The Real Healthcare Debate: The Government’s Role
Posted on March 5th, 2010 by admin
Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/09/08/MOMENTUM_Healthcare_Briefing
Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access California, argues the intensity of the healthcare debate is being driven by a greater conversation about government’s role in the lives of its citizens.
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As President Obama pushes to enact an alternative plan, organizers and policy makers must work the devil out of the details. Join Momentum for a candid, up-to-the-minute conversation on where the debate stands, what is missing and how to best provide affordable healthcare access for all Americans. – Momentum Conference
Anthony Wright is Executive Director for Health Access California, the statewide health care consumer advocacy coalition which has been a leader in both state and national efforts to fight health care budget cuts, to win consumer protections, and to advance comprehensive health reform and coverage expansions. Wright led fights to pass a first-in-the-nation law to set standards for timely access to care, and a first-in-the-nation law against hospital overcharging of the uninsured, and to win a prescription drug discount program despite an $80 million industry campaign against it.
A consumer advocate and community organizer. Wright has been widely quoted in local and national media on a range of issues. He has also worked for New Jersey Citizen Action, the Center for Media Education, The Nation magazine, and in Vice President Gore’s office in the White House.
Duration : 0:1:36
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March 5th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
The ones that …
The ones that matter. *
March 5th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
Anyone know why, in …
Anyone know why, in CA, NON-profit Blue SHIELD now has 3-5% market share while 4-profit Blue CROSS (Now called Anthem Blue Cross) now has 25-30% market share and is #1 in CA? ( Mkt share data is at CA dept Insurance website.)
March 5th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
sigh.. So much …
sigh.. So much ignorance, so little time.
oh well
March 5th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
Touche was not the …
Touche was not the right word for me to use. seeing your posts, you seem like an agry (and crude) left wing nut case. Very angry. Did ACORN / Obama team lay you off?
March 5th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
Touche indeed.
…
Touche indeed.
Goodbye.
March 5th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
Personally, I think …
Personally, I think he should roll his head and eyes more.
March 5th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
Standard response …
Standard response from a lefty … when they have been defeated. SWEARING.
Touche!
March 5th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
Uhh.
Fuck you.
Uhh.
Fuck you.
March 5th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
Paul Krugman …
Paul Krugman eastern-intellectual egghead wannabee? ? Soft-spined. Stooping. mediteranean hand-waving
March 5th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
are you, like, …
are you, like, sixtyish, former sf hippy, who did like lots of encounter groups? You know, man? What about drugs? Eh, DUDE? “Standard simple words”? What kind of pretentious psuedo- intellectual BABBLE is that? Where are you, Vermont, Seattle, SF?
March 5th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
Your points are …
Your points are good, no doubt.
I’m gonna spend some time expanding my knowledge due to this discussion.
Peace and prosperity to you my friend.
March 5th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
Wow, that is fast. …
Wow, that is fast. Good thing you were covered. Remember i said “worst case”?
I don’t think it works, I know it works, first hand. In case you missed the reports and stats of the last ten years or so, you would know that life in Norway is uncomfortably easy. That is why I remind myself of the sheer luck of being born in Norway by discussing national demographics on YouTube.
Anyway, good discussion, you gave me a lot of stuff to look up. Good night.
Stengevarsel out.
March 5th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
I could spend 1-2% …
I could spend 1-2% toward the charity of my choice too. How is that any less virtuous? Why shouldn’t I be able to choose how my money is spent?
It’s always 1-2% this. 1-2% that. Incremental adjustments. As a result we have the highest corporate income tax. We pay half of everything we make to the government. & they waste 90% of it.
I drink water from the tap already. You have no clue how much I’ve already given to charity. What makes you think you can tell me how to live my life?
March 5th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
My process was like …
My process was like this:
I felt a lump growing in size. I called my doctor’s office. He gave me the number for a surgeon. I met with the surgeon that afternoon. The next morning I was in surgery.
