Rep. Dennis Kucinich Tackles Healthcare

[Viva_La_Revolution]

By Joshua Scheer

Rep. Dennis Kucinich speaks with Truthdig contributor Joshua Scheer* about the state of healthcare in America, his bill with Rep. John Conyers to provide universal coverage and why progress is inevitable.

Edited Transcript:

Truthdig:

What kind of healthcare congressmen get—what kind of healthcare do you have?

Kucinich:

Well, we pay for our healthcare. I mean, our healthcare is deducted from our salary. You know, we can opt for what kind of plan we want. The more comprehensive coverage you have, the more you pay. The solution to the nation’s healthcare problem is not to deny members of Congress healthcare coverage. It’s to make sure every American has the access to quality healthcare, and the only way to do that is for Congress to pass a bill that would provide for universal not-for-profit healthcare for all Americans. There’s a bill called “Medicare for all,” and this bill in this current Congress is HR 676—the Conyers/Kucinich bill.

Truthdig:

That bill—it’s Conyers and you? Do you think it’s going to pass?

Kucinich:

There are 75 members of Congress signed on in support of the bill. We recognize that there are 46 million Americans who don’t have health insurance, and there are another 50 million Americans who are under-insured; that the cost of healthcare has gone out of the reach of a large number of Americans, and so there’s only one real solution, and that is to make healthcare not-for-profit. I mean healthcare should be established as a basic right in a democratic society. Every industrialized democracy has healthcare for its people. ... You know, when I traveled the country as a candidate for president, the two issues that came up most consistently were healthcare and the integrity of the election process. Healthcare is one issue that unites Americans across party lines, across income lines. Because every person realizes that a single illness in a family can wipe out that family financially. So healthcare and the accessibility and affordability of healthcare is central to the government’s responsibility to provide—to promote the general welfare.

LOTS MORE - http://www.truthdig.com/interview/item/20061128_rep_dennis_kucinich_tackles_health_care/

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

1. And while he's at it...

He should get together with some pitbulls like Hank Waxman and drag the health care robber barons in front of congressional hearings and drag some truths out of them. Really roast them in front of the cameras. Turn their lives into living hells that are commensurate with the living hells they have foisted upon most of the citizenry.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

3. I'd take the day off

to stay home and watch that! :popcorn:

[Ms. Clio]

2. very happy to k&r this

thanks for the link!

[Peace is Possible]

4. thanks for posting!

I love this part!

"We are already paying for a universal system of care, we’re just not getting it. ... Close to $2 trillion a year is spent for healthcare in America, but one out of every four dollars goes for the activities of the for-profit system: corporate profits, executive salaries, advertising, marketing, the cost of paperwork—anywhere from 15 to 30 percent, as compared to Medicare’s 3 percent....

And so what I’ve advocated with John Conyers is HR 676: universal single-payer not-for-profit healthcare, which provides that everyone’s covered for everything. And we’re already paying for a universal standard of care—we’re just not getting it because—if you took that almost $500 billion a year and put it into healthcare in the form of a universal system, we would have enough money for all basic medical care, plus dental care, vision care, mental healthcare, long-term care, prescription drugs and even broader coverage. We’re already paying for this. We’re not getting it. We need to have the end of healthcare for profit in the United States and the beginning of a healthcare system which helps those who don’t work or can’t work, which helps workers, small businesses, manufacturers. This could be—this single move towards healthcare for all can bring about a dramatic shift in the American economy and in the lives of every man, woman and child in the United States.

[silverojo]

6. Now that's a law I could live with!

It's about time we take care of all Americans, not just the greedy oil robber barons. :mad:

[Imagevision]

5. Bush raised my mom's healthcare bill to $96.00 per month w/ 80% coverage and

Donut hole cancels Bush's infamous medicare drug plan cancels out when $2250.00 is used and then you're put ona "wait until YOU personally spend up to $5100.00 before the Bush drug plan kicks back into play. Yeah a lot of people (boomers) will drop dead, but that was/is the Bush plan, to cancel out as many recipient's as possible!

