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Is it a constitutional right?
by Tim Flanagan
Preamble to the US Constitution
“We the People (1) of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect
Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the
common defense, promote the general welfare,(2) and secure the Blessings
of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this
Constitution for the United States of America.”
The Preamble declares that: “We the People of the United States ....
do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of
America.”
The meaning is clear that all authority originates from the People.
“General welfare,” as used in the Constitution, refers to: “health,
happiness, or prosperity; well-being. [Middle English wel faren, to fare
well]”
We pay more for less
Life expectancy for those born in Canada is about two years higher than
for those born in the USA. Medical costs as a percentage of GDP are 15
percent in the United States, and 10 percent in the Canadian
single-payer system.
American “health care” costs $2 trillion and leave upwards of 50 million
Americans uninsured: 24 million Americans are diabetic, 5.7 million have
forms of congestive heart failure, 17 million have coronary artery
disease, 22 million have asthma, and 18 million suffer from depression.
Michael Morrow, (American Federation of Teachers VP for Political
Action, Local 2277) recently noted that, “The right-wing has convinced
people that these are a personal issues.” But lost work days, reduced
productivity, and costs to families, businesses, and communities makes
our failed system a national security issue. The United States of
America is the only western industrialized country which does not
provide universal, government-supported health care for the well-being
of all citizens.
Ricardo Alonzo -Zaldiver, writing for the Associated Press, reminds us
that if the 50 million “uninsured were a political lobbying group, they
would be larger than AARP.” Yet too many characterize going without
health insurance as a personal issue, a misfortune, or “a choice.”
Yet when problems related to health and our health care delivery system
impact our nation’s ability to compete in the global marketplace, this
must no longer be seen as some unfortunate personal choice. Many of the
uninsured and under-insured do not have the time or resources to lobby
for solutions, but there are advocates for these millions of uninsured
Americans. Unions and aging Americans are taking action. Health Care for
America Now plans to bring 15,000 or more Americans to Washington this
year to lobby Congress for guaranteed health insurance. This is a start.
Is health insurance the problem?
Others say health insurance may itself be our biggest problem.
Incremental reforms in multi-payer financing systems, which require
expensive marketing and prohibitive administrative costs, will not help
the growing number of Americans who have no insurance and no place to
turn.
Leonard Rodberg noted in The Portland Observer that “Multi-payer systems
are unable to control costs. The only way to assure cost containment is
to adopt a unified financing mechanism that has the leverage to
negotiate lower prices.”
A unified single payer system can provide the necessary pool of people
to lower costs, plus budgeting and planning tools which will save money
while protecting all of our people, all of the time.
Forty percent of American working people (including those with
insurance) are struggling to pay medical bills. Yet most leading
Democrats, including President Obama, would continue to allow
transnational insurance cartels to define, control, and set the costs
for our health care delivery system.
The administrative cost savings of a single-payer system would be enough
to cover all of the uninsured as well as lower costs for those who are
currently insured. This approach is favored by working people, labor
unions, and medical doctors. This “expanded Medicare” has majority
support and more of our legislators are taking a closer look.
A man with a plan
Dennis Kucinich and other legislators have proposed a plan for
reconstructing our health care delivery system so that it is more in
synch with the social, political, and economic realities of today.
Kucinich explains:
“The underlying problem is that we treat health care like a market
commodity instead of a social service. Health care is targeted not to
medical need, but to the ability to pay. Markets are good for many
things, but they are not a good way to distribute health care…”
Mainstream” writers like Ph. D. economist and columnist for the New York
Times Paul Krugman now agree with those doctors and Dennis that
“covering everyone under Medicare would actually be significantly
cheaper than our current system. “They all recognize that we already
spend enough to provide national health care to all but lack the
political courage to make the tough decisions that doctors, nurses and
medical professionals must run our health care system, – not “for
profit” insurance companies who make money by denying health care.
It is time to recognize that all the civilized countries have a solution
that we must adapt to this country. American businesses can no longer be
competitive shouldering the entire cost of health care. Health care is a
right that all Americans deserve.”
The United States ranks 37th in the World Health Organization’s rankings
of the world’s health systems (below Malta, Iceland, Saudi Arabia, and
numerous other countries that might surprise you) This means 36 poorer
and less-developed countries than our own can still take better care of
their people.
We can do better.
Tim Flanagan is a writer, editor, instructor, tutor PCCFFAP Publicist
, Jobs With Justice liaison, facilitator for www.WritingResource.info
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