There is a way to get Universal Health Care support from the Business

community...

Roll Worker's Compensation into the Health Care system thus cutting one of the most expensive employee related costs any business has...

It would, however, cut off WC lawyers who happen to be large contributors to the democratic party...

I want workers comp to be a seperate and very expensive endeavor. It forces businesses to be mindful of safety issues instead of treating them like cheap expendable machines. I do not trust corporate America at all. Even the fines levied by the government for safety problems aren't honored. The paper publishes some hugeass fine for a wayward company but they never come back and tell us that the company negotiated their actual fine to be pennies on the dollar of the original fine. These companies consider this part of the cost of doing business rather than change their ways to ensure safety.

It will take a leap of faith on the part of people from all walks of life to make Universal Health Care work...

Medicals should be paid out of the single payer system up to a certain amount. Above that the Workers Comp system clicks in. It is ridiculous to involve Workers' Comp in an infected paper cut unless it becomes an expensive injury. Also, the public policy of making employers pay for the injury as an incentive to provide a safe workplace is not served in cases in which injuries are not due to an unsafe workplace or are minor and unavoidable. Paper cuts. There isn't much you can do about it. On the other hand, the argument can be made that injuries caused by a tortilla press or a forklift without safety features should be paid for by the employer. Personally, I think most Workers' Comp costs should be paid by single payer insurance. Work related injuries should be subject to mandatory reporting, and employers should pay fines for unsafe working conditions -- even when "caused by" the employee. The employer should be responsible for making sure the employees work safely. Exceptions could be made for employees' malicious disregard for safety. It does happen, but rarely.

with the rules is the chief objective and collection of fines is secondary. I cleaned up both the process and the attitude toward IRS rules at a major international insurance company - the IRS was appreciative - but of course the company saw it as making waves and once the fine was reduced, allowed me to pursue my career with other companies :-)

Many businesses right now cannot afford to offer health insurance to their employees. It makes recruitment and retention difficult.

Back in 1993, I remember Bill was giving a Q&A about his health care plan and a guy who owned a pizza shop asked how was he going to afford the cost of covering his employees under the Clinton Plan and Bill said something to the effect that he would have to sell more pizza'a...

After I saw that, I realized that the chance for Universal Health Care went out the window...

If he would have said we will be able to reduce your Worker's Compensation cost by folding the costs of your insurance into the cost of the health care plan...

I firmly believe this...

Companies should have to carry liability insurance up to a certain amount to cover workplace injuries that are caused by neglect or malfeasance, but just every day accidents, the bulk of WC claims, would be covered under the UHC plan...

n/t

The point is to kick in something, and not have to cover all the risks of a small group of people. Why are per capita premiums for Joe's Pizza higher than for Ford or GM? Because a small group's payments can't possibly cover a really expensive disease for a single employee. A bigger risk pool means lower premiums.

And what is the biggest, and therefore cheapest, risk pool of all? The whole damn population of the country, obviously.

I make my living as an advisor and accountant to small business folks and they would love to offer their workers Health Care as an incentive to keep them...

We have to make it affordable to the employer as well as the employee...

A matching deduction in the way of FICA and MEdicare are deducted...

it in Canada. Employers don't even have to think
about providing heath coverage for their employees.

The money they would have to spend under the US system
goes staight to their bottom line.


Thomas C. Douglas: "The Father of Canadian Health Care"

http://www.mta.ca/faculty/arts/canadian_studies/english/about/study_guide/doctors/delivery.html


Thomas C. Douglas:
"The Father of Canadian Health Care"
http://www.mta.ca/faculty/arts/canadian_studies/english/about/study_guide/doctors/delivery.html
Thomas C. Douglas (1904-1986) was not a doctor; he was a politician from Saskatchewan. His contribution to Canadian medicine was not due to a medical skill or great discovery, but as "the father of Canadian health care." He introduced socialized medicine (state-sponsored and salaried-physician medical care) to the province of Saskatchewan during his 44-year political career. Douglas envisioned and worked towards a universal system of health care that moved beyond provincial to national enactment, and today has become the envy of most countries in the world.

Douglas entered politics in the 1930s in Saskatchewan as a member of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), the precursor to the New Democratic Party (NDP). He had been horrified and angered by the destitution that the economic depression and drought had wrought in his province. Douglas was a socialist, and he would lead the first socialist provincial government in Canada.

From 1944 to 1964, the CCF formed the government in Saskatchewan, led by premiers Douglas and Woodrow Lloyd. Among many public projects, the Saskatchewan government pioneered the first public hospital insurance and medicare programs in Canada. Universal health care had been Douglas' concept, which he promoted and fought for throughout his political career. But what was Douglas suggesting? What did he mean by "universal health care"?

Various types of health insurance were available in Canada before the CCF government assumed power. There were many doctor-sponsored plans by non-profit organizations as well as private insuring agencies, to which many Canadians subscribed. In some cases, Canadians were provided with health insurance through the terms of their employment. Thus many Canadians had some form of insurance protection. The sick and needy were admitted to hospitals as charity cases. But there were many inequities in the medical care system, as some plans covered only hospital visits or physician care but not drugs or treatment.

In Saskatchewan, the CCF administration of Douglas became the first provincial government to enact hospital coverage (in 1947) and medical coverage (in 1962). It began with province-wide hospital coverage and a pilot project of full medical services in the town of Swift Current. Doctors were paid salaries by the government (via taxes), which in the end proved to be more money than medical practitioners had earned in the past. It proved successful, and full medical services were extended to the entire province in 1962.

Remembering the financial difficulties of the 1930s, Douglas promoted the plan as both ensuring doctor payment and meeting the health needs and demands of the people. The doctors in the province did not agree. The College of Physicians and Surgeons feared that a full medical services program was a major step towards a socialized, salaried medical profession, answerable only to the government. Doctors in Saskatchewan went on strike for 23 days. Doctors' reactions to government health insurance schemes played an important role in shaping the national health care program.

In 1964, a royal commission recommended a national health care system modeled on the Saskatchewan plan. (In 1958, the Hospital Insurance and Diagnostic Services Act had been passed, providing government-sponsored hospital coverage to all Canadians. The federal government had no plan to extend their commitment to health care with full medical services coverage at that time.)

In 1968, the Medical Care Act was passed providing universal health insurance to all Canadians. It was not socialized medicine; doctors were not paid salaries. Instead doctors work on a fee for service basis, billing not the patient but a third party - the Canadian government. As scholar David Naylor states, it was "private practice and public payment." Canadian physicians have lobbied effectively to secure their position as private practitioners and not salaried employees of the government. In 1984, the Canada Health Act replaced earlier hospital and medical coverage acts.

The Canadian universal health care system, although expensive, remains an important national 'right' or principle of this country. As stated in the Canada Health Act, the federal government is committed to maintaining Canada's world-renowned health insurance system. This system is universally available to permanent residents, comprehensive in the services it covers, accessible without income barriers, portable within the country, and publicly funded. Each province and territory administers its own health care plan with respect for these five basic principles of the Canada Health Act. Studying the Canadian model, our neighbour to the south has been unsuccessful in its attempt to launch a similar public health-insurance system.


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