Physicians for a National Health Health Program

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http://www.pnhp.org/publications/executive_summary_of_the_united_states_national_health_insurance_act_hr676.php

the united states national health insurance act (hr676) establishes a new american national health insurance program by creating a single payer health care system. the bill would create a publicly financed, privately delivered health care program that uses the already existing medicare program by expanding and improving it to all u.s. residents, and all residents living in u.s. territories. the goal of the legislation is to ensure that all americans, guaranteed by law, will have access to the highest quality and cost effective health care services regardless of one's employment, income, or health care status.

with over 42 million uninsured americans, and another 40 million who are under insured, the time has come to change our inefficient and costly fragmented health care system. the usnhi program would reduce overall annual health care spending by over $50 billion in the first year. in addition, because it implements effective methods of cost-control, health spending is contained over time, ensuring affordable health care to future generations.

in its first year, single-payer will save over $150 billion on paperwork and $50 billion by using rational bulk purchasing of medications. these savings are more than enough to cover all the uninsured, improve coverage for everyone else, including medication coverage and long-term care.

employers who currently provide coverage for their employees pay an average of 8.5% of payroll towards health coverage, while many employers can't afford to provide coverage at all. under this act, all employers will pay a modest 3.3% payroll tax per employee, while eliminating their payments towards private health plans. the average cost to an employer for an employee earning $35,000 per year will be reduced to $1,155, less than $100 per month.

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SEE,there are SMART folks out there.We CAN get out of this healthcare quagmire.

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Sounds pretty good so far..still a bit skeptical. But whomever supports legislation such as this will probably be our next president.

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Specializes in Rotor EMS, Ped's ICU, CT-ICU,.

These physicians are not interested in fair compensation, research/development, incentive, or quality. They also don't realize that even the liberals won't go for this plan because it will reduce the compensation for victims of malpractice, and ambulance chasers like John Edwards might not be able to afford their 30,000 sq. foot compounds.

BTW, the number used to report the number of uninsured is grossly inflated and inaccurate.

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The 20 largest HMOs in the U.S. made $10.8 billion in profits in 2005. The top seven U.S. health insurers made a combined $10 billion, nearly triple their profits of five years earlier.

12 top HMO executives pocketed $222.6 million in direct compensation in 2005 ( source- Institute for Health and Socio-economic Policy).

Not one cent of this profit, their payroll, or mortgage and upkeep of their buildings provides any healthcare at all. It is all a useless waste.

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Is national health insurance “socialized medicine”?

No. Socialized medicine is a system in which doctors and hospitals work for the government and draw salaries from the government. Doctors in the Veterans Administration and the Armed Services are paid this way. Examples also exist in Great Britain and Spain. But in most European countries, Canada, Australia and Japan they have socialized financing, or socialized health insurance, not socialized medicine. The government pays for care that is delivered in the private (mostly not-for-profit) sector. This is similar to how Medicare works in this country. Doctors are in private practice and are paid on a fee-for-service basis from government funds. The government does not own or manage their medical practices or hospitals.

The term socialized medicine is often used to conjure images of government bureaucratic interference in medical care. That does not describe what happens in countries with national health insurance. It does describe the interference by insurance company bureaucrats in our health system.

http://www.pnhp.org/facts/singlepayer_faq.php#socialized

Somehow I'm more concerned with the homeless veterans I see every day than the socialized healthcare in Britian.

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Is national health insurance "socialized medicine"?

No. Socialized medicine is a system in which doctors and hospitals work for the government and draw salaries from the government. Doctors in the Veterans Administration and the Armed Services are paid this way. Examples also exist in Great Britain and Spain. But in most European countries, Canada, Australia and Japan they have socialized financing, or socialized health insurance, not socialized medicine. The government pays for care that is delivered in the private (mostly not-for-profit) sector. This is similar to how Medicare works in this country. Doctors are in private practice and are paid on a fee-for-service basis from government funds. The government does not own or manage their medical practices or hospitals.

The term socialized medicine is often used to conjure images of government bureaucratic interference in medical care. That does not describe what happens in countries with national health insurance. It does describe the interference by insurance company bureaucrats in our health system.

http://www.pnhp.org/facts/singlepayer_faq.php#socialized

Somehow I'm more concerned with the homeless veterans I see every day than the socialized healthcare in Britian.

Thanks for the clarification, this IS a very confusing subject and prone to much misinformation, and conjecture.
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