The three Dems in the media-selected "top tier" (Clinton, Obama, Edwards) all basically have the same 'plan'. We citizens/voters will be
forced by threat of penalty to purchase commercial insurance at unregulated prices and with no guarantees of regulated coverage. With the state of the current US economy, widespread loss of jobs, and the lack of any new job creation, it seems like these "plans" would just really push a LOT of people over the edge.
D*mn now I don't have ANYONE that I want to vote for (except Dennis Kucinich) of the Dem nominees.
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As I was looking for information, I stumbled upon this old thread that didn't get enough recs to go to the greatest page. I found it very informative. Lots and LOTS of good facts, links, info, sources:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=358&topic_id=4713<snip>
Currently, the U.S. health care system is outrageously expensive, yet inadequate. Despite spending more than twice as much as the rest of the industrialized nations ($7,129 per capita), the United States performs poorly in comparison on major health indicators such as life expectancy, infant mortality and immunization rates. Moreover, the other advanced nations provide comprehensive coverage to their entire populations, while the U.S. leaves 46 million completely uninsured and millions more inadequately covered.
The reason we spend more and get less than the rest of the world is because we have a patchwork system of for-profit payers. Private insurers necessarily waste health dollars on things that have nothing to do with care: overhead, underwriting, billing, sales and marketing departments as well as huge profits and exorbitant executive pay. Doctors and hospitals must maintain costly administrative staffs to deal with the bureaucracy. Combined, this needless administration consumes one-third (31 percent) of Americans’ health dollars.
Single-payer financing is the only way to recapture this wasted money. The potential savings on paperwork, more than $350 billion per year, are enough to provide comprehensive coverage to everyone without paying any more than we already do.
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