The term 'Health Care Laws' makes me sick. We need to speak more about 'health care rights' as a people who work hard to make this country and our families go. We do not need to fear financial ruination, wether it comes suddenly when insurance 'runs out', or at $1500 per month until death do us part.

Let each state run their own health care program.

Local support is important, and that is not going to come from

imposing a national system on everyone.

ct

I didn't realize that life-saving and life-giving health care and a family doctor was an imposition. Single payer health care is the only way to go, and it costs half what American health care costs or perhaps less. I haven't read the latest cost outrage. Don't bother replying with the usual BS about how Canada's system is terrible and wait times blah blah blah. I've heard them all and they are all lies spewed out by insurance tycoons, and right wing traitors. What could make you proud about thousands dying from treatable illness?Why would you prefer medical bills being the leading cause of bankruptcy? What kind of person thinks it's oK for parents to have to agonize over whether to bankrupt their familites or help a sick child? I don't know what kind of brainwashing they have in your schools or what they put in your water but evidently it worked. Look at your new "leader." I hope you know the whole world is laughing at you. Please don't blow up the world to prove how righteous, Christian, and tough you are. We promise to pretend to respect you.

Ccctttt is right. It should be done state by state like Canada. Every state has different needs. By the way Andrew in some provinces in Canada there can be very long waits for none life threatening surgeries like knee, shoulder, hip etc. Up to a year. My neighbor just went to a private clinic fo knee surgery than cost him $7,500 rather then wait 7 months. Most Canadians also have private insurance here for all the things that are not covered by our provincial health care. Like meds, eye, teeth, therapy ambulance, etc. That costs me about $200 A month per employee. Also keep in mind Canada has 1/10 of the population of the US, about 36 million and we have ten times the resources the US has and here the government owns all mineral rights that help subsidize the healthcare costs. from my time in the US I can clearly see two things that would reduce costs immediately my eye drop is $16.00 in Canada, before my plan that covers 90%, and at the same Safeway pharmacy same mfg $125.00 in Scottsdale AZ that is just wrong and you have to stop these f ing law suits for medical stuff it is unbelievable how my commercials for lawyers there is on tv. I have never known of any lawsuit of any kind for healthcare up here. They all do their best and they are human they make mistakes, not having to pour out insurance coasts would reduce costs instantly.

We had amendment 69 in Colorado for single payer. The insurance companies dumped millions into advertising against it.

First of all it's health insurance that needs to be reformed, not healthcare. The insurance companies are the ones that want it called healthcare reform...that distracts attention away from their massive fraud.

Why aren't the Dems in the House and Senate screaming out single payer? .....don't they need votes in 2018 or something?.... hello! Geeez I forgot, that would be going on offense. ....rarely a democratic strategy. That would be just rude.

Polls clearly indicate single payer is by far the will of the vast majority. Instead we now have governance by and for only the billionaires, which is plain old textbook fascism. Well guess what...we the people can't afford this welfare program for the rich any longer. Education and healthcare both need to be a cradle to grave right, and not for profit. Energy needs to be nationalized...Don't worry, the Koch's won't end up on food stamps. In fact nationalization of energy will be the only shot we have to slow down climate change.

None of this will happen by simply being well spoken and polite.

(2950-10K - #12)

"First of all it's health insurance that needs to be reformed, not healthcare. The insurance companies are the ones that want it called healthcare reform...that distracts attention away from their massive fraud."

Thank you for clarifying that point. This dog eat dog insurance marketplace has American health care by the throat. Wee peeps are the little drops of blood left behind for scavengers to scarf up from the ground. I do not see how health is served in this environment.

Why aren't the Dems in the House and Senate screaming out single payer? .....don't they need votes in 2018 or something?.... hello! Geeez I forgot, that would be going on offense. ....rarely a democratic strategy. That would be just rude.

It's gone way beyond rude. It's downright dangerous - besides, a lot of those folks are personally compromised - on all sides - at least, it seems that way to me.

