The Health Care Debate

[Modbert]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMzgTX6SM7k&feature=channel_page]YouTube - Secret Insurance Industry Memo Discovered[/ame]

What's that? The Health Insurance Industry doesn't have Americans best interest in mind?

Daily Dose - Lobbyists Spend Millions to Influence Health Care

Many health companies and associations increased their first-quarter lobbying expenditures, sometimes dramatically. The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association upped its lobbying expenditures by a full million, to 2.8 million dollars in the second quarter; GlaxoSmithKline's spending jumped from $1.8 million to $2.3 million; Novartis grew from $1.4 million to $1.8 million; and Metlife Group reported $1.7 million, up nearly 50 percent. Allstate, which spent less than $900,000 on lobbying through March, boosted its spending to more than $1.5 million from April to June.

Hmm, I wonder who our politicians would take for sides? Those of the people they represent and their best interests? Or the best interests of the ones pouring them millions of dollars in campaign contributions?

Industry Donations Directed To Key Senators - Kaiser Health News



Political Affairs Magazine - Drug Lobby Spends $1 Billion, Study Finds

A new report by the Center for Public Integrity (CPI) released late last month indicates that the drug lobby, which includes corporations and organizations affiliated with the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the Biotechnology Industry Organization, and the Advanced Medical Technology Association, spent over $1 billion on lobbying activities on Capitol Hill over the last decade.

Public documents show that in 2007 alone, cash from the drug lobby jumped 32 percent over 2006 to $168 million.

According to the CPI, the pharmaceutical industry sought and won key health care policy, mostly through Senate filibusters by Republicans and upholding presidential vetoes of key reforms.

What is this? The Republicans and the President sided with the Pharmaceutical Industry and Big Business? You don't say!

For their part, Democratic leaders in Congress sought greater oversight of the pharmaceutical industry and attempted to hand more regulatory power to the Food and Drug Administration. They also made efforts to revise the Bush-Republican Medicare Prescription Drug Act of 2003, which is considered to have handed huge financial subsidies to the drug industry and other health care industries while reducing benefits for Medicare recipients.

What!? You're telling me that Medicare has become worse over time perhaps to the fact that Medicare recipients had their benefits reduced by Republicans? No!

But wait! Tactics time! Lets attack the fiends who dare say this about Republicans!

Center for Public Integrity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Criticism of the Center frequently addresses the source of its financial support[25][26][27][28][29][30]. Despite its claims to be a nonpartisan news organization and profession of the Society of Professional Journalists code of ethics[31], the Center has been accused of bias towards right-wing political causes because it has accepted money from organizations and individuals that favor conservative policies and/or actively oppose left-wing political causes.

Wait, you mean a center that has been accused of being right wing is saying this about Republicans?

And no, it's not just Republicans digging their hands into the piggy bank, not by any means.

washingtonpost.com

The sector gave nearly $170 million to federal lawmakers in 2007 and 2008, with 54 percent going to Democrats, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks money in politics. The shift in parties was even more pronounced during the first three months of this year, when Democrats collected 60 percent of the $5.4 million donated by health-care companies and their employees, the data show.

Amazing how Obama has run into problems within his own party on this issue huh?

And surprise surprise:

Most of these companies, particularly major insurers, strongly oppose a public insurance option, which is favored by President Obama and top House Democrats but has not received support from Baucus's committee.

Moral of the Story: So those who disapprove of the Health Care proposal currently trying to be passed, remember those who oppose it but most of all WHY. Do you honestly believe these politicians have your best interest in mind? Or the bottom line of the companies that are acting like a piggy bank for these politicians?

Call your local Congressperson, tell them you want this madness to end. This is not only your futures at stake here, but your children's and children's future generations. Let this issue be debated by it's merits, not partisan hackery attacks that as you can see is encouraged by the Health Insurance Companies. They don't want this issue to be debated, they want it to die out by flexing their political muscle which is clearly shown by the backlash by politicians who are getting contributions from these companies.

 

[Modbert]

For those who just reference the economy in this debate if we had actually followed the Canadian single payer format:

First-of-Its Kind Study: Medicare for All (Single-Payer) Reform Would Be Major Stimulus for Economy with 2.6 Million New Jobs, $317 Billion in Business Revenue, $100 Billion in Wages

Establishing a national single-payer style healthcare reform system would provide a major stimulus for the U.S. economy by creating 2.6 million new jobs, and infusing $317 billion in new business and public revenues, with another $100 billion in wages into the U.S. economy, according to the findings of a groundbreaking study released today. It may be viewed at California Nurses Association.

The number of jobs created by a single-payer system, expanding and upgrading Medicare to cover everyone, parallels almost exactly the total job loss in 2008.

"These dramatic new findings document for the first time that a single-payer system could not only solve our healthcare crisis, but also substantially contribute to putting America back to work and assisting the economic recovery," said Geri Jenkins, RN, co-president of the National Nurses Organizing Committee/California Nurses Association, which sponsored the study.

Expanding Medicare to include the uninsured, and these on Medicaid or employer-sponsored health plans, and expanding coverage for those with limited Medicare, would have the following immediate impacts:

* Create 2,613,495 million new permanent good-paying jobs (slightly exceeding the number of jobs lost in 2008)
* Boost the economy with $317 billion in increased business and public revenues
* Add $100 billion in employee compensation
* Infuse public budgets with $44 billion in new tax revenues

Adding all Americans to an expanded Medicare could be achieved for $63 billion beyond the current $2.1 trillion in direct healthcare spending. The $63 billion is six times less than the federal bailout for CitiGroup, and less than half the federal bailout for AIG. Solely expanding Medicare to cover the 47 million uninsured Americans (as of 2006 data on which the study is based) could be accomplished for $44 billion.

The IHSP projections build from an econometric model of the current face of healthcare – applying economic analysis to a wide array of publicly available data from Medicare, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bureau of Economic Analysis, and other sources.

Healthcare presently accounts for $2.105 trillion in direct expenditures. But healthcare spreads far beyond doctor's offices and hospitals. Adding in healthcare business purchases of services or supplies and spending by workers, the total impact of healthcare in the economy mushrooms to nearly $6 trillion.

Overall, every direct healthcare dollar creates nearly three additional dollars in the U.S. economy. In current form, healthcare:

* Generates 45 million jobs, directly and in other industries.
* Accounts for 10.5 percent of all U.S. jobs and 12.1 percent of all U.S. wages.
* Totals 9.2 percent of the nation's Gross National Product.
* Contributes about 25 percent of all federal tax revenues. Federal, state, and local taxes from the healthcare sector in 2006 added up to $824 billion.