to everyone.
Re: "Britons and Canadians don't like their healthcare systems". Not true. Why didn't Margaret Thatcher privatise the National Health Plan while she had the mandate to privatise everything in sight? Why did Canadians vote Tommy Douglas, who introduced their universal public healthcare, "The Greatest Canadian of All Time" in 2004?
Dear Megyn,
The interview with Tim Carpenter was the first time I had ever watched you interview anyone, in fact the first time I ever watched your show. After seeing your style - which in this case was bullying your guest in order to simplify the discussion to the point where facts are misrepresented - I won't watch it ever again.
I had heard that Fox offered really poor, inept reporting but it truly has to be seen to be believed. Once we've solved the health care problem, I hope Congress passes a law where networks have to meet journalism standards in order to sell themselves as news networks.
And if you do take accurate email counts, using the poor, misinformed souls who get their "news" from Fox as a bellwether of public opinion, count this one as a supporter of single payer health care, and a believer in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all who would embrace core American values, whether they be undocumented workers or not.
In reference to Glen's pompous comments, obviously he has great insurance coverage so he can't possibly acknowledge that the system for those who are uninsured is unacceptable. My son recently spent 9 hours in an emergency room waiting to be looked at for a cut that needed stitches. After a 9 hour wait he left in disgust. At this point the tissue had long since started to heal making stitches moot. He received a $500.00 bill even though the only services rendered was the receptionist taking down his name. This is appalling. Also, because he had no health insurance, guess who wound up paying for his services non rendered? The taxpayer. I would love to know the annual figure payed by the US taxpayers for services to the uninsured. I would imagine that it is quite a staggering sum.
I, too, would also love to know who paid for the health care of this "supposed" Canadian. Was it covered by Freecare, a US government funded coverage, or her Canadian healthcare? Unless she is independently wealthy I'm sure someone footed the bill. The question is who?
Sharon
Thanks for having the nerve to get in front of the unfair and unbalanced FOX. No matter how they try to spin it most people know from their experience that private insurance is NOT the solution, it is the problem. How do you compare the wait time of never into the Canadian comparison - Maybe they should ask the 22,000 who die annually in the USA. Or the many people here who wait years to become eligible for Medicare in order to have their medical conditions treated. I couldn't help but wonder if the interviewer will decline Medicare and Social Security for her parents because they are social programs.
Max Baucus and the health profiteers are turning the health care debate into the healthcare de bait and switch. He says everything is on the table - then says single-payer is not on the table. Maybe we need an independent commission of people who do not derive campaign funds and other revenue from this industry to analyze the merits of single-payer. It would be more beneficial than this rush that reminds me so much of the Bush administration's approach on important matters. This country need a factual comparison of private insurance and single payer's effect in the USA and other countries regarding access to care, health costs and outcomes. We need real FACTS - not the opinion of those who profit. I wrote a poem for the occasion.
Our social safety net is torn,
because in the USA we were born.
The industrialized world has medical care,
but not over here, only over there.
Our medical coverage is poor,
the insurance predator is at the door.
Our nest egg and healthcare are broken,
but Max Baucus and the lobbyists have spoken.
Our government says their help we don’t need,
will they overcome greed when we bleed if we plead?
They say single-payer is off the table,
let's vote them out as soon as we're able.
But the C.E.O.’s will sleep tight tonight,
because they got the TARP and don’t share our plight.
They can’t understand - about all the fuss,
If their security blanket suffocates the rest of us.
Waits are far better than NO care.
From reading the comments below, it would seem that Fox is again lying by saying that most viewers don't want single payer. Fair and unbalanced I would say.
From reading the comments below, it would seem that Fox is again lying by saying that most viewers don't want single payer. Fair and unbalanced I would say.
I am a regular contributor to PDA, and I would like to have my money spent more effectively.
I am in favor of single-payer. Lois
Trying to speak over that 'wanna be" acting journalist who's name should be "Megym" denoting her android type personna, instead of her trendy spelling of the name Megan, had to be next to impossible especially when you are trying to deliver a real public service message.
