Top ten enemies of single payer health care, Obama is on it...easy fix...

[maryf]

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/04/16-0

More at link for each on the list...Number 4, Obama, can easily get off this list with a word...

American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). AARP, one of DC's most powerful lobbying groups, has worked inside the beltway for years to defeat single payer. Why? AARP makes about a quarter of its money selling insurance through its affiliate, United Healthcare Group...

America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP). The private health insurance industry. Public enemy number one...

American Medical Association. With a shrinking base of doctors (only 25 percent of doctors nationwide belong) - the AMA is the most conservative of the doctors' organizations. . But just as clearly, the majority of doctors, probably even a majority of doctors who belong to the AMA, support single payer...

Barack Obama. He was for it when he was a state Senator in Illinois. Now, ensconced in the corporate prison that is the White House, he says single payer is off the table. To get off the list, Obama needs to put single payer back on the table.

Business Roundtable. ..."In private, they support single payer, but they're also thinking - if you can take away someone else's business - the insurance companies' business - you can take away mine. Also, if workers go on strike, I want them to lose their health insurance. And it's also a cultural thing - we don't do that kind of thing in this country."...

Families USA. A major inside the beltway liberal foundation and long-time foe of single payer. It's chief executive, Ron Pollack, was once an advocate for single payer. But no more...

Health Care for America Now. The largest coalition of liberal groups promoting a choice between a public plan and private insurance companies. "They are saying - we can't do single payer because Americans don't want it," said Kip Sullivan of the Minnesota chapter of PNHP. "That's based on junk research conducted by Celinda Lake for the Herndon Alliance. It is bad enough to say we can't do single payer because the insurance industry is too powerful to beat. But it is just plain insidious to say we can't do single payer because the American people don't want it. In fact, polling data indicates that two-thirds of Americans support a single payer system. And that level of support exists despite the fact that there is little public discussion about it."....

Kaiser Family Foundation. One of the most prestigious liberal inside the beltway think tanks on health reform policy. Saul Friedman is a reporter for Newsday. In February, Friedman wrote an article for Newsday arguing that single payer is suffering from a conspiracy of silence. And he says Kaiser is the most culpable of the co-conpsirators. Kaiser, funded initially by insurance industry money, regularly keeps single payer off the table, Friedman says. When single payer advocates released a study in January asserting that Congressman John Conyers' single payer bill (HR 676) could create 2.6 million new jobs and would cost far less than the private insurance currently paid for by individuals and employers, "the Kaiser Family Foundation's daily online report on health care developments at kff.org didn't mention it," Friedman reported...

The Lewin Group. The go-to consulting firm for health reform studies. The most recent study, released last week and widely quoted in the press, of the public plan option, showed that the insurance industry would lose 32 million policy holders if a public plan is enacted. Lewin's health reform policy guru, John Sheils, told the Associated Press: "The private insurance industry might just fizzle out altogether." What the mainstream press didn't report was that The Lewin Group is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ingenix, which is in turn owned by UnitedHealth Group, the nation's largest health insurance corporation. Lewin Group has conducted studies on single payer at the state level - and their studies consistently show that single payer is the most efficient cost saving system. But Lewin Group has never done a study on HR 676 - which would create a single payer for the entire country and drive The Lewin Group's parent - UnitedHealth Group- out of business. When asked why Lewin Group never has done a study on HR 676, Sheils said - "the President didn't propose single payer, did he?" No, he didn't. That's why he too is on this list...

Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association of America (PHRMA). PHRMA chief executive Billy Tauzin says that under single payer, the government would become a "price fixer." By which he means, the government, as a single payer, will have the power to negotiate drug prices downward, thus costing the drug corporations millions in excess profits...
We have met the enemy...

[maryf]

1. shamelessly kicking myself!

We gotta know who we're up against...

[scarletwoman]

2. I'll help you - kick! (and rec'd)

What's with all those "liberal" organizations opposing single payer? By what weird Orwellian measure are these groups considered "liberal"?

[maryf]

6. "liberal"

Thanks, scarlet woman! I'm trying to think of lyrics on health care to fit with this song...

