How Long?
Remarks by Dr. Claudia Fegan at Reception at the DNC in Denver, Tuesday, August 26, 2008 for co-sponsors of HR 676
There are 45.7million uninsured people in the United States. There are probably some 50 million people who are underinsured, meaning even though they have health insurance they cannot afford the care they need. While it is true we saw a slight decrease in the number of uninsured last year, this was due to a massive expansion of public programs. Were it not for the fact that 2.7million more people were covered by public programs last year; Medicaid, SCHIP and Medicare we actually would have seen an increase in the number of uninsured. It is so clear that a public national health insurance program is no longer the best option to cover all Americans, it is the only option. The private insurance industry is never going to get us to universal coverage.
We live in the richest, most powerful country in the world. How long are we going to allow this to go on?
Two months ago I admitted a woman to the hospital. Both of this woman’s breasts were rock hard filled with cancer, the skin was discolored and dimpled, her armpits were filled with swollen lymph nodes. How could this happen? She had no health insurance, she was a hairdresser. She was sitting at home waiting to die; she didn’t think she had any other choice. Her daughter brought her in and asked us to help her. How long are we going to let this go on?
The insurance industry profiteers by retroactively denying coverage to people with illnesses. Insurance companies gladly take money from people when they are well, promising to take care of them should they need it. Then when they are sick, the industry systematically finds ways to deny them the care they need. How long are we going to let this go on?
In the United States today the pharmaceutical industry is more profitable than the gaming industry. The American public pays the highest prices in the world, while the same companies sell the same medications all over the world for prices 1/2, 1/3, or even 1/10 what they charge in the US. How long are we going to let this go on?
People are losing their jobs because they can’t get care and can’t work as a result. They are having strokes and heart attacks because they can’t afford their blood pressure medication. They are having limbs amputated or winding up on dialysis because they can’t afford the medication to control their diabetes.
People are dying because they can’t get the care they need. The insured and the uninsured are having care delayed or denied because we don’t have a health care system. Our county health system is so overwhelmed it takes months to get an appointment. There is no system in this country other than to deny care to those who need it. Access to care is a profit center controlled by the insurance industry. We pay them to limit access to care.
We spend more than $7000/person on health care a year in the US; yet we are ranked only 36th in the world by the World Health Organization for the quality of care we deliver. HOW LONG?
Our infant mortality rates are higher than other nations. Our maternal mortality rates are higher. Women die in childbirth in the United States at higher rates than other industrialized nations; 9 women for every 100,000 live births. In Germany the rate is 3, Sweden 4, and Canada 4.6. I’m not talking about a third world country; I’m talking about the most powerful nation in the world. The only country in the western hemisphere with a childhood immunization rate less than the United States is Haiti, and they are getting better with our help. HOW LONG?
We spend enough money on health care in this country. We just let too many people who aren’t involved in providing care take profit from it.
The United States no longer guarantees access to care for all veterans. 12% of non-elderly veterans in this country are uninsured. That means if you go out and lay your life on the line for this country, even for a war you don’t believe in, and you survive to come home, you are no longer guaranteed access to health care when you leave the service. So when your post traumatic stress disorder is diagnosed 2-3 months after you return, you’re not covered. HOW LONG?
This is about justice. Health care should be a right to which everyone is entitled. Remember we live in the wealthiest country in the world. We spend more on health care per person than any other country. It is time we got our money’s worth. It is time we got the health care we deserve, not the care the insurance industry is willing to let us have. It is time we made health care a right for all and not a privilege for those who can afford it. We will never get universal health care until we change the political climate in this country. That is our challenge. It is time for us to demand what we need. It is time to demand what we deserve. It is time to demand universal health care. We won’t get there by urging the insurance industry to play nice with others. We will get there by demanding a singlepayer national health insurance; Medicare for all.
The idea that singlepayer would take too long makes no sense, Medicare passed and was implemented in one year. The idea we have to do something else while we wait for single payer is like putting a band aid on the problem. As a physician I can tell you band aids are fine but they don’t solve the problem.
We will get there by supporting Congressman Conyers. We will get there by fighting for HR 676.
Physicians for a National Health Program, PNHP is an organization of 15,000 physicians and we are committed to fighting for this change. We are committed to helping Congressman John Conyers get HR 676 through Congress. Nearly 500,000 physicians support single payer. The California Nurses Association is committed. The cosponsors here tonight are committed and the next president of the United States; Barack Obama has told us YES WE CAN.
So together we can answer: Not much longer, not much longer will we let this go on because we are ready to fight to have a health care system that has EVERYBODY IN and NOBODY OUT! Say it with me: EVERYBODY IN NOBODY OUT! EVERYBODY IN NOBODY OUT!