Thursday, August 27, 2009

The Kennedy Healthcare Reform Bill Explained

for the Politically Illiterate

Call it whatever you want to:
  • Public Health Insurance
  • Government-Run Insurance
  • Obamacare?
  • Socialized Medicine
Whatever. It's time we had it.
'Nuff said.

12 Moderated Comments:

Blogger Jack Jodell said...

BHRAVO! That says it PERFECTLY!

8/27/2009 07:34:00 AM  
Blogger Mike said...

So simple, even Sarah Palin could understand it. But first she'd have to listen.

8/27/2009 10:57:00 AM  
Blogger Commander Zaius said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

8/27/2009 05:11:00 PM  
Blogger Commander Zaius said...

Well, it's great if you actually listen to what is said. After watching McCain's town hall the other day most of those opposing the public option were lost in conspiratorial fantasies about allowing illegals access to the plan and continuing fears over the "death panels" wanting to put all the old people to sleep like sick dogs.

Reason has taken a holiday and if some bill isn't passed by September with the midterm campaigns cranking up we may not have any bill.

8/27/2009 05:40:00 PM  
Blogger Stella by Starlight said...

Sorry, Vig. This is going to be another long comment, but I think this is important information so we can educate ourselves.

The only industrialized nation without a health care system is The United States[but you knew that already...] This list is compiled by date.

Norway 1912 Single Payer

New Zealand 1938 Two Tier

Japan 1938 Single Payer

Germany 1941 Insurance Mandate

Belgium 1945 Insurance Mandate

United Kingdom 1948 Single Payer

Kuwait 1950 Single Payer

Sweden 1955 Single Payer

Bahrain 1957 Single Payer

Brunei 1958 Single Payer

Canada 1966 Single Payer

Netherlands 1966 Two-Tier

Austria 1967 Insurance Mandate

United Arab Emirates
   1971 Single Payer

Finland 1972 Single Payer

Slovenia 1972 Single Payer

Denmark 1973 Two-Tier

Luxembourg 1973 Insurance Mandate

France 1974 Two-Tier

Australia 1975 Two Tier

Ireland 1977 Two-Tier

Italy 1978 Single Payer

Portugal 1979 Single Payer

Cyprus 1980 Single Payer

Greece 1983 Insurance Mandate

Spain 1986 Single Payer

South Korea 1988 Insurance Mandate

Iceland 1990 Single Payer

Hong Kong 1993 Single Payer

Singapore 1993 Single Payer

Switzerland 1994 Insurance Mandate

Israel 1995 Single Payer

United States NONE NONE NONE NONE

In case this chart is unreadable, please
visit Universal Health Care. Some Single Payer plans are listed as "Single Payer/Two-Tier."

Please keep this information handy when you call your Conservative representatives vocalizing your support for H.R. 676—the Kucinich Bill. I belive H.R. 3200 is aligned with Big Pharma.

******

The following information lists definitions of the various system types of Universal Health Care.

System Types:

Single Payer: The government provides insurance for all residents (or citizens) and pays all health care expenses except for copays and coinsurance. Providers may be public, private, or a combination of both.

Two-Tier: The government provides or mandates catrastrophic or minimum insurance coverage for all residents (or citizens), while allowing the purchase of additional voluntary insurance or fee-for service care when desired. In Singapore all residents receive a catastrophic policy from the government coupled with a health savings account that they use to pay for routine care. In other countries like Ireland and Israel, the government provides a core policy which the majority of the population supplement with private insurance.

Insurance Mandate: The government mandates that all citizens purchase insurance, whether from private, public, or non-profit insurers. In some cases the insurer list is quite restrictive, while in others a healthy private market for insurance is simply regulated and standardized by the government. In this kind of system insurers are barred from rejecting sick individuals, and individuals are required to purchase insurance, in order to prevent typical health care market failures from arising.

8/27/2009 06:14:00 PM  
Blogger Stella by Starlight said...

Thanks

I had no idea where to put this link. Apologizes for any inappropriateness.

8/28/2009 09:26:00 AM  
Blogger Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

If this country decides that it's going to keep (and/or expand upon) the Medicare system (and I'm perfectly persuadable here), then we're really going to have to 1) strenuously go after the abuses/fraud and 2) institute far more in terms of cost controls. We just can't continue to afford paying for new and expensive drugs/treatments that end up giving literally ZERO added benefit. Hey, I'll admit it here. Nobody likes to use the word, rationing. But that's quite O.K.. I'll say it. We need to ration.

8/28/2009 03:02:00 PM  
Blogger Kentucky Rain said...

Well done!

8/29/2009 07:01:00 AM  
Blogger Mike said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

8/29/2009 05:16:00 PM  
Blogger Mike said...

As Ezra Klein has pointed out, the U.S. health-care system already does ration. Every system does, because resources are always going to be finite. In the U.S., the rationing is based on ability to pay.

8/29/2009 05:18:00 PM  
Blogger Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

I agree. We DO ration (in essence). But we have to do so in a much more equitable and intelligent manner. I highly recommend Dr. Emanuel's book, "Healthcare, Guaranteed".

8/29/2009 06:38:00 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Ever the ideologue. Party over people!

8/31/2009 02:41:00 PM  

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