Love Me, I'm a Liberal...
Phil Ochs

---

I cried when they shot Medgar Evers
Tears ran down my spine
I cried when they shot Mr. Kennedy
As though I'd lost a father of mine
But Malcolm X got what was coming
He got what he asked for this time
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

I go to civil rights rallies
And I put down the old D.A.R.
I love Harry and Sidney and Sammy
I hope every colored boy becomes a star
But don't talk about revolution
That's going a little bit too far
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

I cheered when Humphrey was chosen
My faith in the system restored
I'm glad the commies were thrown out
of the A.F.L. C.I.O. board
I love Puerto Ricans and Negros
as long as they don't move next door
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

The people of old Mississippi
Should all hang their heads in shame
I can't understand how their minds work
What's the matter don't they watch Les Crain?
But if you ask me to bus my children
I hope the cops take down your name
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

I read New republic and Nation
I've learned to take every view
You know, I've memorized Lerner and Golden
I feel like I'm almost a Jew
But when it comes to times like Korea
There's no one more red, white and blue
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

I vote for the democratic party
They want the U.N. to be strong
I go to all the Pete Seeger concerts
He sure gets me singing those songs
I'll send all the money you ask for
But don't ask me to come on along
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

Once I was young and impulsive
I wore every conceivable pin
Even went to the socialist meetings
Learned all the old union hymns
But I've grown older and wiser
And that's why I'm turning you in
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

---

[many a good man]

13. Why are liberal groups against single payer?

Answer: Because of the conventional wisdom that it will never pass Congress and therefore torpedo all other efforts at genuine reform.

We must overturn this conventional wisdom if we want to have any realistic chance at seeing single payer succeed.

[Two Americas]

20. that is not wisdom

It is an excuse.

"Overturning conventional wisdom" is an impossible task. It places it far off in the indefinite future and offers no clarity as to the best course.

Pressure - that is how politics work. Changing hearts and minds is vague and best left to the realm of religion.

The Congress people have been bribed. It is not conventional wisdom, or any kind of wisdom, to pretend that is not the case.


...

[Two Americas]

17. exactly

Why is the leadership of organized Labor aristocratic and anti-democratic and playing footsie with party politicians and beltway insiders rather than building and strengthening organized Labor?

Why are Greens promoting corporate power with "socially responsible investment" schemes?

Why are organic organizations fighting against government regulations and inspections for food safety?

Too many liberal organizations, and organized Labor, and the Democratic party have come to be dominated by gentrified, conservative and authoritarian people. They seek only to replace one group of gentry, one aristocracy with another, and have nothing but contempt for the people.


...

[scarletwoman]

31. It's that "contempt for the people" that most clearly signifies what passes for modern American

"liberalism".

DU is a perfect example of this -- all the patronising diatribes about "sheeple" that have been posted here over years. It's the "liberalism" of those who consider themselves morally superior to the Great Unwashed.

The Great Unwashed have demonstrated by their moral inferiority that they are unworthy of receiving the benefits of "liberal" enlightenment, therefore they may be dismissed from consideration.

sw

[Auggie]

4. Not enough people are aware of the benefits either

It's the same old propaganda spin -- get enough lies out there to dilute the core message.

[maryf]

8. Benefits like no copays, no limits, no confusion, nobody without coverage!!

For every single person in this country!! 47 million without care...at least that many more undercovered or insurance poor, stop the spin, keep telling the truth! Thanks Auggie!

[TBF]

3. We need single payer now. K&R n/t

[peace frog]

5. If we can't get Obama behind us

then there's no hope of bringing Congress into the fold. They are all too beholden to corporate medical interests to suddenly switch horses in the middle of the stream. Barring a miracle, single payer doesn't stand a chance.

[maryf]

7. Start at the bottom...

Get your congressional rep to sign on, get your union/group to endorse, its a grassroots, if we can get more cosigners from congress and a loud enough voice from the people we can get there!! Obama didn't invite Conyer's or other supporters of single payer to the conference table last month until there was a huge, huge, call-in, email, letter writing effort from the grass roots movement. He invited him due to this; he may put it back on the table for the same reason...don't give up, don't give in to the spin...!!!

[peace frog]

15. All good suggestions, mary

and you're absolutely correct that we should try like hell to make single payer happen. I'm sorry to admit my grave doubts as to our ultimate success, but "never give up, never surrender" is our battle cry.

