Health Care for All

A brief excerpt from the Fall 2006 issue of YES! magazine, a large portion of which is devoted to the theme of "American Health Care. A System to Die For?":

(selections from) Principles of Real Solutions
--by Sarah van Gelder, Executive Editor

Cover everyone.

• Health care is a public good. Like fire or police protection, universal coverage benefits each one of us and society as a whole. Unlike consumer choices, we don't know when we--or a loved one--may need expensive treatment.

De-link coverage from jobs.

• Employer-based insurance hurts entrepreneurs and independent workers, the self-employed, the unemployed, part-time workers, free-lancers, artists, and the working poor.

Control costs by cutting bureaucracy.

• Enormous savings are available simply by freeing doctors from the burdensome paperwork required by insurance companies. Negotiated fee structures and a single payer--or a few regulated payers--would save enough to cover the uninsured, studies show (see page 22 of the magazine)

Invest in prevention.

• We should suppport healthy habits through treatment of substance-abuse, smoking and domestic violence. Open space, bike trails, and community gardens improve health, too, and we should reduce the toxins that contaminate our food, water, air and soils.

Reduce poverty and inequality.

• Poverty, powerlessness, and inequality damage the health of the entire society, and each one of us, rich and poor (see page 29 of the magazine, and here). A huge health dividend would result simply by reducing excessive CEO salaries and profits, and raising up those at the bottom of the income scale. We could start with the health care sector.

If you are interested in YES! magazine--which is ad-free, and printed on 100% post-consumer waste recycled paper, and always full to the brim with thoughtful articles and useful information--you can get a free copy, and if you are a schoolteacher you can get a free one-year subscription.