We had a very interesting discussion at the meeting
last Saturday afternoon, though I expected more people to
last Saturday afternoon, though I expected more people to
turn out to discuss such a timely issue. Jonathan
Kotch, president of Health Care for all NC (current or
future website www.healthcareforallnc.org) spoke about
the many problems with our multi-payer healthcare and
how it compares to Canada's single payer system. I
pointed out some features of healthcare in the Soviet
and Cuban models, in which doctors and medical staff
are usually government employees and most healthcare
needs are provided free by the government.
I took some rough notes below.
Health Care for all NC is the new name of the NC
Committee to Defend Health Care. It started in 1994
as the NC chapter of Physicians for a National Health
Program, but it has broader membership than just
healthcare professionals. It has several new
initiatives going. Local branches are being started
in Raleigh and I assume also in Durham and Orange
County. Rep. Inskoe (spelling?) in the General
Assembly is sponsoring the Health Care for All bill,
which calls for a referendum on adding a right to
healthcare amendment to the State Constitution. About
24 other representatives support the bill so far. A
second legislative action is the expansion of the NC
version of the Federal Child Health Insurance Program,
which Governor Easley supports. I think President
Kotch also mentioned work by Rep. Inskoe to create a
high-risk health insurance pool, for people who are
rejected as being too sick by private insurance.
These proposals are in response to facts such as the
1.4 million North Carolinians without health insurance
(statistics at www.ncdefendhealthcare.org). It also
addresses the bureaucratic overheads, over use of
hospital emergency rooms, drug company profiteering,
etc. which push up healthcare costs for everyone, but
are created by the current insurance system. Another
problem is that doctors are leaving relatively low
paid specialties such as pediatrics in favor of
plastic surgery, etc. The UN's World Health
Organization ranked our health care as 37th in the
world, and that is one of the reasons we have a lower
life expectancy than people in similar countries. In
some aspects Cuba is healthier than we are and it is a
developing country but about equals the US in
healthcare and public health.
In the Canadian system, each province operates a
program in which the government provides the health
insurance. People can see their own doctors, who are
not necessarily government employees. There is a
waiting list for operations, but not for urgent needs.
At one point some doctors were leaving Canada to
pursue higher profits in the US, but Kotch said
that trend has reversed now. Most or all countries,
except ours, have a form of national health insurance.
I did some brief research on socialist healthcare
systems. A British medical survey of the Soviet
system in the early 30's, Red Medicine, is a useful
resource that is online at marxists.org (under
subjects, go to Soviet Union and then healthcare). At
that time most medical services were free and provided
by mostly government employed doctors. Some care was
provided through medical staff at places of work.
Workers were given first place in receiving services.
Cuba has a similar system, but all doctors are
government employees (as of the 80's at least) and
there is a national clinic system, new doctors are
usually required to work for a period in rural areas,
etc. Venezuela has similar neighborhood clinics, set
up with the help of Cuban doctors.
At the national level, Kotch recommended that the
Medicare system be expanded. Medicare provides much
cheaper insurance than private insurers. He said
Hillary Clinton botched the effort in the early 90's,
by operating in secret, trying to get private insurers
actively involved, and trying to please all parties.
John Edwards has a detailed plan now, and Kotch
praised the Kucinich-Conyers plan, which is Medicare
for All (House Resolution 676). I asked if the
dynamics of medicine might encourage further
socialization (such as cooperatives) after a
single-payer system is established. The answer seemed
to be that it was possible, but would require the
higher paid doctors to accept lower earnings, to share
with lower paid specialists. He criticized the
Massachusetts and California health insurance reforms
as only continuing the problem.
April meeting
To talk about Iraq, especially what Iraqis are doing
to end the occupation, I suggest we look at videos. I
have a DVD, Iraqi Civil Resistance, on nonviolent
efforts such as an unemployed workers' union. I will find
another documentary on the armed resistance or
readings.
Kotch, president of Health Care for all NC (current or
future website www.healthcareforallnc.org) spoke about
the many problems with our multi-payer healthcare and
how it compares to Canada's single payer system. I
pointed out some features of healthcare in the Soviet
and Cuban models, in which doctors and medical staff
are usually government employees and most healthcare
needs are provided free by the government.
I took some rough notes below.
Health Care for all NC is the new name of the NC
Committee to Defend Health Care. It started in 1994
as the NC chapter of Physicians for a National Health
Program, but it has broader membership than just
healthcare professionals. It has several new
initiatives going. Local branches are being started
in Raleigh and I assume also in Durham and Orange
County. Rep. Inskoe (spelling?) in the General
Assembly is sponsoring the Health Care for All bill,
which calls for a referendum on adding a right to
healthcare amendment to the State Constitution. About
24 other representatives support the bill so far. A
second legislative action is the expansion of the NC
version of the Federal Child Health Insurance Program,
which Governor Easley supports. I think President
Kotch also mentioned work by Rep. Inskoe to create a
high-risk health insurance pool, for people who are
rejected as being too sick by private insurance.
These proposals are in response to facts such as the
1.4 million North Carolinians without health insurance
(statistics at www.ncdefendhealthcare.org). It also
addresses the bureaucratic overheads, over use of
hospital emergency rooms, drug company profiteering,
etc. which push up healthcare costs for everyone, but
are created by the current insurance system. Another
problem is that doctors are leaving relatively low
paid specialties such as pediatrics in favor of
plastic surgery, etc. The UN's World Health
Organization ranked our health care as 37th in the
world, and that is one of the reasons we have a lower
life expectancy than people in similar countries. In
some aspects Cuba is healthier than we are and it is a
developing country but about equals the US in
healthcare and public health.
In the Canadian system, each province operates a
program in which the government provides the health
insurance. People can see their own doctors, who are
not necessarily government employees. There is a
waiting list for operations, but not for urgent needs.
At one point some doctors were leaving Canada to
pursue higher profits in the US, but Kotch said
that trend has reversed now. Most or all countries,
except ours, have a form of national health insurance.
I did some brief research on socialist healthcare
systems. A British medical survey of the Soviet
system in the early 30's, Red Medicine, is a useful
resource that is online at marxists.org (under
subjects, go to Soviet Union and then healthcare). At
that time most medical services were free and provided
by mostly government employed doctors. Some care was
provided through medical staff at places of work.
Workers were given first place in receiving services.
Cuba has a similar system, but all doctors are
government employees (as of the 80's at least) and
there is a national clinic system, new doctors are
usually required to work for a period in rural areas,
etc. Venezuela has similar neighborhood clinics, set
up with the help of Cuban doctors.
At the national level, Kotch recommended that the
Medicare system be expanded. Medicare provides much
cheaper insurance than private insurers. He said
Hillary Clinton botched the effort in the early 90's,
by operating in secret, trying to get private insurers
actively involved, and trying to please all parties.
John Edwards has a detailed plan now, and Kotch
praised the Kucinich-Conyers plan, which is Medicare
for All (House Resolution 676). I asked if the
dynamics of medicine might encourage further
socialization (such as cooperatives) after a
single-payer system is established. The answer seemed
to be that it was possible, but would require the
higher paid doctors to accept lower earnings, to share
with lower paid specialists. He criticized the
Massachusetts and California health insurance reforms
as only continuing the problem.
April meeting
To talk about Iraq, especially what Iraqis are doing
to end the occupation, I suggest we look at videos. I
have a DVD, Iraqi Civil Resistance, on nonviolent
efforts such as an unemployed workers' union. I will find
another documentary on the armed resistance or
readings.
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