Healthcare Is A Human Right.
I celebrate my 65th birthday in 2016. After a lifetime of making medicare contributions and buying private insurance, I am eligible for Medicare. It was a shock to learn first hand, how privatized and overly expensive Medicare has become. I still have to buy a “health insurance” policy from a company whose overhead is an unnecessary cost of delivering healthcare. Depending on how lucky I feel the cost will vary greatly.
I support, an Improved Medicare for All. Single-payer universal health care.
People in many other countries get better healthcare, live longer and pay far less to get the care they need. We could learn much from studying their successes and applying their best practices.
Obamacare (the ACA) improved healthcare in America but didn’t come close to matching the kind of care received in other countries. Tens of millions of people still lack insurance. For those who do have insurance, out of pocket expenses make coverage unaffordable for many people, despite subsidies. Narrow provider networks limit freedom of choice and access to specialists.
We can do better.
In Congress, I support a bill that will provide universal healthcare in America.
House Resolution 676. 60 Democrats are listed as co-sponsors. 128 Democrats (68%) are not. My opponent, Nancy Pelosi is not a co-sponsor. No Republicans are co-sponsors.
HR 676 would institute a single payer health care system by expanding a greatly improved Medicare to everyone residing in the U. S. Patients, not insurance companies, will choose their own physicians and hospitals. HR 676 would cover every person for all necessary medical care including prescription drugs.
HR 676 ends deductibles and co-payments. HR 676 would save hundreds of billions of dollars annually by eliminating the high overhead and profits of the private health insurance industry and HMOs.
Virtually every country in the developed world provides better access to healthcare at half the cost using a single-payer system, or something very close to it. By adopting an Improved Medicare for All, 95% of Americans will see a reduction in healthcare costs that will more than compensate for the small increase in taxes necessary to implement the plan.
Many thanks to Bernie Sanders for making healthcare a major part of the Democratic Presidential debates. I’m appalled at the response by Hillary Clinton. How could she be opposed to better health care for all Americans? Didn’t she visit and interact with people in the developed world when she was Secretary of State?
There is a new documentary on healthcare that “takes an in-depth look into how our dysfunctional health care system is damaging our economy, suffocating our businesses, discouraging physicians and negatively impacting on the nation’s health, while remaining un-affordable for a third of our citizens.” https://fixithealthcare.com/ The movie will be available on-line in the near future. Until then, please contact me to obtain a copy of the DVD.
Everyone in, no one left out. Everyone contributes. Everyone is covered.
Healthcare is a right, not a privilege. Better care at a lower cost.
If elected, I will be a co-sponsor of H.R. 676.
Barry Hermanson
415-255-9494