Polls clearly indicate single payer is by far the will of the vast majority. Instead we now have governance by and for only the billionaires, which is plain old textbook fascism. Well guess what...we the people can't afford this welfare program for the rich any longer.

I hear that.

Education and healthcare both need to be a cradle to grave right, and not for profit. Energy needs to be nationalized...Don't worry, the Koch's won't end up on food stamps. In fact nationalization of energy will be the only shot we have to slow down climate change.

I have no objection to any of that, if well and fairly administered.

It's just many times removed from imminent questions of daily survival that so many people are facing - not unrelated, but not the first priority when food and shelter are not easily obtained.

None of this will happen by simply being well spoken and polite."

Ok, I think being well spoken and polite has great value, especially when communicating with people who do not hear, or respond positively to anything else. My experience tells me, it's truth that turns the wheel. Unless I am swallowed by hypocrisy, I will speak the truth in whatever way communicates most effectively ... this, from someone who tends to speak and behave like a wrecking ball.

I kind of like the reception I get when people listen, and try to hear what I am saying. I also like how I feel when I do the same to others. I'm ok with polite behavior, so long as I don't have to lie.

I know it's life or death in too many places. Whose face do I scream in to change that?

And yes, this is an extremely dangerous moment in human culture.
I hear the calls to resist and oppose ... in so many ways, this seems counterintuitive ... but it's over my head, so, I figure every one of us has our own basket to weave ... I do what I can, one breath at a time - and hope it makes a difference, somehow.

I trust you, and other people, to do the same in your own spheres of influence ... and hope we can work this complex puzzle between us.

Sorry!

America and its approach to the health of its citizens is no better than that found in countries where people die because they can not find IDR 5.000.000 to treat a person after going around many members of the family to help

Utter inhumanity that aught to create shame within the heart and upon people that occupy an economic leader on this planet

Abominable!

Switzerland has a higher life expectancy than does America. There is universal health care coverage in Switzerland, but the country does not have a single payer system. Non-profit health plans are sold by private companies. The government makes sure that the cost of the plans are affordable based on household income. The coverage is no doubt very extensive. In Europe, prescription drug costs are usually much more reasonable than in the U.S., and then on top of better pricing, countries have excellent health plans that cover most of the cost of drugs, so that citizens pay low fees to buy prescription drugs. Single payer is only one form of universal health care. Germany also does not have a single payer system. Great Britain has a national health care system which is directly supported by taxes, and not pased on paying indivivdual claims. It is like going to a Veteran's Affairs clinic or hospital in this country.

When people on this Web site write about the Democratic Party, they often have no nuance whatsoever. Some Democrats are and always have been very progressive on health care. They would have supported either a single payer system or tightly regulated non-profit health plans from private entities, such as exists in countries like Switzerland or Germany. Other Democrats were and are too skeptical and politically frightened to openly support a remake of health coverage through either a Canadian or Swiss approach. Many potential Demcratic voters never vote in Congressional elections, and many do not even vote for president. Poor education, alienation, whatever the cause, the Democrats have not been able to established a mechanism for trying to contact and reach a huge number of apathetic voters. Even though progressives cite polls where public opinion supports some univeral approach to health coverage, such as single payer, and cite Hillary having won the popular vote, these do not translate into a Democratic majority. Gerrymandering relates to the situation in the U.S. House. People have come to believe that government can't get things done, and there is some evidence for that. That tends to increase rather than decrease skepticism toward finding new and better policies and programs. Also, Americans have become judgmental rather than accepting of their fellow citizens, on the downward economic side. If you are doing well, you are good; if not, you are not so good, andmight be no good. People on the left remind me of Trump in one respect: they both have complained rather bitterly about the news media. Where did this get anyone? The overall socialization process has become distorted, many reject education as being a good thing, even among some supposedly educated people, and their opinion may be somewhat justified because of the ineffective nature of much of education, in civics, history, sociology, basic economic statistics, science, the arts, and in decency in respecting others on some basic level. International business is a fact of life for many companies. The situation ethnically and in terms of world view is complex. There is fear and prejudice, but there is also the necessity of acceptance and cooperation.