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  1. Joseph A. Mungai

    While it is a well known fact that Medicare is less expensive to operate than the for-profit-healthcare system, there are still elected officials that refuse to place the single-payer plan on the table.

    Certainly no official in congress would want to bailout corporations with our tax dollars that paid executives exorbitant salaries even after collapsing the global economy. And, of course, no one in congress would want to provide earmarks in a bill that don’t positively and directly address the fiscal crisis.

    So, for the public record, maybe we must each demand our congressional incumbents give the reasons they would stack the deck in favor of greed for profit in their current healthcare system for upcoming election cycles.

    Suggested by Joseph A. Mungai on 01/27/2009 @ 01:13PM PT

  2. HEY PEOPLE THIS IS NOT THE TRANISTION TEAMS WEB SITE !! THIS IS NOT GOV........This is We the PEOPLE and WE need to INVITE Barack and JOE over to read if they dare !Both are COWARDS !!! I just talked to Kate @ health Care now.org and they were afraid this would happen ...But that is OK we need to let the NEW President Know we NEED and WANT HR676 ! I handed out HR676 to everyone I could in Arlington Texas and ya know what ?? NOT ONE PERSON HEARD OF IT ! and they were AMAZED at it and everyone wants it ,,,,,I gave the INFO to ...This administrastion is IGNORING us and they want to help DAFUR !@!!! What the F***!!!!! CHARITY BEGINS at home Hey President OBAMA !!! We the people voted for you for 2 reasons and The COLOR OF YOUR SKIN WASNT ONE OF THEM !!! It was END the Illegal WAR and HR676 Universal Health Care for ALL !!!! We cant AFFORD YOUR COBRA @ $1,200 a Month as the WE THE PEOPLE who got LAID off @ DHL told you on PBS last night !!!If you care then give us HR676 ...I will DIE if I dont get it and I paid all my TAXES all my life since i was 13 years old ~~~ ~~~!!!!!! And I refused at a COUNTY HOSPITAL in Jackson Tenn in 2003 Bankrupted by WALMART and illegals TENNCARE was Bankrupted !   I had to go home to DIE alone !! I found a CURE and it saved my life now I am HERE to FIGHT the VEry People who Treid to KILL ME my GOV !!! Thats YOU OBAMA!

    Suggested by W L on 01/26/2009 @ 10:14AM PT

  3. Gerard Lefevre

    The following suggestion is one of the TOP SUGGESTIONS chosen by change.org
    I am posting it again on the ALL SUGGESTIONS side for new visitors that are confused by the way Jared's original suggestion is worded.

    My suggestion is, this is how Jared's idea should read:

    Single Payer Health Care

    Health Care is a fundamental human right.  No one should have to sell their house to pay for their mother's cancer.  No one should have to choose between food and medicine.

    Comprehensive health care for all! No deductibles, no co-pays, no pre-existing conditions, no denial of health care, no more  bankruptcies from medical bills. Just health care for everyone from womb to tomb.

    Why?
    1) Its the most efficient approach
    2) It works.  Why do places such as Cuba and Costa Rica have such good healthcare systems when they spend so little on healthcare?
    3) It will solve insurance problems and people being left without insurance (obama's approach won't get everyone covered).
    4) For our children

    HR 676 Bill is THE way of achieving this.

    (NOTE: Medicare tax on most individuals will increase from 1.45% to 4.75%.  A significant saving compared to the health insurance premiums, deductibles, co-pays and prescription costs most are currently paying.)

    ***********
    It has been suggested that it would make sense to also change the "Why? 1-4" (Sorry Jared, but I also agree) How about these?:
    Why?
    1) 101,000 people died unnecessarliy last year as a result of the private, for-profit health insurance industry.  18,000 of those deaths were uninsured, the other 83,000 HAD HEALTH INSURANCE, BUT WERE DENIED THE HEALTH CARE THEY NEEDED!
    2) 54% of all bankruptcies are from medical bills, more than 75% OF THOSE HAD FULL COVERAGE HEALTH INSURANCE WHEN THEY GOT ILL!
    3) Health insurance administrators are paid bonuses to deny health insurance claims from policy holders.  Profit is Job #1!
    4) Only a single-payer national health insurance program can assure lifelong, high quality, comprehensive and affordable coverage for EVERYONE! without any additional government funding.
    5) Now is the time to stop the Health Insurance Holocaust that is happening because of greed! If 101,000 needless deaths and 54% of all bankruptcies is not a sufficient reason to change to a single payer non-profit health care system, what will it take?  1,000,000 deaths a year?  95% of all bankruptcies from medical bills?  Why make us suffer another year or two to get to those figures!

    Suggested by Gerard Lefevre on 01/25/2009 @ 05:34PM PT

  4. Anonyms Wasawoman

    I so hope that there is an opportunity to indeed re-title and edit the initial suggestion/idea here as, like so many others here, this reference to "free" really drives me nuts, bothers me, and is just plain inaccurate and naive.

