Drones work with deadly accuracy. The NSA has a limitless budget. Why not let these agencies that perform their duties well step in to help with the beleaguered Obamacare rollout?
Saving Obamacare
Ted Rall
Ted Rall is a syndicated political cartoonist for Andrews McMeel Syndication and WhoWhatWhy.org and Counterpoint. He is a contributor to Centerclip and co-host of "The Final Countdown" talk show on Radio Sputnik. He is a graphic novelist and author of many books of art and prose, and an occasional war correspondent. He is, recently, the author of the graphic novel "2024: Revisited."
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With all the sound and fury, as the right savages the admittedly flawed Affordable Care Act, and the centrists of Obamaland cosplay as well-intentioned progressives, a simple and elegant solution remains. Get the insurance companies completely out of the health care equation. BO blew his chance to bring real change to this absolutely crucial area of US life by kowtowing to the huge insurance corporations and drug companies that suck billions in profits out of what should be a profit-free sector of the economy.
By expanding Medicare into a single payer, universal coverage system whose benefits would advantage every citizen, a workable solution can be realized. Neither the conservative abolition plan nor any “fixes” or tweaks can resolve the root problems. Does no one else see how the current crises are exposing the insurance companies as the opportunistic bastards they are and have always been? The cancellation game is by no means a new one; it has been a feature of the insurers’ operations forever.
Time to purge the system – single payer, universal, comprehensive medical and dental coverage now for every citizen, paid for by the tax reforms that will finally see the costs of democracy democratized onto the rich and subsidized via the transfer of funds from a radically trimmed “defense” budget.
@ gofomo –
I agree 100% – but add “visual” to your list. (Presumably, “hearing” would be included in “medical”?)
Absolutely – by “comprehensive” I meant to include: mental, vision, hearing, etc. care in addition to what is commonly understood as comprising health/dental insurance.
Since posting my comment I recalled how the existence of single payer universal health care was a major factor in the rise of the Japanese auto industry. Unburdened by the costs of providing insurance coverage for its employees, the manufacturers were able to shave hundreds of dollars off the price of the vehicles they sold. So the benefits of such a plan accrue to many players, not just those insured. Such plans are regularly described as one of the key elements in the high quality of life ratings earned by Northern European nations.
@ gofomo –
I lived with my wife & children in Germany during the 1970’s and enjoyed their “socialized” medicine. It was started 130 years ago by Bismarck. I’ve always wondered why opponents attack Britain and Canada for their plans, instead of striving to equal Germany (or other European nations). (?)
I am convinced that it is mostly because of their ignorance and due to unceasing propaganda which poisons the mind against single payer health care. My own experience includes exposure to both Japan’s and Canada’s systems. In both instances the coverage was professional, timely, comprehensive, inexpensive.
Perhaps the best demonstration of how superior “socialized” health care is would be how Medicare recipients, including right wingers, cling to the program. I challenge anyone to produce meaningful evidence of demand among seniors that their benefits be managed by an entity other than the feds. Friends with military provided plans seem quite satisfied as well. Tellingly, citizens of countries with socialized health care systems are not lobbying for transition to the troubled and expensive US way. What those people report is astonishment at the cost, discrimination (against the poor), and insufficiencies of the latter compared to their own universal health care plans.
Of course, lying, manipulation, and outright bullying of the US citizen over the past many decades since WWll has seen us hoodwinked into phony wars, into enriching the politically connected, into crushing our kids with debt. The resulting damage to our trust in government has been devastating; witness current polls indicating the lack of respect for Congress. Having failed to take on Big Medicine and Big Pharma and failed to expand Medicare, it may be that our current crisis is just what we deserve for our timidity, our ignorance, and our foolishness.
Most amazing to me is the fact that the detractors point to the fact that foreigners (including Canadians) come to the U.S. for treatment (surgeries). That might be a factor in determining the expertise of U.S. physicians, but it ignores the fact that those patients have the money to choose that option. Often, the Canadian system underwrites the expenses. Both factors speak to the underlying truth that the Canadian system is superior to that of the U.S. But I feel like I’m preaching to the choir. 🙂
Ted & Webmaster: I’m still looking for the “Edit/Delete” button for submitted comments.
Brilliant proposal, Ted – rather than relying on pills that merely inform your doctor when you’ve been neglecting them (http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887324787004578494993650743434), we need pills that tell the NSA and its friends and associates in other lands to pay house visits when our memory fails….
Henri