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What do you think is the most effective way to turn this idea into real policy? Add your suggestions here for how you think we should run an advocacy campaign to advance the idea – including the overall strategy, messaging, targets, and tactics.

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  1. Daniel Miller

    Here is a suggestion that has people behind it because it makes sense.  It may not be the whole answer, but it combines political doability with single payer coverage, and is a good place to start.
    http://www.truthout.org/011909LA

    Suggested by Daniel Miller on 01/19/2009 @ 06:06PM PT

  2. jack bernard

    The way to sell a single payer system to the American public is to go with what they know and understand. The public has the idea that a single payer system is socialistic and/or will restrict choice per the old Clinton plan (which was not a single payer system and was never understood by anyone except "wonks").
    However,the public does NOT believe that Medicare for their parents is socialistic, or that the VA is a socialist plot. The same for SCHIP and Medicaid. The taxpayer accepts these programs and would scream if they were discontinued.
    The way to market single payer is to tell the truth. Everyone has coverage... except the poor working stiff (and there are tens of millions) who has been layed-off, is between jobs, was pushed out by early retirement, or whose employer just does not offer insurance. Is that the American way?

    Suggested by jack bernard on 01/19/2009 @ 12:26PM PT

  3. Maria Barron

    I just basically have one question: In terms of the 3% that will be paid by the taxpayers why is there a cap on the wealthy?  That does not make sense to me.  Right now, I work for a third party administrator that administrates union plans.  We do not make the rules but administer each plan the way the unions vote them.  If there is a medical decision the claim is sent to a Medical Review Board where the claim is reviewd by peer doctors of the same specialty.  However, I digress.  The percentage should be the same whether you are wealthy or not.  The idea that the wealthy would take on more than their share is trully not correct as 3% for a wealty person affects them less than 3% for a workingclass person.  Am I missing something?

    Suggested by Maria Barron on 01/19/2009 @ 10:37AM PT

  4. Cleo Dioletis

    Steve Hill in a recent article wrote that for us as a nation to take care of people and provide a social network structure we have to be more like the Europeans, Japanese and Canadians. I truely believe this and we need to do it as part of the economic recovery package planned by President Elect Obama.   It is not inventing the wheel as the wheel is there. It is changing mind sets and that is really sorely needed now. For the transition team that hasn't read the article and for those that are interested see below:

      President-Elect Obama's Stimulus Plan Is Only Half a LoafFriday 16 January 2009by: Steven Hill, t r u t h o u t | Perspective

    Health insurance provided by Bill Neace's company is paying for his wife Dottie's breast cancer treatments. But recent layoffs by his employer and his recent surgery for a ruptured colon make eligibility for affordable post-employment health care uncertain. Dottie fears she may not be able to continue her cancer treatments without health insurance. (Photo: Getty Images)


        Imagine a place where doctors still do house calls. Or where child care is affordable, professional and widely available. Or where all new parents are paid to stay home and care for their newborns and they receive a monthly stipend to pay for diapers, food and other daily needs.    Or imagine a place where a young person doesn't have to mortgage her or his future by going in debt to pay for a college education. Or where everyone has quality, affordable health care, and all workers receive two months' worth of paid vacation and holidays every year, and paid sick leave too, as well as a generous retirement.    To most Americans, such a place sounds like Never-Never land. But to Europeans, Canadians and the Japanese, this sounds like standard operating procedure. It is important for Americans to keep this in mind as we listen to President-elect Barack Obama announce the goals of his new administration.    For example, in announcing his economic stimulus plan, Obama unveiled some badly needed measures, including rebuilding of roads, bridges and schools and increased renewable energy production. But his American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan misses an opportunity to more directly invest in the greatest "infrastructure" of all - the American people.    Public investment in physical infrastructure as a way of creating jobs and boosting consumer spending is a sensible strategy. However, it leaves American workers stranded by the same "ownership society" ideology that has been part of the problem. The fact is, the next economic recovery will be followed at some point by the next downturn. Without a different type of intervention, Americans will remain lacking in the type of institutional support and "social infrastructure" that is crucial for providing economic security in this uncertain age of global capitalism.    A more comprehensive solution has been crafted in Europe, Japan and Canada. What they do is redirect a small amount of each employee's and business's income into a pool of funding to pay for universal social infrastructure like affordable child care, paid parental leave, paid sick leave, free or nearly free higher education, affordable health care, job training programs, adequate vacations, sufficient retirement pensions and more. Providing this to all residents lays a much stronger foundation for the middle classes in these countries than anything comparable in the United States.    For example, the US is one of only five countries that do not guarantee some form of paid maternity leave (the others being a few impoverished African nations and Papua New Guinea). Fathers are granted paid leave in 65 countries, but the US guarantees fathers - as well as mothers - nothing. A majority of Americans are not even eligible for unpaid parental leave.    The US also is one of only a handful of nations that have no national law guaranteeing paid sick leave, leaving some 46 million workers - 43 percent of the private industry labor force - without paid sick days. At least 145 nations provide paid sick days, since if you're sick they want you to stay home and take care of yourself. In the US, we want you to show up to work and infect your coworkers.    American detractors have decried this European, Canadian and Japanese way as a "welfare" state and "creeping socialism," but nothing could be further from the truth. A better name for this system is a "workfare" state, since all of these supports are part of a comprehensive system of institutions geared toward keeping individuals and families healthy, productive and working. They have put some meat on the bones of their "family values."    But in America's "ownership society," you are truly left "on your own." In theory, this should lead to Americans paying less in taxes and having greater discretionary income, but this has been mostly an illusion. In return for their taxes, people in these other countries are receiving a whole host of benefits and services for which Americans end up paying extra, out-of-pocket, via fees, premiums, deductibles and tuition, in addition to their taxes. When you sum up the total balance sheet, you discover that many Americans are paying out just as much as these other nations - we just receive a lot less for our money.    Properly understood, these workfare supports are a necessary part of infrastructure investment, just like the maintenance of physical infrastructure such as bridges and roads or spending on energy efficiency. This social infrastructure investment also creates jobs and stimulates consumer spending, even as it invests in the most precious resource of all - people.    By basing his economic recovery plan on a narrow emphasis on physical infrastructure investment, President-elect Obama fails to recognize how social infrastructure must be a crucial part of the mix. A failure to invest in social infrastructure during this critical time will leave the American middle class on the same shaky ground where it has always stood, fearing the next economic downturn.    ---------    Steven Hill is director of the Political Reform Program for the New America Foundation. His book, "Europe Rising," will be published by the University of California Press in 2009.Steven Hill is director of the Political Reform Program for the New America Foundation. His book, "Europe Rising," will be published by the University of California Press in 2009.