    Suggested by Anonyms Wasawoman on 01/25/2009 @ 11:33AM PT

  5. Harriet Whelan

    The Obama administration should make an "evidence-based" decision in favor of single payer health insurance. Research, based on cost and risk analysis and on health outcomes, has shown that single payer health insurance is the most effective and efficient way to insure all Americans. I'm sure that these studies, done by universities, state legislative analysts, labor union research departments and others, have been made available to the administration.
    Harriet, a retired health-care worker

    Suggested by Harriet Whelan on 01/24/2009 @ 10:01PM PT

  6. Margaret Flowers

    Join the Leadership Conference for Guaranteed Healthcare/National Single Payer Alliance. You can sign on at www.guaranteedhealthcare4all.org. You can find out how to get more involved through this website. Be a leader for HR 676 in your area and let's get this passed!

    Suggested by Margaret Flowers on 01/24/2009 @ 03:05PM PT

  7. Donald Bahringer

    I like the the title change from Medicare to "Americare"! Healthcare should be provided by the US government rather than by the individual states which would cause competition between states and draw non-state residents to overwhelm a particular state with better coverage. HR 676 is the best way to insure ALL American citizens.

    Suggested by Donald Bahringer on 01/24/2009 @ 01:25PM PT

  8. Gerard Lefevre

    I suggest removing the idea a tax surcharge on the wealthiest 5% and 1% of the population to fund HR 676.  This penalty will result in more opposition to achieving single payer health care by the ones who can afford to oppose it.  The "Americare" tax should be 4.75% for every income bracket, no cap.  To make up the difference for removing the tax penalty surcharge on the wealthiest, there should be a 10% or 20%? Americare tax surcharge on cigarettes, alcohol (except red wine, that has health benefits) and ALL unhealthy foods (i.e. non-diet sodas, donuts, pizzas, big macs, french fries, desserts, etc.).  Let's make eating healthy foods more affordable than eating foods that are contributing to poor health, obesity, diabetes, etc., which increase health care costs.

    Suggested by Gerard Lefevre on 01/24/2009 @ 10:20AM PT

  9. Anonyms Wasawoman

    SUGGESTION - DRAFT 2 of Lefevre's tweak of the idea:
    ------------
    SUGGESTION:

    Establish a CONSTITUTIONAL right to health CARE for all Americans consistent with the Declaration of Independence which states that all Americans are endowed with the right to "...life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness..."

    HOW:
    1. Amendment to the constitution
    2. Passage of HR676 which establishes one single public fund ("AMERICARE") into which and out of which go all payments towards and for health care
    Precedent and model: Medicare


    WHY:
    1. It has been proven to be the most cost effective approach to managing health care in the industrial world and in a 21st century American economy
    2. President Obama stated "health care is a right" during the Presidential debates of 2008. This promise demands the action to back the words.
    3. The "right" to purchase health insurance currently exists for some Americans and has not proven cost effective. Bankruptcies due to medical bills on the part of those with private insurance have escalated dramatically.
    4. Mandated health insurance purchase plans tried in multiple states have failed both their economic as well as health objectives
    5. Model for mandated purchase of insurance in other areas (state's mandating purchase by drivers of auto insurance) has failed to bring down costs and people have failed to retain insurance initially purchased to qualify for licensure.
    6. It lowers the administrative costs currently suffocating the practices of the majority of providers - costs which force health care pricing to rise out of the range of patients and their employers.
    7. It supports the development of a truly cohesive electronic medical record infrastructure
    8. A change from a MEDICARE system to an AMERICARE system (and from a Medicare tax to an Americare tax) would cost LESS than the current cost of premiums, deductibles, co-pays, portion of property taxes to pay for the public emergency room costs to treat the "uninisured"
    9. To salvage American business and industry. Health care has been at the core of most labor management disputes over the last 5-10 years. American industries can no longer afford to support a private health care payment system
    10. This single payer system proposed in HR676 saves thousands of insurance company worker jobs - claims processors work for the American people vs. private insurers which use less than 60% of each American health care dollar for actual health care. Nurses and health practitioners go back to providing care to patients (filling in the gap in the health care labor force) vs. serving as investment advisors for the private insurance industry.

    WHEN
    Now - if this adminstration is serious about saving the American economy, American jobs, and American lives, this needs ACTION IMMEDIATELY - not next year, not in 5 years, but RIGHT NOW.

    Suggested by Anonyms Wasawoman on 01/23/2009 @ 12:48PM PT

  10. Gerard Lefevre

    For the most eloquent letter to make the case for single payer national health insurance, please click here: http://www.pnhp.org/news/2008/december/pnhp_letter_to_secre.php
    I suggest this perfectly worded document be printed in every newspaper across the US.  With modifications to the first and last paragraphs, this letter would make a great petition.  Every member of Congress should see this letter with a request for them to endorse HR 676.
    Of course, permission to use this letter would have to be granted by its author:  Quentin Young, MD, MACP
    National Coordinator
    Physicians for a National Health Program
    29 E. Madison St., Suite 600
    Chicago, IL 60602
    (312) 782-6006
    www.pnhp.org

    Suggested by Gerard Lefevre on 01/22/2009 @ 09:56PM PT

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