Elizabeth Edwards: ‘Most Preventable Cause Of Unnecessary Suffering’ Is Lack Of Health Insurance
Elizabeth Edwards: ‘Most Preventable Cause Of Unnecessary Suffering’ Is Lack Of Health Insurance
Conservatives love to crow that the United States has “the best health care in the world.” Yet these same conservatives overlook the fact that 47 million Americans lack any health insurance at all, leaving them shut out of access to this world-class health care.
Indeed, as Center for American Progress Senior Fellow Elizabeth Edwards told the Senate Health Committee today, “It doesn’t matter what kind of services we have if we don’t have access to them”:
Health insurance matters. The quality of coverage, of course, matters, but health insurance itself is really crucial part of this. Probably the most preventable cause of unnecessary suffering in our health care system is the lack of adequate health insurance. … We know how to lengthen and improve the lives of people with cancer. But we’ve chosen as a nation to turn our backs on some of us who have the disease. I urge you to reform health care responsibly, morally, and aggressively.
Watch it:
Edwards urged the senators to “build on the successful system of employer-based coverage,” a system that covers 158 million Americans — and that Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has promised to completely dismantle. Instead, he has proposed a paltry $5,000 tax credit for individuals to fend for themselves in the health insurance market, even though the average annual premium of an employer-based insurance policy is $12,000.
Edwards also mentioned the disturbing disparities in access faced by minorities. FamiliesUSA writes, “Although racial and ethnic minorities constitute one third of the total U.S. population, they comprise more than one half (52 percent) of the uninsured population. In fact, in 2003, 23 million of the 45 million uninsured were racial and ethnic minority Americans.” Rather than cover these people, McCain’s plan could result in 158 million more Americans losing their health insurance.
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Conservatives love to crow that the United States has “the best health care in the world and the worst access to health care in the world. They’re loving it.”
May 8th, 2008 at 12:07 pmmcINSANE is an imbecile…
anyone who dares thinking of voting for that IDIOT has some serious mental issues.
May 8th, 2008 at 12:11 pmSorry Elizabeth who I love, ..it is the lack of healthCARE, not insurance. Get the insurance company blood suckers out of the picture and lets go straight to Universal Single Payer like all the civilized countries do.
May 8th, 2008 at 12:14 pmJohnny needs to look at the math the average cost of health care is $12,000. and he give us a $5000. rebate , so where is the $7000. going to come from? America can`t afford to VOTE for Johnny. He is all wrong on every issue and not to mention his flip flopping like a fish out of water.His onlr concern is BIG $$$$.
May 8th, 2008 at 12:15 pmThose conservatives are damned stupid. And wrong.
The United States ranks 37th in the world for health care.
May 8th, 2008 at 12:15 pmI personally don’t care for employer-based coverage. Logic dictates that our government should offer the same policies our reps receive, if not an outright conversion to universal health care. Why won’t TP vouch for this?
May 8th, 2008 at 12:16 pmAnd the McJowls health plan proposals would triple the number of people without health insurance. To his base, only the filthy rich deserve health care.
May 8th, 2008 at 12:17 pmMcCain wants this job to pad his resume for the cushiest of corporate America, where the blonds are ripe and fertile.
May 8th, 2008 at 12:18 pmElizabeth Edwards just spoke more truth & made more sense than
McHagee has in 52 years.
May 8th, 2008 at 12:24 pm…and she did it in one sentence…
May 8th, 2008 at 12:25 pmMaybe Obama will choose Elizabeth as VP.
May 8th, 2008 at 12:30 pmThe problem isn’t that healthcare costs too much, it’s that they are charging us too much for it. Frame the question correctly, and the solutions that will work will become more apparent. Healthcare is simply one of those industries that should not be run on a for-profit basis.
I believe it is inhuman, inhumane, and completely unjustifiable to support the idea of profiting off the sick and dying.
May 8th, 2008 at 12:33 pmI love the frankness of EE.
I also hope she and her husband will endorse Obama soon.
May 8th, 2008 at 12:33 pmUniversal, single-payer health insurance for all NOW!!
May 8th, 2008 at 12:41 pmThe “Most Preventable cause of unecessary suffering” is voting Republiscum.
You don’t have to vote Democratic, either – just don’t vote Republiscum.
Simple!
May 8th, 2008 at 12:47 pmAs one who has no experience in economics, other than my weekly checkbook juggling, there is something about the republican answer to healthcare that just doesn’t add up. If changes are made that make it more difficult for middle and poor classes to have health insurance or to receive health care, wouldn’t it adversely effect the bottom lines of health insurance companies (less premiums), doctors,laboratories, diagnostic firms and hospitals (less patients), and medical equipment companies (less sales)? I don’t see the where this scenario fits into their pattern of greed.
