Will the American people let special interests derail our best chance in a generation for health care reform? I hope not.
We now have a unique opportunity to make broad and effective reforms this year, if enough concerned citizens become active on behalf of building a more fair and more humane way to deliver health coverage.
Today (June 25), buses, vans and numerous cars full of such concerned citizens and community and labor leaders will join thousands of others to attend the "Health Care Can't Wait" national rally in Washington.
President Obama has declared that now is the time to fix our fractured health-care delivery system before it bankrupts our families and nation. Those joining in this national action agree that the time is now for major reform, not just tinkering around the edges as was done the last time in the 90s.
Several supporting events are planed in West Virginia, including a town hall meeting on health care reform in Beckley. Other actions are brewing in Morgantown and Charleston.
Have no illusions. It's going to be a tough fight against Big Insurance, Big Pharma and other special interests that milk extreme profits from the status quo.
They prefer the system just the way it is (no matter what they say in their PR campaigns). For instance, last month, WV Citizen Action released a report showing that only two companies control more than 50 percent of the private insurance market in our state.
Coventry, the company with the largest market share, saw its profits rise 926 percent since 2000! To illustrate the mindset of these companies - guess what their terminology is for having to actually pay for health care services for one of their policy holders? They consider it a "medical loss"!
Just last week, the American Medical Association (which also opposed the formation of Medicare) came out against the main pillar of our president's reform proposal - a new public insurance plan that would offer coverage for those too young for Medicare and who cannot find affordable coverage in the private insurance market.
A public insurance option is needed for the rest of us who are now at the mercy of Big Insurance.
A recent statistic caught my eye when I read that now more than 60 percent of the personal bankruptcies in this country are due to medical bills. This simply doesn't happen in Canada, Germany, France and all other nations that have taken the necessary steps to cover all their citizens with adequate public health coverage.
Will the American people let special interests derail our best chance in a generation for health care reform? I hope not.
We now have a unique opportunity to make broad and effective reforms this year, if enough concerned citizens become active on behalf of building a more fair and more humane way to deliver health coverage.
Today (June 25), buses, vans and numerous cars full of such concerned citizens and community and labor leaders will join thousands of others to attend the "Health Care Can't Wait" national rally in Washington.
President Obama has declared that now is the time to fix our fractured health-care delivery system before it bankrupts our families and nation. Those joining in this national action agree that the time is now for major reform, not just tinkering around the edges as was done the last time in the 90s.
Several supporting events are planed in West Virginia, including a town hall meeting on health care reform in Beckley. Other actions are brewing in Morgantown and Charleston.
Have no illusions. It's going to be a tough fight against Big Insurance, Big Pharma and other special interests that milk extreme profits from the status quo.
They prefer the system just the way it is (no matter what they say in their PR campaigns). For instance, last month, WV Citizen Action released a report showing that only two companies control more than 50 percent of the private insurance market in our state.
Coventry, the company with the largest market share, saw its profits rise 926 percent since 2000! To illustrate the mindset of these companies - guess what their terminology is for having to actually pay for health care services for one of their policy holders? They consider it a "medical loss"!
Just last week, the American Medical Association (which also opposed the formation of Medicare) came out against the main pillar of our president's reform proposal - a new public insurance plan that would offer coverage for those too young for Medicare and who cannot find affordable coverage in the private insurance market.
A public insurance option is needed for the rest of us who are now at the mercy of Big Insurance.
A recent statistic caught my eye when I read that now more than 60 percent of the personal bankruptcies in this country are due to medical bills. This simply doesn't happen in Canada, Germany, France and all other nations that have taken the necessary steps to cover all their citizens with adequate public health coverage.
Why should Americans continue to suffer under our broken system that allows these personal tragedies to happen every day?
Worse than losing one's home and savings to medical bills, many lose their lives due to lack of coverage. Last year, West Virginia for Affordable Health Care released a report documenting that, on an annual basis, four West Virginians a week die because of complications resulting from lack of health coverage. This unacceptable loss of life and human productivity must be stopped!
Of course, opponents of a new public insurance plan are already raising the dual boogeymen of Big Government and socialism to scare uninformed citizens. This tactic worked well when Big Insurance ran its famous Harry and Louise ads to help kill off Clinton's reform efforts.
The irony is that we now have faceless unelected insurance bureaucrats second-guessing our doctors and denying needed treatments. A public insurance plan is no more socialistic than Medicare or Social Security, two of the most popular government programs ever implemented.
"Health Care Reform Can't Wait" is a perfect name for the June 25 rally in Washington.
I hope that our lawmakers are up to the challenge of finally fixing our broken system before it breaks all of us.
Zuckett is the executive director of WV Citizen Action Group, a consumer protection organization in Charleston.
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Mr. Zuckett's statement that 4 West Virginians die a week is an estimation and not fact.
The study said this: "Families USA estimates that four working-age West Virginians die each week due
to lack of health insurance (approximately 210 people in 2006)". The study no where give us information as to where these numbers come from.