Is US Healthcare a Constitutional Right? 
Healthcare pressrelease!
Is US Healthcare a Constitutional Right?
by Tim Flanagan, facilitator for
http://www.writingresource.info/
Preamble to the US Constitution
"We the People(1) of the United States,
in Order to form a more perfect Union,
establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility,
provide for the common defense,
promote the general welfare,(2)
and secure the Blessings of Liberty
to ourselves and our Posterity,
do ordain and establish this Constitution
for the United States of America."
Notes:
The Preamble declares that:
"We the People of the United States ....
do ordain and establish this Constitution
for the United States of America."
The meaning is clear that all authority
originates from the People.
"General welfare," as used in the Constitution,
refers to: "health, happiness, or prosperity;
well-being. [Middle English wel faren, to fare well]"
Currently in America, we pay more for less.
Life expectancy for those born in Canada is two years
higher than for those born in the USA. Medical costs
as a percentage of GDP are 15 percent in the USA and
10 percent in the Canadian single-payer system.
American "health care" costs 2 trillion dollars and
leaves upwards of 50 million Americans uninsured:
24 million Americans are diabetic, 5.7 million have
forms of congestive heart failure, 17 million have
coronary artery disease, 22 million have asthma,
and 18 million suffer from depression.
Michael Morrow, (American Federation of Teachers
VP for Political Action, Local 2277) recently noted that,
"The right-wing has convinced people that these are
personal issues."
But lost work days, reduced productivity, and costs
for families, businesses, and communities makes
our failed system a national security issue.
The United States of America is the only western
industrialized country which does not provide
universal, government-supported healthcare for
the well-being of all citizens.
Ricardo Alonzo -Zaldiver, writing for the Associated Press,
reminds us that if the 50 million "uninsured were a political
lobbying group, they would be larger than AARP.” Yet too
many characterize going without health insurance as a
misfortune, or “a choice.”
When problems related to health and our healthcare delivery
system impact our nation’s ability to compete in the global
marketplace, this must not be seen as some unfortunate
personal choice. Many of the uninsured and under-insured
do not have the time or resources to lobby for solutions,
but there are advocates for these millions of uninsured Americans.
Unions and aging Americans are taking action.
Health Care for America Now plans to bring 15 thousand or
more Americans to Washington this year to lobby Congress
for guaranteed health insurance. This is a start.
Perhaps Health Insurance is the Problem. Some say health
insurance may be our biggest problem. Incremental reforms
in multi-payer financing systems, which require expensive
marketing and prohibitive administrative costs, will not help
the growing number of Americans who have no insurance and
no place to turn. Leonard Rodberg noted in The Portland
Observer that "Multi-payer systems are unable to control costs.
The only way to assure cost containment is to adopt a unified
financing mechanism that has the leverage to negotiate lower
prices." A unified single payer system can provide the necessary
pool of people to lower costs, plus budgeting and planning tools
which will save money while protecting all of our people, all of the time.
40 percent of American working people (including those with insurance)
are struggling to pay medical bills. Yet most leading Democrats,
including President Obama, would continue to allow transnational
insurance cartels to define, control, and set the costs for our health
care delivery system.
The administrative cost savings of a single-payer system would
be enough to cover all of the uninsured as well as lower costs for
those who are currently insured. This approach is favored by
working people, labor unions, and medical doctors. This "expanded
Medicare” has majority support and more of our legislators are
taking a closer look.
A Man with A Plan: Dennis Kucinich.. and other legislators have
proposed a plan for reconstructing our health care delivery system
so that it is more in synch with the social, political,and economic
realities of today. Kucinich explains: "The underlying problem is
that we treat health care like a market commodity instead of a
social service. Health care is targeted not to medical need, but to
the ability to pay. Markets are good for many things, but they
are not a good way to distribute health care…"
Mainstream" writers, like Ph. D. economist and columnist for the
New York Times Paul Krugman, now agree with these doctors
and Dennis that "covering everyone under Medicare would
actually be significantly cheaper than our current system.
"They all recognize that we already spend enough to provide
national health care to all but lack the political courage to make
the tough decisions that doctors, nurses and medical professionals
must run our health care system, – not "for profit" insurance
companies who make money by denying health care.
It is time to recognize that all the other civilized countries have
a solution that we must adapt to this country. American businesses
can no longer be competitive shouldering the entire cost of health
care. Health care is a right that all Americans deserve."
The United States ranks 37th in the World Health Organization’s
rankings of the world’s health systems (below Malta, Iceland,
Saudi Arabia, and numerous other countries that might surprise
many) This means 36 poorer and less-developed countries take
better care of their people.
We can do better.
Take a look at this Healthcare Press-release on a PDX Heathcare
Forum and here is a place to explore
Universal Health Care Issues & OptionsOnward Oregon
More sources and resources include:
Site Map: Table of Contents: The Wordsmith Collection
WritingResource: An Index for War, Peace, and Activism....
at TheWordsmithCollection.org
add events to The Wordsmith Collection Activism Calendar
Healthcare pressrelease!