May 8th, 2008 at 12:48 pmTo be honest i don’t see too much changing, even if Obama wins the Presidency. There is no way for a single person to overcome the corporate machine. For example : Obama will still be beholden to the rules of the FDA which has their own lobbying front in washington (unless he chooses to scrap it – unlikely).
The faces will changes, as will the voices. But they are still singing from the same hymn book.
In the US, where there is a statute which mandates the drug regulator not to approve a generic copy for the first 5 years after a drug has received patent.
This rules out cheaper drugs and causes thousands to die needlessly each year. Change this rule and change the way this ridiculous ‘game’ is played.
Every 15 seconds, someone dies of AIDS in Africa. That means that during the time it took for me to write this message, 10 people died of AIDS on the continent. Yet, corporations at this very moment are trying to find ways to punish African countries for treating their people with patented drugs. This insanity needs to end. It won’t end by electing someone new. It will end when the truth is finally told about what these corporations are doing to the world.
http://www.soultv.net
May 8th, 2008 at 1:04 pmFlaming troll –
Americans have been doing their part in the area of “personal financial responsibility.” The lack of corporate financial responsibility has been diminishing the efforts of the individual by making it tougher to get a return on the benefits they pay for. And even without insurance, putting aside a few bucks a month is not going to pay for the unpredictable costs for visits and procedures. Putting aside only a few bucks each month is all they can do because there’s a million things one must pay for these days on a stretched income. And even that stretched income is volatile in an era of job insecurity.
Now shut your f ucking mouth.
May 8th, 2008 at 1:06 pmBoy, earthswine sure sounds, and smells like Mr. Pee.
May 8th, 2008 at 1:09 pm“Of all the forms of inequility, injustice in healthcare is the most shocking and inhumane.” Martin Luther King Jr.
The United States has the most expensive healthcare system in the world. Part of our problem is that approximately 19.5% to 24 % is spent simply on administrative costs. Plus, we have had a shift of non-profit to for-profit providers, such as hospital chains.
Our high ratio of uninsured, contributes to the rising cost of healthcare because there are many conditions that could have been prevented or treated at a much cheaper cost if caught early.
The US is ranked 26th in infant morality rate.
The General Accounting Office and the Congressional Budgeting Office issued reports,in 1991, stating that a single payer system similiar to that of Canada’s would more than pay for itself, due to reduced administrative costs, as well as having universal access to health care, especially preventative care.
Another possiblity to improve our problem is to expand Medicare to cover not only the elderly but everyone that doesn’t have health insurance coverage. Medicare only has 2% that goes to administrative costs. This is the only other solution we have if our country doesn’t go with a single-payer program, IMHO. At least everyone would be taken care of.
May 8th, 2008 at 1:10 pmI am a Canadian with family who reside in the US. For the longest time, we canadians could not believe the American people would put up with this robbery for decades. Health care can never be about money. If Chris Reaves died pennyless after his accident, so could you.
As a Canadian, why do I know about HR676 Bill and not the American people? Why wont your media talk about HR676? Why wont Elizebeth mention HR676?
Your country is loosing out, and cannot compete with nations like ours who provide single payer health insurance. We produce more cars then Detroit because the health care system here provides companies with cost cuts that make manufacturing competative with the rest of the industrialized world.
Americas may think they pay less taxes. In fact, by the time you pay for health care, save for childrens education,a vast majority of Americans are left with little or nothing at the end of each month.
It’s not just the system that has to change, it’s the mind set!!!!
May 8th, 2008 at 1:12 pmCan anyone shed any enlightenment on my confusion at post #17?
May 8th, 2008 at 1:21 pmRepublican thought process = I got mine, you’re poor, too bad for you, so sad.
May 8th, 2008 at 1:22 pmExit Stage Left Says:
Can anyone shed any enlightenment on my confusion at post #17?
May 8th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Could have been a landshark, but it chose to be a landpig, what else is there to say? ;)
May 8th, 2008 at 1:27 pmZooey Says:
Exit Stage Left Says:
Can anyone shed any enlightenment on my confusion at post #17?
May 8th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Could have been a landshark, but it chose to be a landpig, what else is there to say? ;)
landpig was post #18 here..My previous post about the greed factor and my confusion was #17. I’ll repost.
As one who has no experience in economics, other than my weekly checkbook juggling, there is something about the republican answer to healthcare that just doesn’t add up. If changes are made that make it more difficult for middle and poor classes to have health insurance or to receive health care, wouldn’t it adversely effect the bottom lines of health insurance companies (less premiums), doctors,laboratories, diagnostic firms and hospitals (less patients), and medical equipment companies (less sales)? I don’t see the where this scenario fits into their pattern of greed.
