Hi All!
I was ready to toss my hat in the ring with Mr. Barack Obama until now, but he does not support HR 676, Universal Single-Payer Healthcare Plan. Here is a description of HR 676:
BRIEF SUMMARY of H.R. 676
The U.S. National Health Insurance Act
Introduced by John Conyers, Jr., (D-Michigan) with 75 co-sponsors (as of 8/11/06)
Establishes an American-styled national health insurance program that would create a publicly financed, privately delivered health care program that uses the already existing Medicare program by expanding and improving it for all U.S. residents. This legislation is an example of a "single-payer" system, referring to the government, instead of multiple insurance companies and you, paying the health care bills. The providers remain private and we choose who to go to.
With close to 46 million uninsured and more than that underinsured, it is time to change our inefficient, costly, and fragmented health care system. An increasing number of Americans are paying more out-of-pocket or neglecting their health.
According to Dean Baker of the Center for Economic Research and Policy, using 2005 figures, HR 676 would save $56 billion in overall health care spending while covering all of the uninsured. Administrative costs would be reduced from 20-30% under the current insurance company system, to 3%, under Medicare. The profit margin in paying for health care costs would be eliminated. The government would negotiate for lower drug prices from the pharmaceutical companies, further lowering costs.
We would move away from our present system, where annual family premiums have increased to $11,000/year and more, depending on the plan. 95% of families would pay less for health care than they do today.
Under H.R. 676, a family of three making $40,000/year would spend approximately $1900/year or $150/month in taxes for excellent health care coverage, with no co pays, deductibles, or monthly premiums.
Under H.R. 676, employers currently providing health care benefits to their employees would pay much less in taxes for better coverage, making American businesses more competitive with foreign markets that have universal health care, while protecting the health and well-being of their employees.
Health Care Services Covered
Office visits, hospitalizations, emergency care, prescription drugs, medical equipment, long term care, mental health services, drug and alcohol treatment, dentistry, eye care, chiropractic services.
Proposed Funding
A modest payroll tax on all employers and employees of 3.3% each, in addition to the l.45% payroll tax that employers/ees are already paying, for a total of 4.75% each. A 5% health tax on the top 5% of income earners; 10% tax on richest 1%. A small tax on stock and bond transfers. Closing corporate tax loopholes and repealing the Bush tax cut for the highest 1% of income earners.
The United States has the highest health spending in the world, yet 45 million Americans have no health insurance and millions more are under-insured and unable to access care. Illness and medical bills contribute to half of all U.S. bankruptcies. Prescription drug costs are the highest in the world. Even though other industrialized democracies spend less on health care, their citizens are guaranteed coverage for life, live longer, and have better access to care.
Americans spend more money for less coverage and care because we are the only industrialized country that allows for-profit insurance companies to be middlemen in our health system. In their drive to enroll healthy (and profitable) patients and screen out the sick, private insurers waste vast sums on billing, marketing, underwriting, utilization review and other activities that enhance profits but divert resources from care and hassle patients and physicians. The paperwork they inflict on doctors and hospitals and nurses wastes hundreds of billions more each year.
Replacing private insurance companies with a single-payer public program - "Medicare for All" - would save more than $350 billion per year by slashing bureaucracy, enough new money to provide guaranteed comprehensive health benefits for all. (New England Journal of Medicine, 2003 
Dennis Kucinich on his Universal Single-Payer Health Care Plan
You can petition Congress to pass Single-Payer HR 676 at:
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/congress-dump-private-insurers-fix-health-care.html
Check out my friend OneCareUS.org if you are concerned about our broken health care system and want to be part of the solution for REAL reform!
Your Friend,
MagicStarER!
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