Obama Admits US Can’t Insure All Americans Without Single Payer (Video)
From Democracy Now! –
Obama devoted most of his White House news conference to defend his push for healthcare reform. He acknowledged the US won’t be able to provide healthcare insurance to every American without adopting single payer, which his administration has opposed.
All of you single payer and healthcare is a ‘right’ people get a clue. As people we only have a right to live and personal responsibility for our actions. What if no one wanted to be a doctor anymore (no econmic incentive, human nature that it’s not worth it anymore, etc) or quite being a doctor? If healthcare were a right then you would put those Doctors in jail because they did not want to serve you and I. If it’s a right to be served or serve others what happens if you want to take time off and your patient dies while the Dr. is gone? You going to put him in jail then. After all isn’t that what a right means? Someone being obligated to serve you? If we’re so bad in this country why do so many come here for the special complicated surgery? What about single payer…Did you even read the the excutive orders Obama has on file…Read them they’re all on the official Whitehouse.org site. There’s one in there that clearly indicates meidcal care will be ‘withheld’ so does that violate your rights?
No, that’s not what a right means. We’re not asking that doctors be forced to practice, nor are we suggesting that they be paid less.
Sure, people come to the US for care, if they can afford it. And just as many go to other countries for care.
If you think that there’s not a problem with healthcare in this country, you’re not paying attention.
Europeans seldom come to the US for care and the French never do, that tells me PLENTY.
You can have your Freedom Fries…
Just like we jail postal workers for not delivering mail. Right now all the profits from health care go to top 2% of the health care industry administration and the lobbyist give away the rest to the politicians to keep the status quo. If the government can run the postal service it sure can run the bureaucracy of being the accountants of health care, not the greedy insurance industry who denies service and regulates what everyone gets. I do not want the insurance company between me and my doctor. The governments job would be the accountant. If we just add %10 more of what is spent on health care now, get ride of the HMO’s everyone would have health care not just the privileged, who can afford it.
“Sick Profit” = the joy of receiving money from others misery.
I did not see my comment published.
Is this fox news, you did not like my left wing we need single payer comment. Did I offend you with
SICK PROFIT = Those who make profit from others suffering.
Who is running this web site. mmmmm
I see it my original post. But it is not visible unless you post a comment. Just bad web design, which makes the organization look bad. Please send note to web designer.
Thanks
Might have ended up in spam filter. We never saw it.
He only opposes it because the Health Mafia knows he can’t get it past the people in Congress he needs to. After all we all said NO to the bank bailout and at first Congress listen and then CAVED under the pressure from Wall St.
The White House told Obama’s personal doctor he couldn’t come to the ABC townhall on health care because he was going to ask Obama about Single Payer.
This is complete horse**** Botched health care reform might not sink Obama ship to one term, but if he makes another blunder and the Stimulus really doesn’t create much on the job front, he will have one term.
Bob, you are clueless. Here are the ‘rights’ being routinely (the norms, not the exceptions) exercised in our glorious healthcare non-system:
1. The right to commit massive billing fraud exercised by thousands of healthcare providers.
2. The right to order tests, hospital stays, surgeries, procedures and treatments, which have limited clinical value for patients, but serve the purpose of enrichment for providers.
3. The right to pay shareholders and executives extraordinary compensation for their investments of money and time.
4. The right to stress out the nursing corps within most, if not all hospitals, thereby ensuring medical errors and tragic outcomes.
5. The right of physicians to over-schedule appointments, surgeries and other patient exposures, to the detriment of patients.
6. The right of physicians to choose lucrative specialties rather than primary care, while being educated with government funds.
7. The right of the press to fail to comprehend and report the economics of healthcare — supply drives demand. Empty hospital beds will be filled — thousands of MRI and CT Scanners will be used … surgeons will (drum roll please) prescribe surgery.
8. The right of the bully pulpit of the Presidency to dance up to the Truths … and then pull back. The red pill may cost 200% more than the blue pill … or 1000% more than the blue pill … and have no better affect. But alas, the ‘incentives’ he spoke of so gingerly are the result of an uninformed and dependent public that frequently gets old a bill of goods. Mortgage bankers sold sub-prime loans; frequently, healthcare providers sell unnecessary services. Most people still don’t understand the rationale for ‘evidence-based’ medicine. It is a polite twist on the compelling need to curb the enthusiasm of some providers to exploit patients naivete.
8. The right to steal Medicare and Medicaid blind, and if caught, write checks to pay fines and penalties — like about 3000/year get caught. Guess who rarely gets caught? Those stealing the private sector patients blind … because insurance companies are serving two masters: their provider networks and policy-holders (mostly employers).
9. The right to post more foxes in the henhouse than any other industry in America.
10. The right of the CATO Institute to propagate the notion that single-payer universal healthcare will bind Americans to the Democratic Party forever … and that meaningful reform (even a public option as proposed by Obama) should be defeated at any cost to save the GOP. Lies, deceptions, distortions, and confusion are the tools of those benefiting from the insane status quo (or anything cosmetically … absurdly … entitled ‘reform’.)
11. The right of Congress to entrust companies which have betrayed the public trust — too many times to track — with an enlarged role in a truly ‘American’ healthcare system.
12. The right of policy-makers to expend hundreds of billions on unnecessary war … and fret about how to pay for healthcare for all Americans.
13. The right of policy-makers to remain clueless about the scope of co-pays, deductibles, and other out-of-pocket expenses in addition to excessive premiums for their anemic insurance policies.
14. The right of the GOP to be invariably wrong and some Dems to invariably exhibit political cowardice on our most important policy issues.
Over 70% of Americans have wanted single-payer for a long time. That in itself should get our representatives to support it, if they ARE our representatives. The fact that it isn’t happening is a clear indication that we no longer have a representative democracy. Tyranny, maybe?
Aside from that, the great majority of Canadians support their decades-old plan, despite some imperfections and changes. I have first hand knowledge of both systems. (Plus, they saved my life.)
Bob, you have drunk the kool-aid!
Terry & Anthony & Bodryn have it right. Americans have been completely snowed on this issue! Our so-called “system” (really a free-market free-for-all–see Terry’s comment) is so complex that it is easy for the big corporate players to confuse the issues and use fear tactics to support the status quo. They are simply and clearly defending that which makes them rich.
The most absurd argument I have heard so far is that people want to have “choice” in choosing their insurer. Um, no, we want choice in choosing our DOCTORS! If we never had to deal with a health insurance company again, most Americans would feel relieved, not oppressed!
Thanks, Healthcare-NOW for keeping on message. It appears to even be getting thru to Obama! Keep up the good work.