Daschle: America’s Health Care System in Critical Condition

http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/03/06/daschle-americas-health-care-system-in-critical-condition/

by Seth Michaels, Mar 6, 2008

How can our nation solve America’s health care crisis? According to former Democratic Sen. Tom Daschle (S.D.), it’ll take more than a clear assessment of where we are now––it will require real political leadership. (The AFL-CIO’s health care reform efforts are part of our campaign to Turn Around America. Find out more here.)

Daschle discussed our nation’s broken health care system and the obstacles to solving the challenges yesterday at the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C. He based his discussion on his new book, Critical: What We Can Do About the Health Care Crisis.

The United States, Daschle says, has by far the most expensive health care system in the world: $2 trillion per year. That’s 16 percent of our economy, a figure that’s headed to 20 percent. Yet our health outcomes often lag behind other countries.

We’re not exactly getting what we’re paying for…we have a system that costs too much, covers too few and delivers too little.

Although Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) claimed on Tuesday night that the United States has “the world’s best medical care,” Daschle said that what we actually have are “islands of excellence in a sea of mediocrity,” with the highest-quality options for those who can afford it and inadequate or inconsistent service for millions more.

Daschle critiqued the myths and outright lies spread by opponents of health care reform. Among them, that any change to the system would be “socialized medicine,” which Daschle says creates a false choice. Opponents also claim we “can’t afford” reform, even though the flaws in the system are raising costs.

FULL story at link.

I wish he had been a more effective advocate of health care reform when he was in office.

Can't tell from that article.

For many, "reform" means cutting back on care... creating more "oversight of waste"... which means, more hoops for patients to jump through.

I see no mention of all that money going to the corporations.

Until he gets that....

I guess I was uncharacteristically grasping at straws trying to retain some hope in The World's Only Superpower and Third World Dump.

:(

When you stand back and look at the mess we're in, it's just inconceivable that these .........fill in the blank..... don't seem to get it. WE can see it, why can't they?

OK, I answered my own question.. "They" DO see it.. they KNOW it's the corporations at fault in all this, but.... they are plugged into the corporations at a deep level, and are walking that tightrope of trying to create the image of "doing something", while leaving the "evildoers" in place to do their evil.

Maybe there's still hope that he gets it.. who knows.

Or, maybe we can all create some Scrooge-like nightmares so he WILL get it.

:rofl:

Being out of the Senate agrees with him.

I am old and pay a gap ins. with my medicare. I just had cataracts done and it cost me my ins. as always and 10.30 for my part of my eye drops. My sisters daughter needs cataracts done but she works for FEMA (5yrs) and does not have any ins. and does not have enough money to have it done. Now I am retired and pay no taxes and she also pays taxes. Seems fair to any one? It is one crazy system. Keep us old people going as the young try to make it with no retirement or health care. A bad system how ever you look at it.