The humble Farmer on Universal Health Care -- H. R. 676

What is single payer universal health care and why do people either sigh or bristle when they think about it? We read that universal health care is health care coverage that is extended to all eligible residents of a governmental region and often covers medical, dental, and mental health care. Typically, most costs are met by single-payer health care systems or national health insurance.

If you travel at all, or if you have friends or relatives in Europe, you already know that universal health care is implemented in most wealthy, industrialized countries --- with the exception of the United States. In recent years it is also provided in many poorer developing countries.

Because universal single-payer healthcare works, it is now the trend worldwide.

So. Why do they have universal health care even in some poor developing countries and not here in the land of the free and the home of the brave where we put little sticky American flags on the back of our cars and proudly boast that we have the best of everything? We don’t have universal health care because too many people in the health care business are getting richer by overcharging you for services. --- Like the $220 one company charged my health insurance company this week for a chin strap that I later found on line for $19.95.

If you are young and just starting a family or are old and wondering if the kids can afford to bury you after they pay your medical bills, you should be interested in learning more about a single payer health care system. Bottom line --- it will save you money. It will raise your standard of living. You won’t have to sell your home or deplete your savings if you get sick.

We read that 28 industrialized nations guarantee access to health care as a human right. They have single payer universal health care systems like the type presently proposed in a bill now before Congress --- yet not one spends as much per capita on health care as the United States.

May I repeat that? - 28 industrialized nations have single payer universal health care systems and not one of them spends as much per capita on health care as the United States. Of course they don’t. Only in the United States are there so many paper-shuffling sticky fingers between your health insurance check and the hard-working health professionals who care for you.

Good news. The United States does not need to rank near the bottom among industrial countries in most everything from life expectancy (20th) to infant mortality (23rd) because --- some doctors have proposed legislation that would control skyrocketing health costs while covering all Americans. It would eliminate all those layers of sticky fingers. The bill also restores free choice of physician to patients and provides comprehensive prescription drug coverage to seniors, as well as younger people.

Under this bill, which is called H.R. 676, we read that a family of four making the median income of $56,200 would pay about $2,700 in payroll tax for all health care costs. No deductibles, no co-pays, no worrying about catastrophic coverage. The services covered include primary care, inpatient, outpatient and emergency hospital care, prescription drugs, durable medical equipment, hearing, dental and vision care, chiropractic treatment, mental health services, and long-term care.

Wow. Imagine an America without grange suppers and garage sales for veterans who lost their legs or, even worse, their minds in combat. Now you can get behind legislation that really will Support Our Troops.

I have a good friend who probably voted against universal health care for years. But --- when a family member needed years of intensive long-term care, it cleaned him. His fifty years of hard work and scrimping and saving went down the drain. They took it all. Had he lived in any one of 28 or so other countries (or an updated America); he’d be leaving his heirs some nice certificates of deposit. Hopefully, this bill will pass in time to save your estate.

Can you think of any other issue that so directly impacts the long-term welfare of you and your family as single payer universal health care? Shouldn’t you write to your friends in Washington and tell them what you think about H. R. 676? Your letter is really no substitute for the feasts and festivals put on for Congress by the greedy so-called health-care industry, but it would at least let them know that you’re watching.

March 13, 2009 The humble Farmer