[maryf]

23. If more people had that tenacity...

we really would be able to make some differences! single payer is a good place to start as it will allow peopled to stay healthy physically, fiscally, mentally, and emotionally, and thus be able to act to change other things!

[blindpig]

24. Here's the turd in the punchbowl.

I don't believe that any movement within the Democratic Party grassroots would be allowed to succeed. It would be fought within the party as divisive, 'aid to the enemy' and so forth.

We are going to have to go outside of 'usual channels' in order to get anything done.

[maryf]

25. Of course...

did I say Democratic grassroots? or is that just assumed because of where we are? I think I mentioned non-partisan elsewhere, but you are absolutely right, we can't limit ourselves, or allow for any divide and conquer strategm because we believe we have to be a traditional coalition. Thanks!

[maryf]

26. PS: what are the channels you might suggest??

Inquiring minds want to know...

[blindpig]

39. Since you asked,

Time to stop being polite, doesn't get us anywhere. Time to really get their attention.

[maryf]

41. Hear, hear!!

May Day, May Day, May Day!! General Strikes really do work, time to stop being toe dippers, the plunge needs to be taken...

[LWolf]

43. I believe you are correct. nt

[Two Americas]

19. Congress

Congress responds to public pressure, and to pressure from the White House.

Lincoln was able to strong arm Congress into abolishing slavery. Johnson was able to strong arm Congress into supporting Civil Rights legislation. In both cases they spoke out strongly to help build public pressure. In both cases that challenge was immensely greater than the one faced today with single payer.

Public support is already there for single payer.



...

[Hissyspit]

9. AARP

[annabanana]

33. They fell off the welcome wagon wtih Medicare Part D. . n/t

[blindpig]

10. K&R

It is the single most unifying political cause to be had. All impediments would necessarily fall before a united front of the people, all the president would have to do is throw down the gauntlet on behalf of the people. Spend some political capital and the return would be multifold. Of course that would piss off the health insurance industry, the president would have to choose, or has he already chosen?

[maryf]

12. Thanks blindpig

and when all folks really look at single payer, it is a non partisan issue. The administrative costs savings of 400 billion a year has to appeal to the most fiscally conservative, which Obama could use to his advantage if he chooses to change his course (I saw one chart that showed that by 2025 we'll be working just to cover our health insurance)...the only people who would lose are the top tier of the health insurance industry, and they would be eligible for retraining; of course they would also be eligible for other exec positions where they aren't egregiously profiting from the health of the insured.

With enough shouting, Obama could/should cave to this...

[Hannah Bell]

11. kick

[Coyote_Bandit]

14. It is unspeakably cruel

to require that a hungry malnourished person accompany me to a fine resturant, pick up a my tab and yet be unable to eat. Yet that is exactly what we do to uninsured taxpayers in this country. They fund health care and/or access to health care for some of the unemployed (subsidized COBRA extensions under the stimulus plan), politicians, government employees, prisoners (yep, criminals have access to a minimum level of health care that is often denied to the uninsured), Native Americans, veterans, the disabled, the young, the elderly, the poor, etc. Meanwhile, some of these uninsured folks go for decades without routine preventative care. Others suffer and live diminished lives. Some are bankrupted by their own need for care. Others die because they cannot secure care.

I have little respect for those who would throw these folks under the bus. I have even less respect for those who oppose single payer because it does not served their interests. And those who used to support single payer until it was not politically expedient to do so need to grow a spine.

[TBF]

16. Great post. Those who have health care now and oppose single payer

are not only cruel, but perhaps haven't thought about the savings of insuring all at a basic level rather than picking up the emergency room tab. We also have so many small businesses that would benefit from not having to pay those costs for their employees.

The insurance & pharmaceutical folks are the only ones served by the current system; and they make their campaign contributions.

We face quite a battle, but I can't think of many more important.

[Two Americas]

21. "I am better than you"

"I am better than you" - that is what many of the arguments boil down to. "I worked harder, I am smarter, I made better choices" so "why should they get anything?" The presumption here is that people are to blame for their own misfortune.

Another type of argument is "it won't help anyway because of the way they are." The idea here is that not only are people to blame for their own misfortune, but they are permanently and irredeemably flawed and defective and beyond help.

