By STEVE DOYLE
Huntsville Times
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Dr. Wally Retan knows the odds aren’t great that Congress will pass a universal health care bill anytime soon.
But the chairman of Alabama’s “Health Care for Everyone” chapter still dreams of a time when all Americans have comprehensive, low-cost health insurance provided by the federal government.
The semi-retired Birmingham physician spent Wednesday in Huntsville trying to rally public support for a controversial bill he says would accomplish that goal. Sponsored by U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., it would expand Medicare-type coverage to everyone.
“The status quo is no longer acceptable; we’ve got to do something,” Retan told about 30 members of the city’s Peace and Democracy group at Fern Bell Recreation Center.
He said Conyers’ proposed “National Health Insurance Act” is backed by 92 other members of Congress (none from Alabama), two Nobel laureates, three former U.S. surgeons general and the 16,000-member Physicians for a National Health Care Program.
Retan, who gave a second talk Wednesday night at Crestwood Medical Center, said annual health care spending in the United States exploded from about $28 billion in 1960 to $2.8 trillion today. That’s about $6,000 for every man, woman and child.
The U.S. Census Bureau estimates 47 million people have no health insurance, and Retan said another 20 percent of the population is underinsured.
“They have what I call miniskirt insurance,” he said. “It looks good, but it doesn’t cover very much.”
Medical costs have skyrocketed so much that Starbucks now spends more on employee health care than coffee beans, said Retan, 77.
He said Conyers’ bill would rein in medical spending by shoving aside private insurance companies, whose “handsome executive salaries” contribute to their high administrative costs.
Most of the world’s industrialized nations and a few others, including Thailand, have found a way to provide universal health care, Retan said.
“What’s going to happen with all of this nobody knows, but it’s going to be interesting to find out,” he said. “Once in a while, the impossible happens.”
Retan’s talk inspired a lively debate among Peace and Democracy group members. Noor Gillani said America has the economic ability to provide universal health coverage, but people are going to have to demand it.
“If people become educated and know the truth,” Gillani said, “they’re going to fight for it.”
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