Healthcare For All: The Time is Now!

Over the weekend, I was privileged to attend a national strategy meeting in Chicago regarding the future of healthcare in the United States as a member of Latinos for National Health Insurance, a volunteer group that’s been working with the national Healthcare NOW! coalition.

Just days after the historic electoral tsunami that wiped out Republican control of both the Senate and Congress, the air was filled with an aura of excitement and optimism that was best summed up by Congressman John Conyers of Michigan when he said, “the time is now!”

Conyers was referring to a bill he had introduced in Congress, H.R. 676. The bill will provide healthcare for everyone in the United States by eliminating the profits of the insurance companies and negotiating drug and other treatment costs. It will be paid for on a sliding scale by all of us together. We will have no bills, co-payments, deductibles, denials, or bankruptcies. And, get this, we will be paying less than we are now.

Currently, there are close to 46 million uninsured (at least 26 percent of the people in Sunset Park), and many more underinsured, people in the U.S. An increasing number of Americans are paying more out-of-pocket or tragically neglecting their health. Millions more declare bankruptcy every year unable to pay mounting medical bills.

Despite being the richest and most powerful country on Earth, The U.S. ranks 33rd in infant mortality rates, ranks 25th in male life expectancy, and 26th in female life expectancy. All other industrialized nations, like those in the European Union, Canada, and even poorer countries like Cuba have universal health care for their citizens.

Universal healthcare does not exist in the U.S. right for one simple reason: GREED. Insurance companies make billions in profits. At least 15 to 30 percent of private insurance companies premiums are wasted on marketing, excessive CEO salaries, profits, bureaucracy and paper work, rather than being spent on healthcare services. But, there is a viable alternative to this immoral dilemma by way of H.R. 676.

H.R. 676 would:
· For the first time, provide an effective mechanism for controlling skyrocketing healthcare costs while covering everyone.
· Cover every person in the U.S. for all necessary medical care, including prescription drugs, hospital, surgical, outpatient services, primary care and preventive care, emergency services, dental, mental health, home health, physical therapy, rehabilitation (including substance abuse), vision care, chiropractic and long term care.
· End deductibles and copay’s that take a chunk out of workers’ take home pay.
· Make every employer contribute a fair share toward the cost of the system. Employers like cities and municipalities would spend less, since they would no longer be paying for the uninsured and under-insured.
· Save billions of dollars annually by eliminating the excessive administrative costs of private insurance, as well as the unnecessary billing expenses of hospitals and doctors offices.
H.R. 676 will be re-introduced early next year. Our local Congress member, Nydia Velazquez, and many of her colleagues from New York, signed on last year and we’re hopeful they’ll do the same this year.

If you believe that we desperately need to change healthcare in this country, now is the time to act! Call your local elected officials, ask your unions to get on board, talk to your pastors and spread the word among your neighbors.

For more information visit: www.healthcare-now.org or call 212-475-8350 or 800-453-1305.