Her rude and sarcastic tone throughout the interview was evident and when she tried to characterize Tim's appearance as a "promo" it signaled to me that its 'Fix' news at it again.
Overall I thought Tim's ability to remain focused throughout that sham of an interviw so that he could make his point was nothing short of terrific.
Only those working for insurance companies and others willfully ignorant are against Single Payer.
not cover providers. Providing care is still private, choice is not limited and care is not rationed.
Ralph Erickson, PDLA
That's even considering that the news anchor has an ear piece and up to three monitors with editors feeding talking points (rather lame as it turns out 'illegal immigrants' and dis-satisfied Canadians) while the guest is isolated in another studio, often another town, without such support and often not even a view of the host while being interviewed.
Tim held up very well, while the anchor remained befuddled and continued to ignore and mis-characterize Tim's reasoned answers.
Many in this blog have pointed out that even with our current US healthcare system, there are many who are not only dis-satisfied, but don't have the luxury of dissatisfaction because they have no health care option what so ever.
I have sat in a hospital ER (we got out of the waiting room in about 30 minutes) with my elderly mom for 16 hours (and she was covered by Medicare A & B) so to pretend that our health care is the 'best in the world' is having the 'world view' of an ostrich with it's head buried in the dirt. (And it's butt hanging out.)
Single Payer Universal Health Care for All, privately delivered, publicly funded is not only morally sensible, it is economically sensible when all the costs are truly evaluated. There's plenty of independent studies out there that support this. But not from the political think tanks or the Insurance Company shames who's only interest is in maintaining healthcare-for-profit, and allowing a non-medical clerk determine the procedures and drugs that are permitted (affordable to the insurance companies) based on the bottom-line profit.
Your doctors first question should not need be: "What insurance do you have?" it should be: "What wrong? How can I help?"
In the current system, insurance companies and HMO restrict the choice of doctors and hospitals, even of types of treatments. In some cares they arbitrarily deny coverage. That's not choice.
That's a powerful point that demolishes the right's silly lies about "choice".
Everyone in the S-P movement should be familiar with talking points and responses to the most common untruths used by the right.
1. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender....
2. http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Content/Publica...
3. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07...
As for Canadians and Brits, most of those with whom I've talked would never trade their system for ours. No system is perfect, but they are generally happy with theirs. If doctors are plentiful, as in the U.S., there is no reason for the long waits that some describe. And certainly, without such a system, many of our citizens will never be able to afford the health care they need.
I have relatives in Canada and have traveled Canada from West coast to the
Maritimes. And the Right is wrong about the Candian system.
It would be nice if Fox and its "friends" cared about facts. The Right cares only about profits. Fox and the GOP and the health insurance and
drug company cabals that back both are launching a campaign of hysteria and
propoganda to protect their financial interests. Anyone who thinks Fox, the GOP et al gives a rat's patoot about health care should think again.
Also I am still appalled that Tim had a kerry person come down to Roxbury for the Progressive Convention and give a power point presentation of how we the Progressives would be used and get shafted if kerry won; and try to tell us it was our job to get kerry elected. Senator kerry did not stand-up for the voters of Florida and America in 2000 or the voters in Ohio in 2004, and don't get me started on his spinelessness while bush was occupying the White House. I have no regrets for not supporting him.
Thomas Higgins
2004 Stabbed in the back DNC Kucinich Delegate - Alaska
While we are busy fighting for single-payer helath care, opponents are stepping up the criticism of the health care plan that is on the table right now! On Sunday, May 31st, Conservatives for Patients Rights will air on NBC a "documentary" full of lies about the President's proposed plan!
Yes, in a perfect world we would have single-payer but if we keep ignoring the battle that is going on right now we will have nothing!
Swift Boating Obama’s public health care option - http://tinyurl.com/kmzm4u
I boycott everything that is owned by the fascist Rupert Murdoch. I won't even pick up the free Village Voice.
I don't watch Fox news as I consider it propaganda. Notice how Megyn Kelly was trying to bully Tim Carpenter. He held his own and gets my congratulations- most lose when up against Joseph Goebbels and his children.