Those are obviously cruel and reactionary arguments, but they permeate the thinking of far too many Democrats.


...

[TBF]

28. Right, that's why I made the economic argument. If they are so callous

and cruel as to not see why everyone should have basic health care, then the way to persuade is to show it's to their advantage economically. You're never going to convince them they are not better.

It's worth noting that while I've heard the "I worked harder and therefore deserve more" bullshit argument mainly from republicans, the silence from my upscale liberal friends is deafening, and even more disgusting.

[maryf]

29. Not that we would say the ends justifies the means...

But if the fact that single payer makes fiscal sense garners support from the heartless and its a true fact, then use it, its too critical to not use all the tools at our disposal...I will still always ask the most mean, "47 million?? without means to get healthcare?" for shame...

[Kat45]

38. We also have to let those with insurance know that they will still have good insurance

A lot of people with good, employer provided insurance are afraid that if we have single payer they will lose their great insurance and be stuck with a lousy plan that doesn't cover much. They think of single payer as government-run and of course the government can't do anything right--not my beliefs, but the distortions that are fed to people by the insurance companies and their minions. Not all of these people are being cruel, some are just scared because they believe all the crap that is being fed to them. We have to let them know that they will indeed have whatever comprehensive medical care they need. There is too much lack of understanding about what single payer is, and it is fanned by those who benefit from the current system constantly shouting out misinformation.

Edited to add: I used the word "insurance" because that's how most people see the issue; the fact that they would get "health care" instead of "health insurance" will have to be explained when giving them the facts about single payer.

[TBF]

42. Sure, that is true as well.

If there is one thing Obama is good at it is marketing, he'd have no problem selling the plan if we can force him to do it.

[maryf]

22. They do fund the insured as well...

They are billed for the full amount that the service deems correct. This is to counter balance the lesser amount the insurance companies pay for the service for their clients. At times there is a huge discrepancy between these amounts...

[ColbertWatcher]

18. Kick and rec for great justice. n/t

[maryf]

27. Here's an action for 4/22

from my email:

Dear Mary:

House Ways and Means Chairman Charles B. Rangel (D-NY) announced that the Committee will hold another hearing in a series on reforming the health insurance market.

The hearing will take place at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, April 22, and will focus on strategies to reform the health insurance market to ensure greater accessibility and affordability.

Healthcare-NOW! and allied organizations have been requesting fair hearings that include the single-payer perspective.

Help us make sure that Chairman Rangel hears us loud and clear. Call his office now (toll free at 866-338-1015) to request they invite expert single-payer witnesses to testify.

If you can't call, you can easily email him here.

To date, single-payer is the only reform that will cover everyone and contain healthcare costs. Anything less will not achieve these goals.

Here is a sample message: I am calling as a part of a nationwide effort with Healthcare-NOW! (or affiliate organizations) to urge Chairman Rangel and the Ways and Means Committee to contact Physicians for a National Health Program to request an expert witness for the upcoming hearing on health care on April 22nd. PNHP's national office number is 312.782.6006.

Please note: In view of the limited time available to hear witnesses, oral testimony at this hearing will be from invited witnesses only. However, any individual or organization not scheduled for an oral appearance may submit a written statement for consideration by the Committee and for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing. In addition to calling, feel free to submit your testimony to official Congressional Record. Details on how to do this can be found here.

Thanks for all that you do,
Healthcare-NOW! National Staff

P.S. Call-ins like this work. That's how we got 74 cosponsors for HR 676 so far in this Congress.

[Fireweed247]

32. Thanks!

Started a new post...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5480756

[maryf]

36. Fantastic!!

great image! so glad you posted the action!!:applause: :fistbump:

[Hotler]

30. Kicking! eom.

[area51]

34. kick on this life-and-death issue ...

in memory of the 100,000 Americans who die every year due to lack of healthcare.

Get the facts on single-payer healthcare.

A healthy America is a strong America.

[maryf]

37. thanks for the links!

both great sites! :)

[a kennedy]

40. thanks for this "get the facts on single-payer health care" site...

I am passing this on to all my "but it's socialized medicine" crowd.

[unkachuck]

35. K&R....n/t