Comments on: HealthCare Not Warfare http://www.breewalker.com/2008/11/03/healthcare-not-warfare/ The official site of progressive media icon Bree Walker Mon, 19 Dec 2011 21:54:51 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: DET http://www.breewalker.com/2008/11/03/healthcare-not-warfare/comment-page-1/#comment-7725 DET Sun, 15 Nov 2009 04:26:36 +0000 http://breewalker.com/?p=84#comment-7725 "The nurses had come out in massive numbers for movie theatre openings of Michael Moore’s “Sicko”, handling out pamphlets explaining how single payer healthcare for every American was not a radical, left wing, socialist idea, but a reasonable, logical solution to one of America’s most shameful problems; we are the ONLY industrialized nation on the planet with an estimated fifty million uninsured citizens." Moore's movie idealizes the Cuban healthcare system, which certainly is "radical, left wing, socialist." It is also a very poor system once you get past the Potemkin village that Castro's lackeys undoubtedly showed Moore. I would also suspect that the actual infant-mortality and life-expectancy rates are much worse than the "official" rates published by the Cuban government and (probably) sympathetic international organizations. “The nurses had come out in massive numbers for movie theatre openings of Michael Moore’s “Sicko”, handling out pamphlets explaining how single payer healthcare for every American was not a radical, left wing, socialist idea, but a reasonable, logical solution to one of America’s most shameful problems; we are the ONLY industrialized nation on the planet with an estimated fifty million uninsured citizens.”

Moore’s movie idealizes the Cuban healthcare system, which certainly is “radical, left wing, socialist.” It is also a very poor system once you get past the Potemkin village that Castro’s lackeys undoubtedly showed Moore. I would also suspect that the actual infant-mortality and life-expectancy rates are much worse than the “official” rates published by the Cuban government and (probably) sympathetic international organizations.

]]> By: Dr. Halle http://www.breewalker.com/2008/11/03/healthcare-not-warfare/comment-page-1/#comment-7555 Dr. Halle Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:50:18 +0000 http://breewalker.com/?p=84#comment-7555 The health care bill that just passed the House is very different from the universal single-payer that Mr. Obama first championed, and that many of us are demanding. It seems to me that this is the time to insist that the U.S. Senate throw out this legislative junk NOW! Incidentally..as you may know...in California, (some four months ago) MediCal recently cancelled many health care services, such as chiropractic, eyeglasses, audiometry and dental care, which is scandalous. How can people--who have already qualified for the program--live like this?!! BTW, a lawyer advised me a few months ago, that MediCare would pick up the slack in a month or two, but this has not yet occurred, as far as I know, so millions of folks are still "left out in the cold." I will say that the movie "Sicko" really opened my eyes. I had mixed feelings about this concept of a universal health care system. Yet, this type of system seems to working pretty well in Canada and many European countries. Too, a patient of mine, originally from Norway, advised me that--while the health care program there raised taxes significantly for awhile--after something like ten years--the costs went way down,and by now it has shown itself to be a very workable, realistic system, which nicely covers the health care needs of many millions today. As I understand it, the glory of a single-payer system, is that when most everyone belongs, the costs come way down (including drug costs, which are at least twice the price of what they are in Canada, e.g.!). Even if the current plan has a "public option," this amount--I am told--is something like 5% of the total population, which negates any advantage it might enjoy. Without high numbers, this will have no impact on costs. In a word, the plan which just passed the House of Representatives is a joke. I urge everyone to reject it, and to insist that we bring out troops home NOW, and pass a realistic SINGLE PAYER health care program NOW!! The health care bill that just passed the House is very different from the universal single-payer that Mr. Obama first championed, and that many of us are demanding. It seems to me that this is the time to insist that the U.S. Senate throw out this legislative junk NOW!

Incidentally..as you may know…in California, (some four months ago) MediCal recently cancelled many health care services, such as chiropractic, eyeglasses, audiometry and dental care, which is scandalous. How can people–who have already qualified for the program–live like this?!! BTW, a lawyer advised me a few months ago, that MediCare would pick up the slack in a month or two, but this has not yet occurred, as far as I know, so millions of folks are still “left out in the cold.”

I will say that the movie “Sicko” really opened my eyes. I had mixed feelings about this concept of a universal health care system. Yet, this type of system seems to working pretty well in Canada and many European countries. Too, a patient of mine, originally from Norway, advised me that–while the health care program there raised taxes significantly for awhile–after something like ten years–the costs went way down,and by now it has shown itself to be a very workable, realistic system, which nicely covers the health care needs of many millions today.

As I understand it, the glory of a single-payer system, is that when most everyone belongs, the costs come way down (including drug costs, which are at least twice the price of what they are in Canada, e.g.!). Even if the current plan has a “public option,” this amount–I am told–is something like 5% of the total population, which negates any advantage it might enjoy. Without high numbers, this will have no impact on costs. In a word, the plan which just passed the House of Representatives is a joke. I urge everyone to reject it, and to insist that we bring out troops home NOW, and pass a realistic SINGLE PAYER health care program NOW!!

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