Ted's Table

Helen Redmond writing at Counterpunch says Senator Ted Kennedy has been schmoozing in secret with corporate America concerning a desperately needed health care plan for Americans. It is invitation only for the usual suspects: lobbyists of Aetna, AHIP, the Business Roundtable, US Chamber of Commerce, the AMA and PHRMA.  Senator Kennedy has often said that a universal health care plan is his life's goal, but attempting to co-op these business interests is not going to produce a plan that controls soaring health care costs[1].  The Senator had a chance to achieve his stated goal in 1971 with the introduction of the Kennedy-Griffiths bill. But he did not fight aggressively to pass the legislation and gave his support to incremental compromises that have brought us to the present crisis.  Most Americans want a single payer system which can control costs because only the government pays their bills. Therefore the plan would have huge economic leverage in the health care market place. But such a monopoly plan threatens insurance and drug company profits.  The businesses only want a mandatory private insurance plan along the lines of Massachusetts's controversial model which penalizes those who do not buy insurance from private carriers and further enrich insurance companies.   Physicians for a National Health Program were not invited to the Senator's table, but they sent him an open letter explaining why the mandate program is not working.  The bloated health care industry is blaming the lazy, cheap little guy who cannot afford (or does not want to afford) $400 to $1000 a month for a high deductible policy that does not cover everything.  If you have a pre-existing condition, fuhgedaboudit.  Kaiser Family Foundation, an independent research organization states that between 1970 and 2005 the growth in Medicare spending per person has been less than the growth in spending by private insurers, despite the fact the government system treats most of the sick elderly.  If you were to ask Senator Kennedy what kind of policy he has to cover the extraordinary cost of treating his brain cancer, he would tell you a federal government policy guaranteed for life.  For the Washington elite health care is a right, for the rest of us it is a commodity to be sold to the highest bidder.  Call Senator Kennedy and tell him that single payer is what he once stood for, and is the type of universal plan Americans want. Representative John Conyers'  H.R. 676 is a good place to start. That phone number in Washington is: 202-224-4543, or call his state office 617-565-3170, or 877-472-9014.  If you want affordable health insurance start dialing.

[1]The HHS reports that health care costs will average $8,160 per US person.  The cost is projected to be $13,100 by 2018 or $1 out of every $5 spent in the economy.