Just because you think national healthcare works in Norway does not mean it will work in the U.S. We have 300 million patients to manage & 12 trillion dollars of debt. Cost would be astronomical. Corruption inevitable. & besides we value our individuality & freedom. Do your thing. We’ll do ours.
March 5th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
How is this “force” …
How is this “force”?
Armed police at your door? Armed police in public areas? Police is force, yet my country does not have armed police. We don’t need it, but you do? Of course you don’t. Freedom is among other things the absence of potential harm.
March 5th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
Why is it that …
Why is it that philosophy and religion values selflessness instead of greed?
You would pay 1-2% more of your income to preserve the lifetime of your fellow citizens. In a lifetime, this would amount to less than all the cokes you bought when you could get a free public drink of water.
March 5th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
Within this …
Within this timescale, you know for certain that you will be treated, regardless of reasons, you also know that you won’t pay a dime.
I pay high taxes, thus paying for being shot in gang shootouts, and little old ladies with osteoporosis. No matter what, by paying my taxes I preserve the lifespan and lifetime of all citizens. And I do it with PRIDE.
March 5th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
First, diagnostic …
First, diagnostic procedures are almost instant.
The process is this:
You detect a problem, then go to your doctor, this is done within days. Then you are referred to a specialist. The process is finalized within weeks (not months).
Then you wait in line for surgery. Let’s say it’s orthopedic surgery which implies a non-acute ailment. This is over and done with in the timescale of a few months.
March 5th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
Absolutely greed. …
Absolutely greed. You vote for politicians to steal the property of others to provide you with “free” healthcare. You force other people to pay for the cause of your choice. Greed comes in many forms. Your politicians are greedy for power. & you just handed it to them.
“We chose…” “We” cannot choose, because “We” does not have a single brain. Selfish politicians & voters chose to force their will on others.
Why is it unreasonable for someone to opt out without leaving the country?
March 5th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
Waiting for surgery …
Waiting for surgery in many situations results in death. A year ago I had a surgery to remove a dangerous infection that was spreading rapidly. Waiting would have caused permanent damage to my body & may have threatened my life. Waiting for diagnostic procedures & treatments allows illnesses to progress & patients to suffer & die.
When you force someone to wait, you are refusing to care for them in the present.
March 5th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
Anarchy may look …
Anarchy may look like a good alternative on paper. It would certainly provide more individual freedom. But Anarchy was disbanded at the very moment where human kind learned that one can’t pillage the closest village and still expect regional superiority. Anarchy is a primitive philosophy, disbanded thousands of years ago.
March 5th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
Furthermore, if a …
Furthermore, if a minority, or just one individual, disagrees with policies set by democratic processes, they are free to leave.
Example: My country had an election just a couple of days ago. We chose to keep a “socialist” government in power. With a media less polarized, thus less biased, than in the US.
True democracy/”Socialism”
How do you explain such a result? Indoctrination? Sloth? Certainly not greed.
March 5th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
People are NOT …
People are NOT refused care. At worst they have to wait in line for surgery.
Health care is not rationed. And everyone has a legal right to choose their own doctor, and hospital. It’s really that boring, everyone gets what they need, and whenever the system slips up, it’s all over the media.
March 5th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
Yes, you can choose …
Yes, you can choose not to work, beg for money, or sell your body. But I was talking about my own country. I can choose not to work and recieve welfare, in which the state pays for housing, clothes and food in cash.
What I meant was that all people are covered by default, but in your country you need to pay for it personally. Not all people have the means to do so, or choose not to. That’s why it’s not a fallacy, because those who cannot pay will suffer from it, by default.
March 5th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
“no forced …
“no forced minorities” Do I have the freedom to NOT pay for war waged by my government? Do I have the freedom to keep what I earn? Do I have the freedom to opt out of any government policy I don’t support? Will I not be threatened with imprisonment for doing so? Not unless I flee the country. & where on earth can a man live a life free of this force? Nowhere
Its a fallacy to argue a thing is better because a large number of countries support it.
People are also refused care when its rationed.