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Jack Carter on Health Care |
A: That's one alternative. There are a couple of programs that I've seen including the Single Payer. One has just come out of Massachusetts where you force everyone to buy health insurance. It's certainly a good idea. There's another one out of Oregon. The state takes whatever money it's been spending on health care-and this is all of it, including their share of Medicaid, Medicare and the rest of it-and they take all of that money and they basically buy an insurance premium for everybody in the state, in the lines of the way the school system works, where the state guarantees K-thru-12. Whatever money we can have to spend on health care, we buy an insurance premium, and it will do all the basic things. Around the edges, exactly what it covers, is going to be determined by how much those things cost, but that's another idea about making our health care system more efficient, because the real problem here is its efficiency.
Carter explained that with the public education system, people have the choice to go to a public school or to a private school at their own expense. With a health care system similar to education, people would have the choice to go to a no-cost medical center or to a private doctor at their expense.
This is an example of laws written by and for the drug companies. It's contorted, complex and unreasonable-geared to enhance profits. There is a specific provision that forbids Medicare to use its sheer size to negotiate lower drug prices. Why? The Veterans Administration uses its own buying power to achieve drug prices about 45% cheaper than medicare. The two chief architects of the proposal left for major positions in the pharmaceutical industry as soon as the law passed. I believe we can provide our seniors with a comprehensive, simple drug package. ALL WE NEED IS A RETURN TO OUR AMERICAN VALUES AND NEW LEADERSHIP.