Is US Healthcare a Constitutional Right?
by Tim Flanagan, facilitator for
http://www.writingresource.info/
Preamble to the US Constitution
"We the People(1) of the United States,
in Order to form a more perfect Union,
establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility,
provide for the common defense,
promote the general welfare,(2)
and secure the Blessings of Liberty
to ourselves and our Posterity,
do ordain and establish this Constitution
for the United States of America."
Notes:
The Preamble declares that:
"We the People of the United States ....
do ordain and establish this Constitution
for the United States of America."
The meaning is clear that all authority
originates from the People.
"General welfare," as used in the Constitution,
refers to: "health, happiness, or prosperity;
well-being. [Middle English wel faren, to fare well]"
Currently in America, we pay more for less.
Life expectancy for those born in Canada is two years
higher than for those born in the USA. Medical costs
as a percentage of GDP are 15 percent in the USA and
10 percent in the Canadian single-payer system.
American "health care" costs 2 trillion dollars and
leaves upwards of 50 million Americans uninsured:
24 million Americans are diabetic, 5.7 million have
forms of congestive heart failure, 17 million have
coronary artery disease, 22 million have asthma,
and 18 million suffer from depression.
Michael Morrow, (American Federation of Teachers
VP for Political Action, Local 2277) recently noted that,
"The right-wing has convinced people that these are
personal issues."
But lost work days, reduced productivity, and costs
for families, businesses, and communities makes
our failed system a national security issue.
The United States of America is the only western
industrialized country which does not provide
universal, government-supported healthcare for
the well-being of all citizens.
Ricardo Alonzo -Zaldiver, writing for the Associated Press,
reminds us that if the 50 million "uninsured were a political
lobbying group, they would be larger than AARP.” Yet too
many characterize going without health insurance as a
misfortune, or “a choice.”
When problems related to health and our healthcare delivery
system impact our nation’s ability to compete in the global
marketplace, this must not be seen as some unfortunate
personal choice. Many of the uninsured and under-insured
do not have the time or resources to lobby for solutions,
but there are advocates for these millions of uninsured Americans.
Unions and aging Americans are taking action.
Health Care for America Now plans to bring 15 thousand or
more Americans to Washington this year to lobby Congress
for guaranteed health insurance. This is a start.
Perhaps Health Insurance is the Problem. Some say health
insurance may be our biggest problem. Incremental reforms
in multi-payer financing systems, which require expensive
marketing and prohibitive administrative costs, will not help
the growing number of Americans who have no insurance and
no place to turn. Leonard Rodberg noted in The Portland
Observer that "Multi-payer systems are unable to control costs.
The only way to assure cost containment is to adopt a unified
financing mechanism that has the leverage to negotiate lower
prices." A unified single payer system can provide the necessary
pool of people to lower costs, plus budgeting and planning tools
which will save money while protecting all of our people, all of the time.
40 percent of American working people (including those with insurance)
are struggling to pay medical bills. Yet most leading Democrats,
including President Obama, would continue to allow transnational
insurance cartels to define, control, and set the costs for our health
care delivery system.
The administrative cost savings of a single-payer system would
be enough to cover all of the uninsured as well as lower costs for
those who are currently insured. This approach is favored by
working people, labor unions, and medical doctors. This "expanded
Medicare” has majority support and more of our legislators are
taking a closer look.
A Man with A Plan: Dennis Kucinich.. and other legislators have
proposed a plan for reconstructing our health care delivery system
so that it is more in synch with the social, political,and economic
realities of today. Kucinich explains: "The underlying problem is
that we treat health care like a market commodity instead of a
social service. Health care is targeted not to medical need, but to
the ability to pay. Markets are good for many things, but they
are not a good way to distribute health care…"
Mainstream" writers, like Ph. D. economist and columnist for the
New York Times Paul Krugman, now agree with these doctors
and Dennis that "covering everyone under Medicare would
actually be significantly cheaper than our current system.
"They all recognize that we already spend enough to provide
national health care to all but lack the political courage to make
the tough decisions that doctors, nurses and medical professionals
must run our health care system, – not "for profit" insurance
companies who make money by denying health care.
It is time to recognize that all the other civilized countries have
a solution that we must adapt to this country. American businesses
can no longer be competitive shouldering the entire cost of health
care. Health care is a right that all Americans deserve."
The United States ranks 37th in the World Health Organization’s
rankings of the world’s health systems (below Malta, Iceland,
Saudi Arabia, and numerous other countries that might surprise
many) This means 36 poorer and less-developed countries take
better care of their people.
We can do better.
Take a look at this Healthcare Press-release on a PDX Heathcare
Forum and here is a place to explore
Universal Health Care Issues & OptionsOnward Oregon
More sources and resources include:
Site Map: Table of Contents: The Wordsmith Collection
WritingResource: An Index for War, Peace, and Activism....
at TheWordsmithCollection.org
add events to The Wordsmith Collection Activism Calendar
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