    Suggested by Cleo Dioletis on 01/19/2009 @ 10:25AM PT

  5. jerry call

    NOTE:  "Any submission that opposes the idea, or is off-topic, will be removed."

    "Also, please don't use the suggestions as a comment board. "

    So when are you going to follow your own rules and get rid of these types of comments and limit it to "successful national campaign" suggestions?

    Suggested by jerry call on 01/18/2009 @ 08:27PM PT

  6. tina cunningham

    Health care for all!! I have worked with many healthcare providers that are from all around the world..it is an embarrassment the poor health care offered here in the United States. It is time for Americans to claim their country again. It is immoral that Americans get certain medical treatment depending on their healthcare plan or lack there of..We are supposed to be the greatest country in the world?  I am not saying that we should be socialized..but it is not rocket science.  The idea that people live or die, suffer or become disabled depends on whether they have a job at the time when they become sick..or if they have a good insurance company, that is for fortunate ones.
    The access of great healthcare should not be a concern for anyone.
    It should be of great concern, especially now..with unemployment so prevalent..that means many will not have any insurance, not all states qualify those to be covered by medicaid unless disabled..IT IS A PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUE at minimum.
    Many people fear EPIDEMICS, AVIAN FLU, etc. What would become of our country if we do not ALREADY take care of every American..Preventive and routine health care is far more efficient, less costly than the majority of people who just PRAY that they stay healthy.
    It is not accidental that most bankrupcies are filled with files and files of medical expenses.

    America needs to be a leader in the world on healthcare..how can we be when we do not morally take care of all our people.
    Profit via not providing/managing preventative and routine health
    care for all is IMMORAL.
    Take the profit out of it.  We have smoke alarms and monitor our homes for safety..but if our houses catch on fire..the fire fighter is called and your house is cared for "not if you are covered, not if there is preauthorization, not just diminish the flames and good luck"..it just gets done. It is efficient, it is consistent, and people generally do not overuse it. If healthcare wasn't an only find as much profit as possible as it's primary goal..it will never work.  Healthcare providers are in direct oppositon in providing their care with aulturistic hearts and oaths to do no harm..a direct conflict with the Corporations that strive to make as much MONEY AND PROFIT off of people's ailments and misfortunes.

    WE NEED TO BECOME A MORAL COUNTRY..NOT driven by corporate greed..we need to care for one another and be each others brothers keepers. Healthcare can easily be limited to nationwide coverage and simple competition to bring the prices down..and frankly tax cuts to the millionaires can cover it.  Many of "middle America?" have been paying 2-3 times more tax than the extreme wealthy..Middle Americans are the ones hurt the most yet it doesn't seem to matter..WHAT IS WRONG WITH US..AMERICA HAS LOST ITS values all together?

