Obama's health plan takes shape

Of all of the bad alternatives, single payer is the absolute worst.

Why?
From my point of view, and, according to the American Association of the Colleges of Nursing,
here are the values that form the cornerstone of professional nursing:
AUTONOMY
HUMAN DIGNITY
INTEGRITY
ALTRUISM
SOCIAL JUSTICE

Americans want: guaranteed access, free choice of doctor or nurse practitioner, high quality, affordability, trust and respect

Canadians get: life expectancy two years longer, infant deaths 25% lower, more MD visits, hospital care, less bureaucracy; universal comprehensive coverage, quality of care equivalent to "insured" Americans', free choice of doctor/hospital, per capita health spending half of US level, access to all medically necessary preventative and restorative health care

Americans get: one third of population uninsured or underinsured, HMOs denying care to millions more with expensive illnesses, death rates higher than any other wealthy nation, costs double Canada, Germany, Sweden's and rising even faster, executives and investors making billions, destruction of the patient/provider relationship, denied admission, delayed treatment, early discharge, poverty/inability to pay prevents them from receiving the benefit of ongoing nursing care, insurers in charge of who gets care, if they get care or meds, instead of professionals

In what way is support of the for-profit insurance industry congruent with those values that are at the core of our profession?

Single payer is fiscally conservative and publicly accountable. It's the most reasonable and responsible health policy. Patients still have the choice to receive their care from any of the existing private or public clinics. The disparities and iniquity would be eliminated and we would have the opportunity to credibly assert that we are indeed one nation, with liberty and justice for all. We're all in this together; we're not just a nation of individuals competing with one another.

The US Govt has mis-managed Medicare/-aid. It is insolvent.

Eliminate Medicare? are you serious? Try running for public office on that platform!

If you are going to eliminate good healthcare for people you don't do it outright you run on a good sound bite that fools people easily like maybe Change and Hope. Yeah that one would work great. Kind of like Changing your employment status to unemployed and then HOPING to get a new job before unemployment runs out.

Yes indeed -it was a great campaign. Obama won the election with a positive message in juxtaposition to the right who continued with their message of pessimism and paranoia, and lost the election.

YES WE CAN vs. JUST SAY NO -you choose -which mantra is more productive ?

Obama's poll numbers are sinking faster than the titanic, democrats are getting pounded by citizens in their own districts when trying to talk about the health care reform scheme. The smoke and mirrors are starting to wear thin. Reminds me of 1994 when Hillary care cost the democrats the House and Senate.