[Sosfbay-discuss] Clinton and Democrats are Obstacles to Real Health Care Reform

Thu Mar 1 16:18:42 PST 2007

http://gp.org/press/pr_2007_02_26.shtml

Clinton and Democrats are Obstacles to Real Health Care Reform

Green Party of the United States
www.gp.org

Monday, February 26, 2007

Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, mclarty at greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene at gp.org
John Battista, M.D., 860-354-1822

Sen. Hillary Clinton and other Democratic leaders are obstacles to real
health care reform, say Greens

Greens assert need for single-payer national health insurance, which
top Democrats and Republicans reject because of corporate HMO,
insurance, and pharmaceutical contributors

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Green Party leaders called on Congress to reject
health care reform plans that maintained corporate-based insurance and
HMO coverage, and urged passage of a single-payer national health
insurance program.

"America is ready for single-payer," said Maria Allwine, former Green
candidate for Maryland State Senate and U.S. Senate and member of the
Maryland Universal Health Care Action Network . "We're not ready for
another Republican or Democratic proposal that guarantees profits for
HMOs and insurance firms, while doing little for America's 46 million
uninsured and millions more under-insured. We appeal to Congress, the
American people, unions, and health-care providers to reject
corporate-friendly managed-care plans and demand national health
insurance."

Greens were especially critical of Sen. Hillary Clinton's (D-N.Y.)
continuing role in obstructing needed health care reforms.

"Hillary Clinton should be banished from the room when health coverage
is discussed," said Rebecca Rotzler, co-chair of the Green Party of the
United States and Deputy Mayor of New Paltz, New York. "Ms. Clinton's
favoritism towards major insurance companies undermined real health
care reform when her husband's administration crafted its managed-care
monstrosity in 1993. She and other Democrats remain at the top of the
list of recipients of contributions from insurance and pharmaceutical
lobbies [http://www.opensecrets.org]."

In the 2006 race for the U.S. Senate, New York Green candidate Howie
Hawkins sharply criticized Ms. Clinton for pandering to private health
insurance companies and endorsing a Massachusetts bill mandating that
consumers buy inadequate private health insurance. Greens running for
office in New York, Massachusetts, and numerous other states promoted
state-based plans to provide all residents with health care services
through publicly-funded coverage.

"Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, and other prominent
Democrats are the greatest obstacle to universal health coverage.
Except for a few mavericks like Rep. John Conyers [D-Mich.], who has
regularly introduced single-payer bills, Democrats have joined
Republicans in favoring HMO and insurance corporations over guaranteed
publicly-financed quality health care for every American. It's a safe
bet that the 2008 Democratic nominee will -- like Bill Clinton, Al
Gore, and John Kerry before them -- follow the same pattern," said Kat
Swift, spokesperson for the National Women's Caucus of the Green Party.

Greens noted that Democrats and Republicans alike were responding to
the growing health care crisis in recent years by siding with corporate
insurers and rejecting the principle that federal or state governments
should provide coverage, despite poll numbers showing growing majority
support for single-payer. During the Clinton-Gore Administration, the
Democratic Party deleted national health insurance from its national
platform; national health insurance had been a Democratic promise since
1948.

In November, 2003, Republicans in Congress passed a complex
Prescription Drug bill that mostly benefits drug firms and advances the
long-time Republican ambition to replace Medicare with private coverage
<http://www.gp.org/press/pr_11_21_03.html>. More recently, President
Bush has cut $28 million from Medicaid to pay for the Iraq War.

Greens noted that profits for the private health insurance industry now
consume as much as 30¢ of every health dollar, and that pay for
insurance and HMO executives is now in the multimillion-dollar
stratosphere, e.g., $29,061,599 for Stephen Wiggins, CEO of Oxford
Health Plans, Inc.; $11,568,410 for Wilson Taylor, Chairman and CEO of
CIGNA Corporation <http://www.harp.org/hmoexecs.htm>.

According to a 2000 study by Harvard Medical School and the Canadian
Institute for Health Information
<http://www.hms.harvard.edu/news/releases/0820woolhimmel.html>, U.S.
pays 31 cents on every dollar for administrative costs; Canada, under
its single-payer system, pays half this amount. Greens further noted
that taxpayers and health care providers are already paying health care
costs for the uninsured.

"We urge unions and other civil groups to demand single-payer, instead
of falling into lockstep with Democrats, or we'll repeat the health
care reform debacle of 1993," said John Battista, M.D., former Green
candidate for state representative in Connecticut and co-author of his
state's single-payer legislation in 1999 (the Connecticut Health Care
Security Act). "It's time to reject vaguely defined corporate-friendly
'affordable' health care plans."

"Single-payer will provide quality health coverage for every American
regardless of income, ability to pay, residence, age, or prior medical
condition at a cost that's far less than working Americans currently
pay for private coverage, while providing full choice of physician and
hospital," added Dr. Battista. "That's why the Green Party supports
single-payer."

MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States
http://www.gp.org 
1700 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 404
Washington, DC 20009.
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193
Green Party News Center 
http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml 

"Seeking Coverage For All"
By John R. Battista and Justine McCabe (Green Party members), The
Hartford Courant, October 31, 2006
http://www.pnhp.org/news/2006/november/seeking_coverage_for.php 

"Why Obama, Edwards, Hillary, Romney, Schwarzenegger Don't Support
Single Payer? It Would Mean the Death of the Health Insurance Industry,
and Reduced Profits for Big Pharma"
Corporate Crime Reporter 9, February 21, 2007
http://www.healthcare-now.org/shownews.php?nid=394&sid=&subid 
http://www.corporatecrimereporter.com 

Physicians for a National Health Program
http://www.pnhp.org 

___________________

JamBoi
Jammy The Sacred Cow Slayer

"Live humbly, laugh often and love unconditionally" (anon)
http://dailyJam.blogspot.com

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