Groups Call for Action on Universal Health Care

McNulty States Support for “Medicare for All”

The need for universal health care was a major theme at a Town Hall Meeting attended by more than 60 individuals today at the Westminster Presbyterian Church.

Cong. Mike McNulty told the group that he is co-sponsor of HR676, which would create a single payer universal health care system. The United States National Health Insurance Act would create a publicly financed, privately delivered health care program that uses the already existing Medicare program by expanding and improving it to all U.S. residents, and all residents living in U.S. territories. The goal of the legislation is to ensure that all Americans, guaranteed by law, will have access to the highest quality and cost effective health care services regardless of ones employment, income, or health care status.

"The current health care system in New York State provides increasingly expensive health care to an ever smaller number of New York residents,” stated Dr. Paul Sorum, Chair of the Capital District chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program. “It wastes tremendous amounts of physicians' and patients' time and money in dealing with the morass of paperwork and regulations imposed by the current multiplicity of insurers and insurance plans. Whether you ask patients, doctors, other health care providers, large and small employers, employees, taxpayers, or elected officials, they agree that our health care system is very sick and even on the verge of collapse. We need a single payer universal health care system like HR 676.”

The forum was an opportunity for local residents to testify about problems with the health care system and the need for comprehensive reform. People testified about an array of problems, including the new Medicare drug program. The panel hearing the testimony included Congressmember Michael McNulty, City Councilmember Richard Conti and Dr. Glenn McGee, Director of the Alden March Bioethics Institute.

“A national single payer system would save at least $200 billion annually by eliminating the high overhead and profits of the private, investor-owned insurance industry and reducing spending for marketing and other satellite services,” noted Mark Dunlea, Associate Director of Hunger Action Network. “Doctors and hospitals would be freed from the concomitant burdens and expenses of paperwork created by having to deal with multiple insurers with different rules - often rules designed to avoid payment. We have to stop wasting so much money on an inferior health care system. Unfortunately campaign contributions from the drug and insurance companies continue to prevent real health care reform at the state and federal level.”

In New York State, there has been a proposal (A6576) in the New York State Assembly since the early 90s to create a state single payer health care system, sponsored by As. Richard Gottfried, Chair of the Assembly Health Committee. Benefits would include medically necessary health services including preventive and primary care, hospital care, dental, eye care, prescription drugs, mental health, treatment for drug and alcohol addictions, and rehabilitative care. Coverage would be extended to residents of New York State without regard to age, income, health or employment status. Gottfried is also proposal the creation of a Legislative Commission to do a cost benefit analysis of all the ways NY could provide quality health care to all NYers.

While there are many positive aspects to the United States’ health care system, overall the system performs poorly, especially compared to other industrial countries. The World Health Organization ranks the US only 37th in the world; we have infant mortality rates comparable to some third world countries; 18,000 Americans die each year just due to the lack of health insurance. We spend way too much money – 15.5% of our GDP, twice as much per capita as any other country – for this inferior health care system. Just the amount we spend on public health care programs such as Medicaid and Medicare is more than any other country spends. The United States is the only industrialized nation that does not guarantee access to health care as a right of citizenship. 28 industrialized nations have single payer universal health care systems, while 1 (Germany) has a multipayer universal health care system. Three million New Yorkers – and more than 45 million Americans – are without health insurance at any one point in time.

The excessive health care costs in the US puts American businesses such as GM at a serious economic disadvantage. Health care costs add on an estimated $1,500 to the price of every car manufactured by GM. Health care costs were cited by GM recently in announcing the layoff of more than 30,000 workers. The head of GM has also discussed moving factories to Canada to take advantages of their lower health care costs.

“For all our health care spending, the United States ranks near the bottom among industrialized countries on life expectancy, infant mortality and virtually every other measure. In fact, the infant mortality rate in our nation's capital is more than double the infant mortality rate in Beijing. Our health care is based on employment, but each year, fewer employers are providing company sponsored insurance. The figure is now down to 60 percent, a decline from 69 percent in 2000. Relying on individual employers to provide health care is inefficient and a drag on our ability to compete in the global economy. With universal health insurance, no employer gains an advantage by offering lower benefits or passing higher costs onto workers, stated Ron Gettelfinger, United Auto Workers’ National President, in recently calling for a national single payer universal health care system.

Sponsors of the event were the Hunger Action Network of New York State, FOCUS Churches, Labor-Religion Coalition (of Capital District), Hamilton Hill Forum, Physicians for a National Health Program, Capital District Greens, NYPIRG, Capital District Worker Center, NYPIRG, Solidarity, StateWide Senior Action, Alliance for Retired Americans, Alden March Bioethics Institute, Capital District Alliance for Universal Healthcare and CURE-NY.

The forum was part of a series of the town hall meetings that is being organized nationally by the Healthcare Now campaign (www.healthcare-now.org/), which supports HR 676, a version of Medicare for All. More than 65% of Americans believe that everybody should have healthcare in this country guaranteed by the government according to a recent PEW survey.

Congress has also established a process to get input from Americans about health care reform called the Citizens' Health Care Working Group The are asking four basic questions: What health care benefits and services should be provided?; How does the American public want health care delivered?; How should health care coverage be financed?; What trade-offs are the American public willing to make in either benefits or financing to ensure access to affordable, high quality health care coverage and services? (www.citizenshealthcare.gov/) Information from the forum will be sent to the group