Ellison, Conyers Favor Socialized Health Care
That’s the word from this Daily Planet article. There’s interesting quotes in the article. Here’s the most interesting section of the article:
Conyers’ legislative aide, Joel Segal, broke down the national health insurance plan for the audience, a packed theater of union members, legislators, members of the Minnesota State Nurses Association, health care advocacy groups and many people for whom the current health care system had failed.
“The main barrier to care in this country is that you don’t have a right to be a patient in the wealthiest country in the world,” explained Segal. “You have to either get a job which has insurance, which is a big problem because a lot of people don’t have jobs, and even if you do have a job you may not be able to afford the insurance, and even if you do get that insurance it’s probably not going to be that good because you’re going to have excessive copays, deductibles and bills at the end,” he said. “What [House File] 676 seeks to do is to eliminate all barriers to care between the patient and the physician. ”
The plan outlined in the bill is not incredibly complicated and simply makes the government the sole health insurer. Insurance premiums would be paid in the form of taxes.
When someone is born, he or she is automatically issued a national health insurance card. That person, throughout a lifetime, can visit any hospital, doctor, mental health provider, or treatment center of the individual’s choosing. Physicians and other health care staff are reimbursed within 30 days of services rendered, and that reimbursement is mandated to be at current pay grade which, according to Segal, would result in a raise after the 25 percent cost of working with multiple health plans, formularies and payment systems is eliminated. Hospitals would also receive “global budgets” each year based on previous year’s costs.
“Nothing is going to change except there will be no more stock market, investor-owned doctors’ offices or hospitals,” said Segal.
Mr. Segal obviously got Rep. Conyers’ approval before saying this on the record. Therefore, it isn’t a stretch to think that Rep. Conyers and Rep. Ellison believe in socialist economic policies rather than trusting in capitalist economic policies.
It’s worth pointing out that we wouldn’t have seen the types of research breakthroughs over the past 25 years if capitalism wasn’t at the heart of our health care system. Does any thoughtful, informed person think that we would’ve seen the advances made with a socialist health care system?
Here’s another interesting paragraph from the article:
Reps. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., and John Conyers, D-Mich., hosted a community forum Sunday at the Heights Theatre in Columbia Heights on the United States National Health Insurance Act (HR 676), a bill that would “expand and improve Medicare for all.” The act, synonymous with single-payer health care, would cut costs for both individuals and the government and has the support of a majority of the populace, advocates said. Nevertheless, the bill faces a steep uphill battle, with a likely veto by the president.
Saying that government-run healthcare enjoys the support of a majority of Americans isn’t just spin; it’s an outright lie. If a respected polling company like Rasmussen or Gallup polled that question, I’d be shocked if government-run health care would get more than 25 percent support nationwide.
This isn’t shocking, though. Conyers has been talking down to people for fifty years and Ellison has been a radical his entire adult life. Therefore, we shouldn’t expect to hear this pair advocating mainstream ideas. Listen to who attended the event:
Conyers’ legislative aide, Joel Segal, broke down the national health insurance plan for the audience, a packed theater of union members, legislators, members of the Minnesota State Nurses Association, health care advocacy groups and many people for whom the current health care system had failed.
TRANSLATION: The audience consisted of Democratic activists (union members, legislators), lobbyists (health care advocacy groups) and victims (many people for whom the current health care system had failed). In other words, the usual suspects. This also tells us what the DFL’s agenda for the next legislative session will be. This isn’t surprising; it’s just something that we need to get prepared for. It’s time to educate ourselves so we can defend our capitalist-based system in a coherent, compelling way.
Cross-Posted at Let Freedom Ring. Comments can be left there.
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