    Suggested by tina cunningham on 01/18/2009 @ 08:01PM PT

  7. Naim Nazha

    The system now in the US is like this, The poor who are not working get Medicaid, the elderly who are not working get Medicare paid for through taxes paid for during their working years , The people who are working and their employer provide coverage get their health insurance from their work with contributions from them and from their employer and some time the family is covered twice by each employer if both spouses work,and that is a waist.
    From my experience i see that Medicare is the best system available it is in all states and out side the country in emergencies , It has rules that we doctors live with , yes they pay less than private insurances but they do not try not to pay for technicalities , we do not have to hire an employee to get approval and another one to get referrals , they have standards and algorithms on patient managements ,
    The sad thing that they insure the high risk of our society , the elderly while private insurances insure the low risk people , the young , the people who rarely go to the hospital ,
    I offer private insurance for my employees with participation from them and the insurance company rarely spends on us more than what we pay , they actually make money on our insurance coverage , and now comes the plan that i think will cover every body at a reasonable price ,
    Expand medicare and make it available to employers like me to buy health insurance for our employees from medicare , having young people covered by Medicare will increase the revenue of Medicare and decrease the premium that employers have to pay for their employees so will decrease the business overhead  and using social security numbers we can be sure that people are not covered twice , Having more people in the insurance trust that include everybody will decrease the premiums and we can have one price for single , parent and child , and family so the GM can pay the same as the wawa for their employee ,
    lower premium will make it easy for self employed and individuals to buy their own and being affordable it does not make sense not to have one and take a chance in losing the house , if not enough people buy insurance we  can think about making it mandatory like car and house insurances ,

    We should never make health insurance free as that will increase unemployment , many people find work after they are laid off to get health insurance and if we make it free we will decrease the incentive to go back to work, 
    We should not make it tax based as that will make it hard for employers to raise salaries as health care cost will be a drag on that decision ,
    so what about the private insurances , Medicare pays 80% of the approved amount , people could buy a secondary insurance from private companies and they compete in this market.

    I hope somebody will think about my plan and see if it is feasible.

    Suggested by Naim Nazha on 01/18/2009 @ 07:25PM PT

  8. Anonyms Wasawoman

    FOLKS - AN EVENT EVERYONE HERE SHOULD TRY TO ATTEND (it's in San Francisco):

    What Obama Needs to Know About Healthcare ReformWhy HR 676, the US National Health Insurance Act can solve our healthcare crisis. 
    We will answer 35 questions in 35 minutes on the contents of HR 676. Sat 3pm  Jan 31st474 Valencia   San FranciscoCentro del Pueblo at 16th St.( ½ block north of 16th ST,  1 block to 16th BART, buses  26 Valencia, 22 on 16th, 14, 33, & 49 at 16th & Mission ) Speakers;Jaime Becker: California School Employees Association Health Policy Intern.Barbara Commins: RN at SF State, member of CSUEU Chapter 305Lou Gold: Single Payer Now; SEIU 2579/Ch.305(retired); SF Gen Hosp-Workers’ ClinicCarolyn Long: retired social worker at UCSFDon Bechler: chair Single Payer Now Sponsored by Single Payer Now and the California Universal Health Care Education Project
    For more information call 415-695-7891 or email dbechler@value.netwww.SinglePayerNow.net    

    Suggested by Anonyms Wasawoman on 01/18/2009 @ 06:52PM PT

  9. Jason Dolph

    As an American citizen residing in Japan, one of the first things that happened to me was to be shocked and gratified by the national healthcare system here.

    Health care is kept inexpensive here through one simple means - The single biggest purchaser of healthcare is the Japanese government. Everything is purchased in bulk with the intention of being distributed to Japanese residents. (I use resident here deliberately, because anyone setting foot on Japanese soil qualifies for immediate membership simply by filing a few forms.) The cost of coverage is on a sliding scale, adjusted yearly based on the prior year's income. The approximate cost in US$ my first year was $30/month. This is for 70% coverage of all non-superficial medical costs except childbirth which is compensated via tax refunds in the following year instead. (strange but hey, having children is expensive, so the upfront cost being expensive helps to encourage successful use of birth control, abstinence and otherwise.)

    Medical lobbying is illegal in Japan. Big corporations are not allowed to turn multiple thousand percent profits off of producing needed medications etc.

    When I say 70% coverage, most people think that is not enough. Well, it wouldn't be in America, but it is here. I have ongoing problems with my skin, both eczema and psoriasis. I have dealt with horrible crippling pain in my hands and feet for many years without treatment because in America I could not afford health coverage. When I had a bad breakout at my first job, a coworker bullied me into going to the hospital. I had avoided going knowing I was only 70% covered.

    I went and had a 60 minute conversation with a doctor, slowed by language barriers. I then went to the pharmacy and got the three prescriptions she recommended to me. The total cost for all this time and medication was ... about $20. To see a SPECIALIST in skincare. If Japan can make it affordable as the second wealthiest country in the world, we have no excuses for not finding a way to provide similar care to our people at home.

    Suggested by Jason Dolph on 01/18/2009 @ 06:16PM PT

  10. Anonyms Wasawoman

    SUGGESTION:
    Everyone and anyone posting here first READ HR676 before posting anything about that bill. There is a lot of stuff posted hereabout what HR676 does or doesn't cover or should or shouldn't cover which suggests no reading took place of HR676. Had that initial preparation been done before posting, the poster would have learned that, for example, acupuncture is covered, etc.
    Please people - before posting, become informed on what you are posting about and also, note the instructions here re posting. This is not the place to dispute the idea suggested (such as all of the posts suggesting some other idea replace the single payer idea that won placement here). The debating ended. This area is for suggesting HOW to get SINGLE PAYER passed and into place.

    Suggested by Anonyms Wasawoman on 01/18/2009 @ 03:38PM PT

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