Dear Mr Potter,
Thank you very much for all you have done to expose the truth about the insurance industry.
I have an approach to health care reform that liberals and conservatives alike have a hard time arguing against. Please consider promoting it as a compromise in health care reform that will bring all Americans together to the fight to bring big insurance to it's knees....
I am self employed and buy my own insurance. I have found that it is FAR more economical to buy a catastrophic only plan and pay for most of my medical expenses out of pocket.
Most people do not see the disaster our health care system is in because they are basically "given" fancy comprehensive plans from their employer. Then they are completely out the loop as to who gets paid for what. There is NO FREE MARKET IN HEALTH CARE and that is what is driving up costs.
We all NEED insurance for the rare times in our lives when our medical bills exceed what we can reasonably afford. We do NOT need insurance to take as much as 5X the going rate for our otherwise affordable health care so that they can turn around and control which doctors we can see, which procedures we can have, and have the ultimate power to deny coverage!
Too many people are dying or going bankrupt because they don't have access to affordable health care. WE NEED REFORM that will bring health care costs down and make health care affordable to EVERYONE. We need it NOW!
Consider this as a simple and immediate approach to health care reform:
- Set up a government financial aid program that protects all Americans in the rare event that their medical costs become more than 10% of their family's annual income. (catastrophic health insurance for all) This would protect EVERY ONE of US from facing bankruptcy in the event of a medical crisis and break our DEPENDENCE on our current insurance plan.
- Require employers to allow their current employees to opt out of their company insurance plan and receive their premiums (average $1000/mo per family) in the form of a salary increase or tax-free medical savings account (transferable to a retirement plan). This would give money back to the people to make their own health care choices.
This plan would:
- SAVE most families thousands of dollars a year.
- Give people the freedom to choose an employer, change jobs, or start their own business without concern for health insurance.
- Bring DOWN the cost of health care because people would be paying attention to their medical bills, shopping around, and demanding quality care at a reasonable cost.
- People could shop around *IF* they CHOOSE to purchase a health maintenance plan. This would bring down the costs.
- Save a ton of paperwork in medical billing and pre-authorization forms.
- Give the American people more FREEDOM then they have ever had in making their own health care decisions.
Senator Baucus is a "Political Whore" paid by the insurance companies to "Screw the American people."
I am age 73 on Medicare. I can't afford suplemental insurance because of the high cost.
I voted for all Democrats in the last election, but won't again in 2010 unless the Democrats provide a health care public option or a single payer system.
AN ANGRY AMERICAN
H. Leon Raper
4825 N. 82nd St.
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
480-945-9100
raper@raper.com
if we didn't have you, Wendell, we'd have no dogged undeniably true voice to speak out. Whew, I'm grateful.
For decades I've been drumming on the "<i>casino for suits</i>" phrase describing Wall Street, but recently saw the phrase "<i>Casino Capitalism</i>" -- a very handy formulation of The Big Enemy which is the metastasizing amok casino capitalism which is devouring what shreds of soul the nation has left. It sucks all the oxygen out of the beloved-community movement which has yet to comprehend casino capitalism's uber-ruthlessness. Indeed, what sane mind could?
They can defeat all kind, wise efforts with a single word (socialism) -- we must get the max-three words to fight back. You give us the true info -- among us we need to come up with a few silver-bullet phrases to fight back against the silver forked-tongued giga-greedy like Aetna's Ron Williams & United Wealthcare's Hemsley and their legions of invisible orcs-in-suits bent upon Burning the Shire.
Greetings from Canada. Regardless of whether an effective bill is passed this time around the debate is moot. This is because if nothing changes more and more people will lose their health insurance and more and more people will die for lack of it, and the outdoor free clinics will have longer and longer queues. Eventually it will be such a scandal, such an embarrassment for the United States, that universal health care will have to be imposed by government edict. Bismark started the 'welfare state' in the mid 19th century. Most advanced democracies, victors and vanquished, adopted universal health care after WW2. Some are very conservative, like Canada and Sweden. It has nothing to do with socialism, it is mutual insurance with the government holding the money. Up here in BC we pay per month:
$54 for one person
$96 for a family of two
$108 for a family of three or more
I'm physically staggered by the amount you pay for so little.
