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Promoted to Primary Headline on 9/29/09: Permalink
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Health Care Activists: A Special Note To Help You Bump Up Your Activism
By Lora Chamberlain (about the author)
Become a Fan -- Page 3 of 6 page(s)
Tell them that like it or not, we will have a Single Payer system in this country, eventually, it is only a matter of time, it is the only way to really cut the total cost of Health Care and cover all Americans. We will save $400 Billion a year by cutting out the middlemen who run and profit from the Private Health Insurance companies.
2) The Individual Mandates! Demand that the Individual Mandates are dropped! We deserve better from our Fed. Gov!
Forcing people to buy Health Insurance is not going to drive prices down with or without a Public Option. It has failed miserably in Mass. causing premiums to rise for everyone 25% in the first 2 years after enactment of their mandated insurance program in 2006. This program has driven Mass. to the brink of economic ruin. Now the safety net hospitals in Mass. which are so important to so many patients have been drained of their funding. These were the hospitals and clinics that were actually providing real health care to the lower income citizens and now the poor are left with their expensive insurance policies and much less actual health care. Good Job Massachusetts, way to send public dollars to corporate coffers! Go to www.pnhp.org and see for yourself if you do not believe me.
Health Insurance does not equal Health Care.
Many on the conservative side are also complaining about the Individual Mandates. Because in the health care bills they allow the IRS to demand proof of everyone's insurance policies every year. They are also complaining about the large, costly Fed. bureaucracy that will be created around enforcing these Individual Mandate--I agree with them. If we just drop the Individual Mandates from this bill and allow this insurance reform program to stand on it's own, (if it is going to be affordable then let it be actually affordable), we could then see if competition comes back into the insurance market. We can monitor whether the prices are affordable by how many people voluntarily opt into buying the insurance or the Public Option. People want access to health care, if it is affordable, give all Americans at least that much credit.
Below is the related section found in the attached letter to Congress about this issue with an alternate carrot and stick approach, but really I just want Congress to drop the Individual Mandates, period! In the Health Care bills fines for not having Health Insurance in the future might be as high as $900/yr for an individual. So some poor person, who could not afford their insurance premiums, will get a hefty fine as a slap in the face, is that any way to treat our neighbors?
Individual Mandates were discussed during Pres. Obama's campaigning last year and he stated that he would not support them. I believe strongly that he and Congress should rethink these individual mandates and Dr. Howard Dean agrees with me! First of all they may be unconstitutional and will certainly be challenged in court, the rightwing is already organizing the legal basis for this challenge. Also if this system is going to be truly affordable to Americans, then mandates will be relatively unnecessary.
I have long advocated a carrot approach. For instance there should be a 6 month grace period while individuals are assessing their options. If a patient signs up to the private plans or the Public Option 2-3 months in advance of actually using it, then they should get a "Wellness Participation" discount and receive smaller deductibles or co-pays or qualify for reduced premiums.
Still many Americans will procrastinate and not buy insurance or sign up to the Public Option, but a patient being seen in the ER or Urgent Care for an urgent medical need, who can not pay cash for their visits could certainly be encouraged to sign up to, at least, the Public Option, in order to pay their bills and would be highly motivated to do so at that time. These patients could then be charged slightly higher premiums for 2-3 years to pay for their negligence in getting covered in advance of an urgent medical need. We could stretch out any hardship for the patient over several years but there should be some kind of reconciliation for any patient procrastination.
This type of approach would save money too, the IRS enforcement of the individual mandate would create yet another costly Federal bureaucracy, which is what all of the conservatives are frightened about. Come on Congress we have to cut the administrative costs of these reform bills or we will never be able to afford them! Also this type of approach would diminish the universal reporting requirements to the Federal Gov. about the purchase of a health plan, a requirement that will become onerous for many Americans.
(Below is a link to a growing list of articles discussing the possibility of fighting the Individual Mandate based on Constitutional Law. )
http://www.google.com/search?q=individual+mandates+constitutionality&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official
Also see, "Insurance Mandates: The Legal Issues", New York Times, Sunday Sept 27th, 2009
(FYI...The section in the House bill HR 3200 which has the IRS clauses pertaining to enforcing the Individual Mandate is Section 401.)
If this Health Care bill does come out similar to the dreaded Mass.Plan without a strong Public Option then please just keep fighting because we have until Dec. 31st, 2012 to fight the Individual Mandates. We must keep demanding that they be dropped from the program! Remember we are already paying enough taxes to afford our Health Care, Congress just has to end these bogus Wars and Corporate Welfare and spend some of our money on us!
For Profit Insurance companies are just going to have to stand aside and allow us Americans to give each other Health Care as a Human Right! Don't worry there will always be a secondary market for the Insurance companies to participate in, you do not have to feel sorry for them, they will do fine, they can provide for enhanced services and benefits such as alternative health care, wouldn't that be sweet.
