Pennsylvania is in a unique position. She has a Single Payer
Health care Bill, HB 1660, that has a great chance to eventually
pass in the House.
Of all the State sponsored bills, this one is the strongest.
This is a solid bill, one Pennsylvanians can trust that insurance
companies will be fully exempt from corrupting.
Democracy For America promoted house parties across the country
November 14, where thousands of people watched Sicko, then listened
to a conference call with film maker Michael Moore and DFA President Jim Dean
for more than thirty minutes.
Or if people were watching on the West Coast, they tuned into the
conference call before they watched the DVD.
In any case, a certain percentage of watchers had never seen the
movie before, so Jim Dean, and Michael Moore were
careful not to divulge key movie points.
I saw Sicko for the third time that night and thoroughly enjoyed
watching it with my Progressives 4 Pennsylvania friends, a handful
of union leaders, and a few liberals I grew up with in my hometown.
The conference call itself was inspiring.
Michael Moore was asked about state sponsored versus federally
sponsored bills, and which did he support. For instance, John Conyers
and Dennis Kucinich have a National Single Payer Health Care Bill, H.R.676.
Moore said we need a National Single Payer bill, thus supported the
Conyers/Kucinich bill. John Conyers has said he supports the bill
here in Pennsylvania, HB 1660.
Having said that, and given the current stranglehold on anything good
coming out of Washington these days, I believe we have no choice but to develop
a model Single Payer Health Care Bill that other States and eventually the Country
are free to adopt.
Another point in the call was how the propaganda machines like to stop all
discourse on a real Universal Health Care Plan that covers all Americans
Minus Insurance Companies, by stating that such plans are Socialized Medicine.
Michael Moore said Single Payer is not Socialized Medicine, but rather is
Christianized, Krishna-ized, Mohammad-ized Medicine because of the impetus
for caring for every citizen in America in a true spirit of service.
The question arose about the supposed waits that people have in the Canadian
health care system, (although Canadians in the movie told us that they really
don't have the waits that the propaganda machines in this country want us to believe).
Moore said that when 50,000,000 people are taken out of the health care equation,
obviously our waiting times at the doctors, those of us with Health Insurance,
will obviously be shortened.
When we add the 50,000,000 people back into the system, yes, we will have
longer waiting times.
Isn't this preferable to making Health Care unavailable to so many millions of
citizens?
Governor Rendell of Pennsylvania has a Health Bill before the Pennsylvania
House of Representatives called Prescription for Pennsylvania.
This bill is losing support with only 8 sponsors as of this writing.
HB 1660 currently has 35 sponsors.
Why is HB 1660 superior to Prescription For Pennsylvania?
HB 1660 guarantees health care protection for all Pennsylvanians thus
delivering quality, comprehensive health care.
Rendell's plan does not.
HB 1660 takes Insurance Companies out of the equation.
Rendell's plan does not.
HB 1660 preserves the rights of patients to choose their own doctors with
out deductibles, co-pays or life-time caps.
Rendell's plan does not.
HB 1660 allows for prescription drug and behavioral health care coverage.
The Rendell plan does not.
Alternative Medical Modalities are allowed in the HB 1660 plan.
Not so with Rendell's plan.
A comprehensive comparison between the two plans can be accessed at:
http://www.progressives4pennsylvania.com
Progressives4Pennsylvania plans to create teaching workshops about HB 1660
and present these to Labor affiliated groups, retirement homes, small
businesses and other potential arenas.
Health Care For All Americans started with a vision that Pennsylvania
birthed and now shares with the nation.
John Edwards is the only candidate running for President who has a plan
to deliver health care to all Americans without the interference
of Insurance Companies.
He needs Health Care Reform Activists to work with him.
He cannot do it alone.
And neither can we.
Kate Loving Shenk
Nursing Career Transformation
2 comments:
Your statement about John Edwards having the only plan to solve the health care crisis with out involving the health care insurance industry is not true. His plan would still involve the insurance companies otherwise he wouldn't have been invited to the AARP Debate in Iowa recently. The only Presidential Candidate's plan that by-passes the health insurance industry is Dennis Kucinich. He is for non-profit, single payer, universal healthcare for all. Medicare for All!
...non-profit, single payer, universal healthcare for all. Medicare for All...
Mike Gravel is also for that system. Of course, neither he nor Kucinich even figure into the media circus, er, coverage, surrounding the campaign.
In fairness to Edwards, I do think he intends to end up with Medicare for all (unlike Hillary or Obama). I gather he sees his proposal as an 'interim step'.
If that step is necessary, or if it will ever lead to Medicare for all -- those questions can be debated.
"An injury to one is an injury to all"
.
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