If our prescription expenses are very high there is Medicare which takes over the cost of drugs.
The corporate elite has for decades brainwashed Americans into thinking government is bad, and the less of it the better. This is of course a complete fraud. As Noam Chomsky says...it's public subsidy for private profit. The biggest beneficiaries of government are the corporations. The people need the government to stand between them and the corporations. And all this talk about communism is just plain silly. The vast majority haven't a clue what it is, and don't know they practice pure communism at every level of government every minute of their lives. At the municipal level you pay for your police, parks, and public services through local taxes assessed on the value of you property. If you want a policeman, or street lighting, you don't pay for it individually , but collectively, as you need them. i.e. contributing according to ability, and drawing according to need. The simplest pure communism. Federally you don't individually pay for a soldier, you pay through progressive taxation on your income and collectively call for them when you need them.
Maoism and Stalinism had nothing to do with communism. Nor does the present Chinese government. You are being mercilessly and systematically propogandized by the mainstream media. You will get your universal health care when you defy the corporations. Become informed and motivated.
Good Luck
Thank you, Shoshana. Your analogy of the Insurance industry to the mob makes it an "easy to grasp" concept for those of us who aren't in the industry.
Mr. Potter, thank you for all that you are doing to enlighten the common person about the insurance industry and their dirty little practices. I sincerely hope that enough people in Congress are heeding your words so that the right kind of reform can be attained. Unfortunately, I weep for my fellow citizens who rail against "death panels" and "socialism" and "government take-over". They have no idea that they're railing against their own best interests.
How do you fix "stupid"?
Again, thanks for fighting the good fight!
Senator Baucus is a "Political Whore" paid by the insurance companies to "Screw the American people."
I am age 73 on Medicare. I can't afford suplemental insurance because of the high cost.
I voted for all Democrats in the last election, but won't again in 2010 unless the Democrats provide a health care public option or a single payer system.
AN ANGRY AMERICAN
H. Leon Raper
4825 N. 82nd St.
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
480-945-9100
raper@raper.com
Greetings from Canada. Regardless of whether an effective bill is passed this time around the debate is moot. This is because if nothing changes more and more people will lose their health insurance and more and more people will die for lack of it, and the outdoor free clinics will have longer and longer queues. Eventually it will be such a scandal, such an embarrassment for the United States, that universal health care will have to be imposed by government edict. Bismark started the 'welfare state' in the mid 19th century. Most advanced democracies, victors and vanquished, adopted universal health care after WW2. Some are very conservative, like Canada and Sweden. It has nothing to do with socialism, it is mutual insurance with the government holding the money. Up here in BC we pay per month:
$54 for one person
$96 for a family of two
$108 for a family of three or more
I'm physically staggered by the amount you pay for so little.
If our prescription expenses are very high there is Medicare which takes over the cost of drugs.
The corporate elite has for decades brainwashed Americans into thinking government is bad, and the less of it the better. This is of course a complete fraud. As Noam Chomsky says...it's public subsidy for private profit. The biggest beneficiaries of government are the corporations. The people need the government to stand between them and the corporations. And all this talk about communism is just plain silly. The vast majority haven't a clue what it is, and don't know they practice pure communism at every level of government every minute of their lives. At the municipal level you pay for your police, parks, and public services through local taxes assessed on the value of you property. If you want a policeman, or street lighting, you don't pay for it individually , but collectively, as you need them. i.e. contributing according to ability, and drawing according to need. The simplest pure communism. Federally you don't individually pay for a soldier, you pay through progressive taxation on your income and collectively call for them when you need them.
Maoism and Stalinism had nothing to do with communism. Nor does the present Chinese government. You are being mercilessly and systematically propogandized by the mainstream media. You will get your universal health care when you defy the corporations. Become informed and motivated.
Good Luck
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