The Republican party has cited a few horror stories in Canada in its effort to frighten Americans away from insisting that a public option be included in the health care reform bill.  First, a purely government run only health care program is not on the table.  In other words, single-payer health care is not on the table.  Therefore, the continued disengenious claim being perpetuated by the right that Canadian and English health care systems demonstrate why we do not want a government  plan is a specious and straw man of an argument built up so as to be easily knocked down.  Second, this writer will take Canada’s isolated cases of being put on a wait list to our 18,000 American citizens who die EACH year because of lack of health insurance ANY DAY. 

Americans must realize what is at stake.  The Administration is not proposing a single payer health care system like those in Canada and Britain.   The health care reform plan being proposed allows for both private and public insurance.  Therefore, if you want private insurance then keep your private insurance.  The public option that would be made available is simply there so that you will not have to pay as much for your private insurance.  It is a public OPTION.   Unlike the proposed American plan, Canadians are prevented from buying private insurance or private health care inside Canada.  That is not being proposed here.  It will not be illegal for you to buy private health care or insurance like it is in Canada.  You simply are given a choice. 

However, a public option will provide competition for the insurance companies and perhaps companies like United Healthcare (parent company of the Lewin Group, authors of the study being cited by the GOP in opposition of the public option) will not continue to make $22 billion in profits (in a single quarter) off your back by raising premiums in an ailing economy.  For those who want to pay more for their private insurance I am sure that there are quite a few insurance companies and doctors in the US who would be more than willing to accept your money.   With a public option the 18,000 people who die each year because they lack health insurance can choose life. 

By the way, Canada is the fifth healthiest country in the world while the U.S. is only the eleventh.  Canadians also have one of the longest life expectancies in the world.  Check out America’s statistics:

In 2002, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) estimated that 18,000 Americans died in 2000 because they were uninsured. Since then, the number of uninsured has grown. Based on the IOM’s methodology and subsequent Census Bureau estimates of insurance coverage, 137,000 people died from 2000 through 2006 because they lacked health insurance, including 22,000 people in 2006.

A different source:

WASHINGTON — More than 18,000 adults in the USA die each year because they are uninsured and can’t get proper health care, researchers report in a landmark study released Tuesday.

The 193-page report, “Care Without Coverage: Too Little, Too Late,” examines the plight of 30 million — one in seven — working-age Americans whose employers don’t provide insurance and who don’t qualify for government medical care.

About 10 million children lack insurance; elderly Americans are covered by Medicare.

It is the second in a planned series of six reports by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) examining the impact of the nation’s fragmented health system. The IOM is a non-profit organization of experts that advises Congress on health issues.

Overall, the researchers say, 18,314 people die in the USA each year because they lack preventive services, a timely diagnosis or appropriate care.

The estimated death toll includes about 1,400 people with high blood pressure, 400 to 600 with breast cancer and 1,500 diagnosed with HIV.

“Our purpose is simply to deliver the facts, and the facts are unequivocal,” says Reed Tuckson, an author of the report and vice president for consumer health at UnitedHealth Group in Minnetonka, Minn.

Among the study’s findings is a comparison of the uninsured with the insured:

• Uninsured people with colon or breast cancer face a 50% higher risk of death.
• Uninsured trauma victims are less likely to be admitted to the hospital, receive the full range of needed services, and are 37% more likely to die of their injuries.
• About 25% of adult diabetics without insurance for a year or more went without a checkup for two years. That boosts their risk of death, blindness and amputations resulting from poor circulation.

So the false argument that a public option will result in rationing and waiting lists is ridiculous on its face because it is comparing apples and oranges.  So for the Republicans and blue dog conservative Democrats who are being overly influenced by the health care industry or your so called out-of-state dollar constituents (Sen. Max Baucus D-MT), 18,000 deaths is non-negotiable. 

Call YOUR Senator especially the Blue Dogs.

Obama’s prepared remarks prior to the Q&A:

Good evening. Before I take your questions, I want to talk for a few minutes about the progress we’re making on health insurance reform and where it fits into our broader economic strategy.

Six months ago, I took office amid the worst recession in half a century. We were losing an average of 700,000 jobs per month and our financial system was on the verge of collapse.

As a result of the action we took in those first weeks, we have been able to pull our economy back from the brink. We took steps to stabilize our financial institutions and our housing market. And we passed a Recovery Act that has already saved jobs and created new ones; delivered billions in tax relief to families and small businesses; and extended unemployment insurance and health insurance to those who have been laid off.

Of course, we still have a long way to go. And the Recovery Act will continue to save and create more jobs over the next two years – just like it was designed to do. I realize this is little comfort to those Americans who are currently out of work, and I’ll be honest with you – new hiring is always one of the last things to bounce back after a recession. 

And the fact is, even before this crisis hit, we had an economy that was creating a good deal of wealth for folks at the very top, but not a lot of good-paying jobs for the rest of America. It’s an economy that simply wasn’t ready to compete in the 21st century – one where we’ve been slow to invest in the clean energy technologies that have created new jobs and industries in other countries; where we’ve watched our graduation rates lag behind too much of the world; and where we spend much more on health care than any other nation but aren’t any healthier for it.

That is why I’ve said that even as we rescue this economy from a full-blown crisis, we must rebuild it stronger than before. And health insurance reform is central to that effort. Read the rest of this entry »