[puebloknot]

7. Dennis Kucinich has kept saying...

...that for the amount of money we're *already* spending on emergency room care, and because of inefficiency in the system, we *can* NOW AFFORD health care for all.

Too many people are so afraid of *socialized medicine* that they'd rather keep the country without health care than take care of everyone!

A country as rich as this one should be able to organize itself so that it can meet the basic needs of its citizens.

HEALTH CARE IS A RIGHT, NOT A PRIVILEGE!!!!!

[Kansas Wyatt]

18. Because Propaganda Parrots keep telling people...

That our health care would collapse into months waiting for an available operating table, waiting for rationed doctors to see you or medical treatment, blah blah blah. And, it is all bullshit.

No, never mind the fact that this country would rather spend the money for a national health care for all of it's citizens, on the Military Industrial Complex instead. That is the bottom line of why and how other industrialized nations are able to give their citizens national health care, because they are not blowing trillions of dollars on our Military Industrial Complex.

[Peace is Possible]

8. WE CAN have this!!

WE just need Kucinich and Conyers to reintroduce this in the DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS!!! and then put the pressure on Nancy Pelosi and our representatives. This has the ability to change so many lives!!!

[Jeffersons Ghost]

9. K&R for the Master-care Plan...

Instead of National health-care, guess what we'll probably end up with...



Can you say "Cuts?"

[lovuian]

10. Universal Health YES Dennis we all deserve this

Health care costs is not making us competitive and is doomed to failure
haves and Have nots

[loyalsister]

11. Something else that needs to be promoted

Doctors needs to be paid.
If they are to get on board this plan, cut down red tape so their staff is relieved, and make sure they can afford to run their practice, pay loans, and have a decent salary.

[OneBlueSky]

12. Kucinich is one of the best progressive thinkers in Congress . . .

maybe a Democratic Congress will at least listen to him . . .

[LWolf]

13. That would be a step in the right direction, anyway. n/t

[a kennedy]

14. I really wonder how the "givers" (donations), will respond to this.

Look at this site and see the $$ given to each party from the health care industry.

http://www.newsmeat.com/ceo_political_donations/

[Ms. Clio]

15. ...

:kick:

[MaggieSwanson]

16. More from Rep Kucinich's website...

http://www.kucinich.us/issues/universalhealth.php


Debunking a few common myths here...

"IMPORTANT: The hackneyed –- and inaccurate –- mantra of Republicans when universal health care is introduced is to blame trial lawyers and malpractice cases for our lack of national health care. In fact, 0.46% of our total health spending is spent on awards, legal costs, and underwriting costs –- about the same as Canada and the United Kingdom and about the same amount we spend on dog and cat food each year. While "defensive medicine" may drive up the price, it hardly accounts for our stunning health care costs. The belief that citizens should give up their right to fair legal redress for legally proven medical mistakes in exchange for lower health care costs rings as true as the promise that if we must give up our civil rights to be safe from terrorists."

snip

'"We Cannot Afford to Cover All Americans."
FACT: We already spend enough to have universal health care. "The truth is, we cannot afford to not reform the health system." We spend about 50% more than the next most expensive nation and nearly twice per person what the Canadians do. On May 1, 2006 Paul Krugman explained in Death by Insurance how incredibly wasteful the current system is. The doctor he referenced has two full-time staff members for billing, and two secretaries spend half their time collecting insurance information on the 301 different private plans they deal with. This type of waste is easily 20%. Also consider that 98% of Medicare funds are spent on medical care.'


Kick for the Kooch!

:kick:

[Cleita]

17. Dennis is on the right track. We have to improve and extend

Medicare to all. It works very well when properly funded. The insurance companies cannot compete and should be outlawed from selling "health" insurance. The health part is in their bottom line and that has to stop. Too many people die each year for lack of health care that could have extended their lives.