May 8th, 2008 at 1:34 pmWell, the issue is that these companies KNOW that eventually those without health insurance will get sick and/or die. They WILL need these facilities eventually, it’s just when they get there they won’t have the money to pay for them. People cannot avoid medical treatment their whole lives unfortunately. So what happens is that the companies themselves still make money through subsidies provided by the government and when we pay for our treatment. Then those same companies can jack up prices on drugs and other medical equipment when it suits them because of deregulation which has given the corporations control over the market.
May 8th, 2008 at 1:43 pmI’ll take a stab at it. Okay the McCain plan changes the employer sponsored coverage paradigm to one of ‘personal responsibility’.
Most states require insurers to quote a standard rate for small groups 2-50 and allow limited demographic underwriting for large groups (age/sex…etc).
However many states allow medical underwriting as well as demographic banding for direct poilicies.
The end result is that in a state where medical underwriting is allowed, the desirable members (20-30, non smoker, no previous health problems) get a fantastic rate. However, there is no incentive to insure people that actually require medical care at any rate.
It all boils down to the fact that you have close to nil bargaining power as an individual against industry underwriters. The insurance co.s will be the winners under McCain’s plan because it will allow them to better weed out the undesirables.
May 8th, 2008 at 1:43 pmEvergreen, you got it right.
Go to my site and click on the NCL tab (Non Contributing Layer) the insurance companies. I condensed 100 pages of UnitedHealth Group 10-K filing to the SEC into 4 pages. Its “in their own words” – shooting themselves in the foot.
Read the rest too. Entire Senats position is there one by one. Then check the actual cost comparison with something that does work.
http://www.universalhealthcareinfousa.com
May 8th, 2008 at 2:04 pmNote who she was talking to. She may as well have gone out onto the mall and talked to a tree for all the good it will do.
May 8th, 2008 at 4:35 pmAmerica spend 16% of its GNP on health care (highest amount per capita in the world) yet does not cover one-eighth of its people. The World Health Organization ranks the U.S. 37th in health care. There is something seriously wrong with our health care system.
May 8th, 2008 at 4:49 pmcybercitizen:
May 8th, 2008 at 5:32 pmGive this a few minutes and some freak will be by shortly to explain that this is the superior system and that the World Health Organization is just some sort of Liberal Islamofascist terrorist socialist godless group of ignorant nogoodnicks and the funny thing is that some of them will sincerely believe it
Um, no! Hillary should pick Elizabeth as her running mate. With the filthy mess Bush has left. It will take two women to clean up the White House.
May 8th, 2008 at 11:47 pmLooks that John Edwards has backed out too early …
but whom will he support for the nomination ? Clinton or OBama. ?
Clinton takes Indiana by a ‘razor’ and Obama wins North Carolina by a huge margin. Nevertheless, Kentucky, Montana and West Virginia are still to come.
The Democratic race for nomination is still very much alive – and most likely to be decided by superdelegates
If you’re tired of waiting around for those super delegates to make a decision already, go to LobbyDelegates.com and push them to support Clinton or Obama
If you haven’t done so yet, please write a message to each of your state’s superdelegates at http://www.lobbydelegates.com
Obama Supporters:
Sending a note to current Obama supporters lets them know it’s appreciated, sending a note to current Clinton supporters can hopefully sway them to change their vote to Obama, and sending a note to the uncommitted folks will hopefully sway them to vote for Obama. It’s that easy…
Clinton Supporters too …. !
It takes a moment, but what’s a few minutes now worth to get Clinton in office?! Those are really worth !
Sending a note to current Clinton supporters lets them know it’s appreciated, sending a note to current Obama supporters can hopefully sway them to change their vote to Clinton, and sending a note to the uncommitted folks will hopefully sway them to vote for Clinton. It’s that easy…
May 9th, 2008 at 8:28 amMrs Edwards won’t remember me but I talked with her when she visited New Mexico about health care and the comparative costs of this versus other systems. I have had working experience in the health systems of three countries, which is why it is difficult to understand why she prefers the Clinton plan with its mandate versus Obama’s which focuses on affordability. Affordability has to rise to the surface since it forces a discussion on why coverage costs what it does. A family insurance plan today costs over $12,000 a year… even for someone earning $50,000 a year, that is about 24% of their income. You cannot mandate something you cannot enforce. AND if you have premiums that already include the inbuilt cost of “cost shifting” for the care of uninsured, should you not back those costs out first before you begin to force people to buy the stuff? When Mrs Clinton can explain to me they understand what makes a premium cost what it does today, that they consider the current levels fair, and that there no reductions possible – and why they think this – then perhaps they have a chance of persuading folks like me who worry that all mandates do is to give health insurance companies the same advantage oil companies now have: a windfall profit.
May 15th, 2008 at 3:58 pm