SINGLE PAYER VS. ENFORCED PRIVATE INSURANCE

DAN WILSON, BEAT SYNDICATION - The leading Democratic candidates are proposing a Universal Health Care plan which would force Americans to purchase private health insurance. These proposals would not prevent the insurance company from denying claims but would require people to pay premiums to the insurance company.

Universal Health Care would increase the profits for insurance companies. There is one candidate who advocates a single payer health care system. Dennis Kucinich is the only candidate for President with a plan for a Universal, Single-Payer, Not-for-Profit health care system.

Kucinich's would establish an arrangement similar to Medicare. It would cover the estimated 46 million Americans without health coverage, but more importantly there would be no such thing as "pre-existing conditions". By making the system a not-for-profit system, there should be no denied claims either.

Kucinich is proposing the passage of HR 676 which is sponsored by Representative John Conyers. Kucinich says he co-wrote the legislation. Unlike the proposals by Hillary Clinton, Barrak Obama and John Edwards, his plan would eliminate the for profit insurance companies. HR 676 would allow for private non-profit companies though.

Kucinich cites a study that found that less than one percent of our health care dollars are spent on lawsuits, while 31 percent is spent on administration. He says that the huge administrative and marketing costs would be eliminated. . .

Sure the taxpayer already picks up the cost of the uninsured, but in many cases it is too late to save their life. The US already spends more money per person on health care than any other country in the world, and we rank 35th in life expectancy.

But how long is the wait to see a doctor in these other countries with a single payer health car system? Amazingly, the wait is shorter than ours. Kucinich cites a study that found that we are less likely to be able to see a doctor the same day. "Same-day access to primary-care physicians in the U.S. (33%) is far less available than in the United Kingdom (41%), Australia (54%) and New Zealand (60%). (The) per capita spending for health care averaged $2,696 in countries without waiting lists and $5,267 in the U.S."