“Health Care is a Right, Not a Privilege”

As the public option is starting to lose fervor in Washington, one Senator is still pushing to support the cause. Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont that is a politician with open Socialist views, thinks that single-payer system would work if states were given the opportunity to try it out.

I think he sums it up best in this video by saying, "Our job is not to protect the private health insurance companies. It is to provide quality, cost-effective health-care to the American people."

Recently his contingency, Vermont, made it publicly known that they are ready to try out “Medicare-for-All publicly financed health care system in their state.” They feel that health care is a “human right” and healthcare should be based on “medical need” rather than “corporate greed.”

Individual states should have the right pass and live by laws that they deem right for their state. State laws legalizing marijuana and gay marriage were passed by individual states, and I don't see why a public health care system could be implemented by individual states. This could be the true test to see if the public option will succeed or fail. The people of Vermont have spoken, not it is up to the leaders in Washington to decide.

Saturday Senate Health Care Debate

Yesterday the Senate convened to discuss the topic of health care reform and the bills urgency of passage. Majority leader Harry Reid discussed Senator Lincoln’s initiative that, “Stops irresponsible tax break for Millionaire health insurance executives, and starts using company resources to strengthen Medicare.”

Reid said that with the bill’s passage it would “save lives, money and Medicare,” adding that, “Each and every American should be able to afford and live a healthy life.”

To contextualize this argument, Senator Tom Harkin (D), said that chief insurance executives made $118.6 M in 2007 alone ($11.9 M each), and it would take a normal minimum wage earning American 800 years to make this money.

On the other side of the argument, Republican minority leader Senator Mitch McConnel said he “Hasn’t seen a survey in months that says that American people support the bill.” He claims the American people are telling their leaders to “stop the bill” and “start over.” McConnel claims the 2,074 page bill will hurt medicare, and cause tax and premium increases.

I was looking online for polls expressing the public opinions of health care reform, and public views have changed since the summer when the bill was proposed. In this New York Times poll, the public does foresee much of difference with the bill’s passage.

In these series of polls compiled by the Chicago Tribune, it seems that the public is losing faith in the effectiveness and validity of the bill. It seems that the Republican filibusters have finally achieved a result of the public conscience. The repeated rhetoric by Republican legislators have worn down the fervor of the American public. Hopefully our leaders can come to their senses and persevere to do what is best for the American people.

UMass Students Could See Insurance Refunds

It was reported in the Boston Globe recently that state colleges are agreeing, “To provide refunds to students if their insurer makes ‘excess profits’ on the students’ health coverage.”

This was disclosed by Bill Devine of University Health Plans, a major provider of health insurance to state colleges. Sponsored by Senator Richard Moore, D-Uxbridge, he is pushing insurance companies to, “Meet the same minimum standards set by the state for insurance sold to the general public.”

The issue of affordable health insurance for students was brought into consideration after recognizing that insurance companies make “much higher profits” on health insurance to students than any other options open to the general public. One statistic showed that “45 cents to every insurance dollar [students] pay goes to insurance companies’ profit and administrative costs."

Rising fees have always been a major qualm of mine in regards to higher education. I understand that with a large bureaucracy like University education, the chain of command needs a lot of oil and grease to keep the cogs of the machine running. And while many people can cover these rising expenses (begrudgingly), many other cannot.

If someone seeks a higher education, they should be granted the opportunity to advance themselves, regardless of their socio-economic situation and history. Affordable education needs to stay affordable, and students should not be marginalized.

Bill Helps Native Americans

A key goal of health care reform is to give more support groups that are sometimes pushed aside in the social hierarchy of American politics. One such group are the Native Americans of America, whose population is about 2.5 million people.

It was reported by the New York Times recently that Native Americans are more likely to die more from accidental injuries, diabetes, and motor vehicle crashes than other Americans. This disproportion can be attributed from the fact that Native Americans typically live in rurally based communities, where hospitals, clinics and doctors are not at a suitable proximity in the case of an emergency or time of need.