3) Demand a Strong Public Option, Open to All Americans, that starts sooner than 2013.
The Public Option must be;
Become a Fan -- Page 3 of 6 page(s)
2) The Individual Mandates! Demand that the Individual Mandates are dropped! We deserve better from our Fed. Gov!
Forcing people to buy Health Insurance is not going to drive prices down with or without a Public Option. It has failed miserably in Mass. causing premiums to rise for everyone 25% in the first 2 years after enactment of their mandated insurance program in 2006. This program has driven Mass. to the brink of economic ruin. Now the safety net hospitals in Mass. which are so important to so many patients have been drained of their funding. These were the hospitals and clinics that were actually providing real health care to the lower income citizens and now the poor are left with their expensive insurance policies and much less actual health care. Good Job Massachusetts, way to send public dollars to corporate coffers! Go to www.pnhp.org and see for yourself if you do not believe me.
Health Insurance does not equal Health Care.
Many on the conservative side are also complaining about the Individual Mandates. Because in the health care bills they allow the IRS to demand proof of everyone's insurance policies every year. They are also complaining about the large, costly Fed. bureaucracy that will be created around enforcing these Individual Mandate--I agree with them. If we just drop the Individual Mandates from this bill and allow this insurance reform program to stand on it's own, (if it is going to be affordable then let it be actually affordable), we could then see if competition comes back into the insurance market. We can monitor whether the prices are affordable by how many people voluntarily opt into buying the insurance or the Public Option. People want access to health care, if it is affordable, give all Americans at least that much credit.
Below is the related section found in the attached letter to Congress about this issue with an alternate carrot and stick approach, but really I just want Congress to drop the Individual Mandates, period! In the Health Care bills fines for not having Health Insurance in the future might be as high as $900/yr for an individual. So some poor person, who could not afford their insurance premiums, will get a hefty fine as a slap in the face, is that any way to treat our neighbors?
Individual Mandates were discussed during Pres. Obama's campaigning last year and he stated that he would not support them. I believe strongly that he and Congress should rethink these individual mandates and Dr. Howard Dean agrees with me! First of all they may be unconstitutional and will certainly be challenged in court, the rightwing is already organizing the legal basis for this challenge. Also if this system is going to be truly affordable to Americans, then mandates will be relatively unnecessary.
I have long advocated a carrot approach. For instance there should be a 6 month grace period while individuals are assessing their options. If a patient signs up to the private plans or the Public Option 2-3 months in advance of actually using it, then they should get a "Wellness Participation" discount and receive smaller deductibles or co-pays or qualify for reduced premiums.
Still many Americans will procrastinate and not buy insurance or sign up to the Public Option, but a patient being seen in the ER or Urgent Care for an urgent medical need, who can not pay cash for their visits could certainly be encouraged to sign up to, at least, the Public Option, in order to pay their bills and would be highly motivated to do so at that time. These patients could then be charged slightly higher premiums for 2-3 years to pay for their negligence in getting covered in advance of an urgent medical need. We could stretch out any hardship for the patient over several years but there should be some kind of reconciliation for any patient procrastination.
This type of approach would save money too, the IRS enforcement of the individual mandate would create yet another costly Federal bureaucracy, which is what all of the conservatives are frightened about. Come on Congress we have to cut the administrative costs of these reform bills or we will never be able to afford them! Also this type of approach would diminish the universal reporting requirements to the Federal Gov. about the purchase of a health plan, a requirement that will become onerous for many Americans.
(Below is a link to a growing list of articles discussing the possibility of fighting the Individual Mandate based on Constitutional Law. )
http://www.google.com/search?q=individual+mandates+constitutionality&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official
Also see, "Insurance Mandates: The Legal Issues", New York Times, Sunday Sept 27th, 2009
(FYI...The section in the House bill HR 3200 which has the IRS clauses pertaining to enforcing the Individual Mandate is Section 401.)
If this Health Care bill does come out similar to the dreaded Mass.Plan without a strong Public Option then please just keep fighting because we have until Dec. 31st, 2012 to fight the Individual Mandates. We must keep demanding that they be dropped from the program! Remember we are already paying enough taxes to afford our Health Care, Congress just has to end these bogus Wars and Corporate Welfare and spend some of our money on us!
For Profit Insurance companies are just going to have to stand aside and allow us Americans to give each other Health Care as a Human Right! Don't worry there will always be a secondary market for the Insurance companies to participate in, you do not have to feel sorry for them, they will do fine, they can provide for enhanced services and benefits such as alternative health care, wouldn't that be sweet.
3) Demand a Strong Public Option, Open to All Americans, that starts sooner than 2013.
The Public Option must be;
Take action -- click here to contact your local newspaper or congress people:
Demand a strong public option open to all, before 2013
Click here to see the most recent messages sent to congressional reps and local newspapers
Dr. Lora Chamberlain is a voting activist in the Pacific Northwest.
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author
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