Congress has socialized medicine. Why can't I?

socialized medicine - a medical system where the government pays for & regulates medical care.

As federal employees, all senators & representatives have subsidized health care insurance managed by the federal government. What a bunch of hypocrites. If socialized medicine is the disaster they claim it to be, they should all be getting health care on the open market. I wonder how many of them would even get accepted for private coverage.

As an absolute minimum for health care reform, I want access to the same plans as my employees in Washington. I want it at the same subsidized price. And I want it no matter what my current health condition is.

Senator Max Baucus is in charge of coming up with the health care reform legislation. He recently stated that all options are on the table, except single payer. Why is an option supported by most people, as well as most doctors, not allowed to be discussed? Is the open market system afraid to compete with a public system?

Single payer advocates tried to get a seat at the table last week. When they tried to ask Baucus why they weren't allowed to speak, he had them removed & arrested. In fact, Baucus made a joke about running out of police. The room full of senators & health insurance executives had a great chuckle over denying citizens the right to speak.

The US is the only industrialized country in the world that allows its citizens to go bankrupt due to medical costs.

In Obama's web town hall meeting, he said that we have to keep our employer based health coverage because that's what we are used to. Is that the best argument he has? I'm used to being underpaid, but that doesn't mean that I don't want to change it.

Various politicians are quick to reassure us that anyone happy with their health care insurance can keep it. Well, the only people who are happy with their current health care insurance, are the people who haven't tried to use it.

I'd like to know what this "choice" in heath care is supposed to mean;

• Do I get to choose between good coverage & bad coverage?


• Do I get to choose between cancer coverage & heart attack coverage?


• Do I get to choose between low premiums but you go bankrupt if you get sick, & high premiums, but you get care if you get sick?


• Do I get to choose between having vision/dental coverage & not having vision/dental coverage?

I already have those choices. I want to know that I will get health care even if I lose my job.

Speaking of jobs, our current health care system is a form of serfdom. You can't get health insurance unless you work for a large corporation. I don't have the choice of working for a small company because I won't have access to affordable health care. I don't have the choice of starting my own business because I would never be accepted for private health care insurance.

There is an option that will both lower costs & improve health care coverage, HR-676. Here's a few points from Physicians for a National Health Program http://www.pnhp.org/.

• 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.


• Under a single-payer system, all Americans would be covered for all medically necessary services, including: doctor, hospital, preventive, long-term care, mental health, reproductive health care, dental, vision, prescription drug and medical supply costs. Patients would regain free choice of doctor and hospital, and doctors would regain autonomy over patient care.