The National Congress for Native Indians says that, "In exchange for over 450 million acres of Native lands, American Indians received a commitment from the federal government to provide for the health, safety, and welfare of Indian people into the future." But the reality of the situation is that the federal government has not held up their end of the bargain in recent years.

Recently President Obama made an address to 564 tribal leaders in Washington, saying that his administration will try to address the disparities in treatment; allocating more money to the Indian Health Care system.




Congress' role, said the New York Times, is to, "Encourage Indians to enroll in proposed programs like subsidized private insurance or expanded Medicaid, while respecting their sovereignty and the conviction that they are owed health care."

I feel this is a step forward for the treatment of Native Americans in this country. The health care bill is being criticized for its threat of ‘government takeover’ and premiums that are predicted to not change. But one of the main points of this bill is to provide help to those who are truly in need, and the bill seems it will make an improvement for the Native Americans.

Sending Prayers out to Lieberman

The disloyalty of party members does not go unnoticed. There has been a public response recently to Lieberman’s decision that he has, “No other choice,” but to stop the public option.

Many of his constituents of Connecticut made it known recently that Lieberman is not making their own beliefs represented. An interfaith committee led by clergy members including Priests, Rabbis, and Imams formed a procession to publicize the need for a public option, and Lieberman’s ‘moral’ duty to support this legislation.

About 500 members of Lieberman’s home town of Stamford, CT formed a procession from Stamford High School to Senator Lieberman’s house where they were greeted by police but continued to chant and ‘send their prayers’ out the Lieberman.

These religious leaders feel that, “Health care is a fundamental right,” and by not providing coverage to those in need is a moral offense.

It is certainty understood that every one has their own agenda. Lieberman says he doesn't want to pass the public option because he thinks it is a reckless financial decision that will put America deeper into the recession. What Lieberman does not address though is that health care costs are rapidly rising and will soon be unaffordable to a large population of Americans.

Its apparent that these clergy members who organized this demonstration don't have a secret political/financial agenda for themselves. Their jobs are to serve the people and they were trying to elicit a call of action to Lieberman to do the same for the people that he serves.

Lieberman left with "No other Choice"

Last post was about a politician who crossed a party line to support a bill that he felt was a “decision of conscience” for his constituents. This entry focuses on the same commotion, but on the other side of the equation.

Senator Joseph Lieberman, an Independent from Connecticut who has had a longstanding affiliation with the Democratic Party has been causing waves recently with his decision to oppose public option of health care reform.

In an interview with Cybercast News Service Lieberman said he had, “No other choice” but to filibuster the health care bill that includes the public option. Lieberman comments that he supports health care reform, but thinks the public option would be worse financially for Americans and would put it citizens deeper in the recession.

People are worrying that the public option’s premiums would be higher on average than private insurance premiums. But we forgot in all of this mess that the public option is an option meaning, you can stick with what you have if you think it works for you.

When I was watching the Congressional hearings on November 7^th that eventually passed, I noticed the rhetoric of Republicans that were debating with the democrats was that the bill was “job killing” and detrimental to America. As a citizen I would like to see the terms the reasoning behind the decisions of both the Democrats and Republicans, instead of being caught up in sensational bureaucratic idioms.

The Republican Who Went Public

Although the House passage of the “Affordable Health Care for America Act” on Saturday November 7th was a Democrat party supported initiative passed by a 220-215 vote; it is not to say that all Republican representatives opposed the bill.

I admire Representative Anh Cao of Louisiana who was the only Republican representative to support the bill. Following the partisan arena of Washington politics sometimes feels like two conformed voices are constant yelling at one another in unison. So it is refreshing when a party member supports a bill that they truly think will benefit their constituents.

According to a recent New York Times article, Cao said that he, “Had to make a decision of conscience based on the needs of the people of [my] district,” adding that many of his constituents are uninsured and poor.