Single Payer Healthcare Please!

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Single Payer Government Run Healthcare Q&A: Some interesting questions arose when I asked my Facebook friends if they were as ready for a single payer system as I am. I decided to answer them here, on my blog, so a potentially wider readership could chime in, too…

Disease-care, or Healthcare?

stethoscope
Have you checked your blood pressure today? Talk to your pharmacist about home pressure checking machines. It’s easy, and your doctor wants you to keep track of it.

(Disclaimer: I am NOT affiliated with any of the pro-single payer organizations linked above or below!)

The following statistic speaks volumes:

“52 percent of doctors would get out of medicine if they could. So many young doctors are recognizing how broken the system is…”  –from Escape Fire, a new healthcare documentary

Do Canadians come here for important health care needs (in statistically meaningful numbers)?

Are Canadian doctors leaving Canada to practice in the United States (in statistically meaningful numbers)?

Has an elaborate, private-insurer-supporting mythology emerged surrounding the supposed evils of the Canadian system?

Insurance industry lobbyists are like this scary clown: they wear suits, they have the blood of innocents on their hands, and they are deceptively masked. And they don’t sleep well at night.

It’s reminiscent of misguided corporate/political PR campaigns of days gone by:

The Finnish love saunas, public schools, Nokia phones, and universal healthcare!

Would an increase in welfare state measures be bad for the economy?

black rock flag
No, Virginia, there is no Santa Claus, but every December, at noradsanta.org, the North American Aerospace Defense Command will use your dad’s taxpayer dollars to mock this childish fantasy of yours! photo source: Jim Miles

Doesn’t the U.S. Government always screw up everything it does?

See Myths, above; but for the patriots, here’s a very partial list:

  • No, (gibill.va.gov/benefits/history _timeline) -> GI Bill
  • No,(nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo) -> Man on the Moon
  • No, (geoplatform.gov) -> awesome Map source
  • No, (tva.com/abouttva/) -> Tennessee Valley Authority made country music possible
  • No, (consumerfinance.gov/the-bureau) -> a new agency, but LOOOONG overdue!
  • No, (lsc.gov) -> Legal Services for you and me in civil suits, if we need a lawyer but can’t afford one; may not be around much longer, since the Bush administration squeezed it almost to death.
  • No, (history.navy.mil) -> Two words: D-Day. Or is that one?
  • No, (weather.gov) -> Now that I live in hurricane country, they seem more relevant…
  • No, (cdc.gov/about/ history) -> because diseases have no self-control
  • No, (www.fhwa.dot.gov/interstate) -> Socialized Roads! Thank you, Pres. Eisenhower!
  • No, (ssa.gov/aboutus) -> It’s not going away; that’s another prominent myth
  • No, (ftc.gov/bcp/ about) -> Bureau of Consumer Protection: you need to make it illegal for local car dealers to use sound in their TV commercials; all in favor? Aye!
  • No, (si.edu/About) -> The Smithsonian Institution. I feel smarter just saying it!
  • No, (loc.gov/about/history.html) -> The Library of Congress: The best library in the world, and their online offerings are amazing.
  • No, (copyright.gov/about) -> Think about how this would kill our economy, if it wasn’t managed as well as it is…
  • No, (usps.gov) -> The US Postal Service: Where would you be without a zip code?
  • No, (archives.gov/ about/ history) -> To be able to stand in the same room with the U.S. Constitution, and have school children smack you in the stomach with their backpacks, and step on your toes, is a sacred honor for all Americans. Thank You, National Archives.
  • No, (data.gov/ about) -> brand new step toward freedom of information to all, through the Internet
  • No! (http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ ARPANET) -> The U.S. government invented the Internet (insert a snide Al Gore joke here; I’ll wait)
  • the list could go on… usa.gov is a good portal to all services…

Now, if the question is whether modern campaign-cycle-frenzied U.S. politicians screw up more often than not, I might tend to agree there.

The one sector of the economy with the most to lose in the switch to a single-payer, government-run healthcare system is the current private health insurance industry. Expect the most vehement lobbying/ mythologizing from those mega-corporations and the media outlets they support and the candidates and elected officials they support. But that’s just common sense, right?

Newsflash Headline: Campaign-Addicted Politicians May Not Make Good Decisions!

Good Ideas for a Single Payer system for the United States

Penultimate question:

What’s a good place to start browsing information about proposals for a single payer system for the United States?

Is Canada The Only Country That Does This?

Of course not! CNN just did a good article on this topic:  http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/28/health/countries-health-care/index.html

UPDATE (02/02/2015):

What It’s Like When You’re an American Using Britain’s NHS

UPDATE (11/19/2014):

Canadian woman hit with $950K medical bill after unexpectedly giving birth in US hospital

UPDATE (6/21/2014):

US Doctors migrating north to escape the dysfunctional US health insurance system. pnhp.org/news/2014/june/us-doctors-migrating-north

UPDATE (05/16/2014):

Canadians love their system, contrary to US health insurance lobby propaganda: pnhp.org/news/2014/march/doctor-who-schooled-us-senator-thrilled-by-canadian-support

UPDATE (12/31/2013):

Outrageous costs of U.S. healthcare: viralnova.com/hospital-bill/

UPDATE (10/31/2013): LISTEN TO REASON!

The following two links both let you listen in on an intelligent conversation between host David Feldman and Dr. Paul Song and Dr. Nancy Niparko from Physicians for a National Health Program. They explain why America needs a single payer healthcare system right now. The first link is the most important five (5) minutes of the show. The second is the entire show.

Link #1 (4:48 mins): youtu.be/tcmfgR25VnQ
Link #2 (90 mins): davidfeldmanshow.com/obamacare-isnt-enough/

UPDATE 08/22/19 https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/universal-health-care-racism.html

What would Jesus do… about your pre-existing conditions?

1 thought on “Single Payer Healthcare Please!”

  1. As Canadian with US based siblings (who are medical practitioners) I often have discussions on this topic.I have had a hard time grasping how some Americans fear the idea of Universal Healthcare. If people would turn-off their TVs and stop feeding on paranoid and manipulative fear mongering they could start to think for themselves and not just swallow everything they're being told….a notion that resonates with the theme of this blog.Perhaps however there is some sound basis for this fear. In recent history so much gov't money targeted to save the economy has had little to no tangible benefit for the man on the street but has directly or indirect ended up in the pockets of the banksters. Having faith in broad-based gov't initiative that will equitably provide health care is perhaps a stretch of the imagination….?

    Reply

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