Several Good Articles and Blog Posts on Health Care Reform

Here are some links and exerpts from several good blog posts and articles I have read on the inter-tubes about health care reform (or not).

Here is a link to a video and partial transcript of Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) being interviewed by CNN's Wolf Blitzer at the Crooks and Liars web site. Problably only Bernie out of all the 100 senators has the cajones to say what needs to be said. Sanders is defending single payer, here are some good money shots:

Sanders: United Health Insurance. A couple of years ago the head of that company was a guy named William McGuire. He received $1.6 billion in stock options. Now, do you think that's a cost effective way of putting money into health care? We don't have enough primary health care doctors -- one guy has $1.6 billion.

SANDERS: All that we're changing -- we're not telling people they should go to a different doctor. We're not telling people they don't have a free choice --

BLITZER: But you're telling them they should go to a different health insurance company.

SANDERS: Do you think people are saying, Oh, my God. I want a freedom of choice of hundreds of health insurance companies? That's not what they're saying. They're saying, I want to go to the doctor that I want to go to. I want to go to the hospital --

First, Sanders draws attention to something that is rarely addressed in mainstream discourse, and that is the fact that for-profit insurance companies are parasitic on the system. You and your employer pay your insurance premium, part of which is paid out not for health services, but to stock dividends and corporate executive salaries. Also, notice how Blitzer simply adopts the anti-reform framing of confusing choice of insurance companys and choice of doctors. Sanders rightly clears up this obfuscation in arguing that a single-payer system would still allow people a choice of doctors.

Next article is from the web site Dissident Voice and Kevin Zeese. Here is the introduction:

"Thursday, as Senator Tom Harkin (D-IO) left the health care hearing room he leaned over to me and said:

I used to sell insurance. The basic rule is the larger the pool the less expensive the health care. Today we have 1,300 separate pools – separate health care plans – and that is why health care is so expensive; 700 pools would be more efficient and less expensive and one pool would be the least expensive. That’s why single payer is the answer.

Nothing like common sense."

Finally, I picked up this link from Louis Proyect on the Marxmail list to a Pappadablogger, who spills the beans on how so many prominent Democrats are in the monied pockets of the health for profit industry, either through campaign contributions, personal ties, or as actual share holders. Here is a small excerpt:

"A key House committee member, Rep. Jane Harman from California, is not only married to one of the richest men in the country, she personally has – are you still sitting down? – Congresswoman Harman personally owns $3.2 million of healthcare industry corporate investments.

In fact, the 11 key members of the House and Senate have a total of $27 million in healthcare corporate investments. And they will write the bill? Are you feeling sick yet?"

Yep!