Democracy." ........Barry
http://kucinich.house.gov:80/NEWS/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=153995
Kucinich: Why I Voted NO
Washington, Nov 7 -
After voting against H.R. 3962 - Affordable Health Care for America Act,
Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) today made the following statement:
"We have been led to believe that we must make our health care choices
only within the current structure of a predatory, for-profit insurance system
which makes money not providing health care. We cannot fault the insurance
companies for being what they are. But we can fault legislation in which the
government incentivizes the perpetuation, indeed the strengthening, of the
for-profit health insurance industry, the very source of the problem. When
health insurance companies deny care or raise premiums, co-pays and deductibles
they are simply trying to make a profit. That is our system.
"Clearly, the insurance companies are the problem, not the solution.
They are driving up the cost of health care. Because their massive bureaucracy
avoids paying bills so effectively, they force hospitals and doctors to hire
their own bureaucracy to fight the insurance companies to avoid getting stuck
with an unfair share of the bills. The result is that since 1970, the number
of physicians has increased by less than 200% while the number of
administrators has increased by 3000%. It is no wonder that 31 cents of every
health care dollar goes to administrative costs, not toward providing care.
Even those with insurance are at risk. The single biggest cause of bankruptcies
in the U.S. is health insurance policies that do not cover you when you get
sick.
"But instead of working toward the elimination of for-profit insurance,
H.R. 3962 would put the government in the role of accelerating the
privatization of health care. In H.R. 3962, the government is requiring at
least 21 million Americans to buy private health insurance from the very
industry that causes costs to be so high, which will result in at least $70
billion in new annual revenue, much of which is coming from taxpayers. This
inevitably will lead to even more costs, more subsidies, and higher profits for
insurance companies - a bailout under a blue cross.
"By incurring only a new requirement to cover pre-existing conditions, a
weakened public option, and a few other important but limited concessions, the
health insurance companies are getting quite a deal. The Center for American
Progress' blog, Think Progress, states "since the President signaled that he is
backing away from the public option, health insurance stocks have been on the
rise." Similarly, healthcare stocks rallied when Senator Max Baucus introduced
a bill without a public option. Bloomberg reports that Curtis Lane, a prominent
health industry investor, predicted a few weeks ago that "money will start
flowing in again" to health insurance stocks after passage of the legislation.
Investors.com last month reported that pharmacy benefit managers share prices
are hitting all-time highs, with the only industry worry that the
Administration would reverse its decision not to negotiate Medicare Part D drug
prices, leaving in place a Bush Administration policy.
"During the debate, when the interests of insurance companies would have
been effectively challenged, that challenge was turned back. The "robust
public option" which would have offered a modicum of competition to a
monopolistic industry was whittled down from an initial potential enrollment of
129 million Americans to 6 million. An amendment which would have protected
the rights of states to pursue single-payer health care was stripped from the
bill at the request of the Administration. Looking ahead, we cringe at the
prospect of even greater favors for insurance companies.
"Recent rises in unemployment indicate a widening separation between the
finance economy and the real economy. The finance economy considers the health
of Wall Street, rising corporate profits, and banks' hoarding of cash, much of
it from taxpayers, as sign of an economic recovery. However in the real economy