The Politics Of Universal Healthcare

Curbing Insurance Companies Is Key

Across the U.S., from corporate boardrooms to union halls, people are demanding a solution to our healthcare crisis, particularly the crisis of the uninsured. Health care has emerged as the single most important domestic issue, and it promises to be the defining issue in the 2008 national elections.

On March 24 at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, SEIU and the Center for American Progress Action Fund (CAPAF) sponsored the first presidential forum of the 2008 election focused solely on health care.In advance of the forum, SEIU released a poll of likely primary and caucus voters in New Hampshire, Iowa, South Carolina and Nevada. The poll, conducted by Lake Research Partners, found that 82 percent of primary voters believe that “everyone has a right to quality, affordable healthcare coverage.” Those figures included 92 percent of Democratic primary voters and 72 percent of Republican primary voters.

“We cannot truly have national health care in this country unless we're willing to go to the medicare for all plan.”

“Health care should be a right not a privilege,” says Thelma Correll, an 1199SEIU retiree active  in the senior and healthcare movements. “We cannot truly have national health care in this country unless we’re willing to go to the Medicare For All plan.”

Correll and others suggest that any national or state healthcare plan should be measured by the plan’s willingness to confront the insurance industry. Insurance companies through the HMOs they’ve created are most responsible for increasing cost while decreasing care. For them, health care is a profit cow, not an essential service.

At the Las Vegas forum, seven Democratic candidates all promised to guarantee universal coverage, but they differed on how to pay for it, how fast it could be achieved and what to do about the insurance industry.

All are firmly opposed to Pres. Bush’s version of healthcare reform. In fact, few healthcare advocates see any benefit in the Bush plan, which enriches rather than limits the influence of the insurance giants. Healthcare advocates say that it actually shifts more of the cost of health care onto working Americans, imposes a new tax on those that already have health care and does nothing to hold down skyrocketing costs.

At the forum, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama was not at all specific, saying that we first need to build political consensus to solve the healthcare problem.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson proposed tax credits to help people buy insurance and an option to let people ages 55 to 64 buy coverage through Medicare.

New York Sen. Hillary Clinton promised to rein in the insurance industry and to prevent companies from denying coverage or charging higher premiums to those with serious medical problems.

Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards said he would raise taxes and roll back Pres. Bush’s tax cuts for the rich. His plan calls for employer to play or pay. That is, provide insurance for their employees or pay into a general fund. Edwards also proposes to create regional healthcare markets that would force HMOs to compete for patients with lower-cost government-financed insurers. Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd and former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel also addressed the forum.

Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich supports single-payer national health insurance, also known as Medicare For All. Rep. Kucinich is a co-signer of H.R. 676, introduced by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI).

H.R. 676 would cover every person in the U.S., including non-citizens, for all necessary medical care, including prescription drugs, dental, mental health, home health, vision and long-term care, and with no deductible or co-payment. It would do so by eliminating the profits and high overhead of the private insurance companies and HMOs.

H.R. 676 has 75 sponsors in Congress and is endorsed by scores of labor—including a number of SEIU locals—healthcare, civic and religious organizations. It has become the standard by which any universal healthcare plan is measured.