The sad fact is is that we live in a fascist empire whose Homeland needs protecting. Wake up people before the transition to a full fledged police state is completed by the fascist ruling class for which FOX news is the mouthpiece. They will keep you nice and safe from everybody and everything except them. You will spend your lives working hard for nothing and will be only too happy to die. Health care will be staying out of the detention camps and not criticizing anything lest you be labelled a "terrorist."
Now go buy something or distract yourself with entertainment which includes the newstainment of the mass media. The truth hurts so don't think about it. Maybe you won't be one of the ones they drag off in the middle of the night.
r c wilson
http://groups.google.com/group/bnooz_2007
Hey hmmmm free boobs too, I'm getting to like the plan even more. Richard I'm glad you like boobs, you must otherwise you wouldn't have notice. oh yea boooooooooooooooooooooooooobssssssssss
While your knowledge of the subject may be excellent, your performance was miserable. People need to understand how the US. healthcare system is failing them. They need to be reminded of all the people falling through the cracks. And that they are not sake with the existing system. That the existing system doesn't necessarily cover them. Get some great horror stories for next time, if there is one. Win their sympathy. THEN you can make your point about how the huge cut in bureaucracy makes universal health care both more effective and more affordable.
I could have done a much better job myself - and I'm no "expert."
On the other hand, what are the odds that we are going to change the minds of any Fox news watchers?
By the way, I lived in Great Britain for 3-1/2 years and got excellent care from the National Health Service. Having an appendicitis attack, I had a doctor come to my home to examine me, and was operated on within 24 hours. My wife gave birth in the most humane environment I could imagine, one I could not envision in the US at the time. I can only say I was completely disappointed with the US system when I returned, and over the last few years I found out that all my American physicians felt the same. Socialized medicine is great! (but let's stick with HR676 for now)
Yes we need a single payer system, and it would be good for american if fox news was taken off the air.
We need some clear goals for any health care reform, and I suggest the following:
1. Universal coverage. Not 98%, not 99%, but universal.
2. And I mean coverage, not merely insurance. So many people are underinsured today in order to keep policies affordable. This is a false affordability, because being underinsured means not covered in many situations.
3. We must make medical bankruptcies obsolete! It must no longer be possible to have "coverage" in the US yet go bankrupt for medical expenses. And, of course, everyone must be covered.
If any proposal fails to achieve the above, or has a big delay or trigger, then send it back! Our message must still be "Yes We Can".
Universal coverage? Yes We Can!
No more underinsured? Yes We Can!
No medical bankruptcies? Yes We Can!
I suggest that, as a first step, Congress should fix the problems with Medicare Part D. Medicare Part D was designed to bankrupt Medicare and to provide a need to buy private coverage. We must have as one of our slogans "No More Medicare Part Ds!"
Don't buy the argument that America can't do this. Yes We Can!
Could we take a cue from how we deal with agricultural overproduction? Since it is clear that we can’t do away with the private health insurance companies, can we pay them some hefty fees NOT to provide health insurance, as long as they leave us alone and we have a good public health funding program? They really don’t care about their clerks and forms and stuff, so as long as the government gives them enough money to pay their executive salaries and some return to shareholders, that should be enough, right? We could then simplify the rest of health care funding with a single-payer system and use the savings to pay the subsidy.
If we can pay corporate farmers not to farm, we certainly can pay insurance companies not to complicate health care.
Hooray for Tim!
Linda Furr
CARPENTER'S MIKE WAS TURNED OFF, HE WAS "OVERTALKED", AND VERY LITTLE OF HIS MESSAGE GOT THROUGH. WITH THEIR BIAS AND CONTROL, IT'S MERELY A MATTER OF ALLOWING THE 25% IDIOT CROWD TO PRAISE FAUX NEWS.
IT WAS A WASTE OF TIME.
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.....comes up as having been "removed by the user"
Did anyone else copy this? Evidently the case was made so well that Fox had to censor it, eh?