Sunday, June 14, 2009

Why We Need Single Payer Health Care

Insurance companies are leeches sucking the life blood from policy holders. Why should any CEO command a salary such as this, when it represents the denial of health care to millions of sick people?

A single payer plan (Medicare for all) will send these people to the unemployment line and give coverage to every American.


ANNUAL COMPENSATION (2006 and 2007):

� Ronald A. Williams, Chair/ CEO, Aetna Inc., $23,045,834
� H. Edward Hanway, Chair/ CEO, Cigna Corp, $30.16 million
� David B. Snow, Jr, Chair/ CEO, Medco Health, $21.76 million
� Michael B. MCallister, CEO, Humana Inc, $20.06 million
� Stephen J. Hemsley, CEO, UnitedHealth Group, $13,164,529
� Angela F. Braly, President/ CEO, Wellpoint, $9,094,771
� Dale B. Wolf, CEO, Coventry Health Care, $20.86 million
� Jay M. Gellert, President/ CEO, Health Net, $16.65 million
� William C. Van Faasen, Chairman, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, $3 million plus $16.4 million in retirement benefits
� Charlie Baker, President/ CEO, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, $1.5 million
� James Roosevelt, Jr., CEO, Tufts Associated Health Plans, $1.3 million
� Cleve L. Killingsworth, President/CEO Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, $3.6 million
� Raymond McCaskey, CEO, Health Care Service Corp (Blue Cross Blue Shield), $10.3 million
� Daniel P. McCartney, CEO, Healthcare Services Group, Inc, $ 1,061,513
� Daniel Loepp, CEO, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, $1,657,555
� Todd S. Farha, CEO, WellCare Health Plans, $5,270,825
� Michael F. Neidorff, CEO, Centene Corp, $8,750,751
� Daniel Loepp, CEO, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, $1,657,555
� Todd S. Farha, CEO, WellCare Health Plans, $5,270,825
� Michael F. Neidorff, CEO, Centene Corp, $8,750,751

3 comments:

health4allofUS said...

Thank you for the information!!

The two main arguments for Single Payer healthcare reform:

THE MORAL ARGUMENT

Health insurance companies make their profit by denying health care to sick people. That is immoral and unethical.

THE ECONOMIC ARGUMENT

Our current system of for-profit corporate health insurance has created an unbearable economic burden on the nation. There are over 1500 separate health insurance companies operating under different sets of rules creating a huge 30 % administrative overhead. For comparison, administrative overhead for Medicare is only 2%.

By converting to a single payer system, we immediately save 300 billion dollars in administrative overhead. Medicare is a 40 year example of a successful single payer system which has an administrative overhead of 2%, not 30%.

As a nation, we are now paying twice what other countries pay for health care, yet we do not have universal health coverage here in the US. 50 million Americans are without healthcare and 87 million Americans without health insurance at some point in the past 2 years. Almost half the bankruptcies currently filed in the United States are because of medical bills.

Despite the costs we pay, the United States ranks LAST on a list of 19 industrialized nations in preventable deaths, and 29th of 37 in infant mortality. The World Health Organization ranks the US at 72nd for healthcare accessibility and efficiency. We can no longer maintain the status quo for the ways we currently provide and pay for health care.

WHY WE DON'T HAVE SINGLE PAYER NOW

These two arguments in favor of a single payer heath insurance system (moral and economic) are so compelling, that one must conclude the only reason we don't have single payer now is because of lack of representative government. The obvious conclusion is that our government does not serve the people who elected them. Rather, our elected government officials serve the special interests of the health insurance industry and other corporations who make massive campaign contributions.

Anonymous said...

SINGLE PAYER RALLY, June 25th, Washington, DC

Join us on Thursday, June 25, 2009 for The Great American Sickout, a National Rally for Health Care For All Now.

Congress is acting. They haven't been listening to us.

 Congress needs to hear a LOUD voice NOW. 1 Million People Shouting, "Health Care For ALL. Not Some. Not Most. ALL."



Where: Washington DC, gather at the Washington Monument on the National Mall



When: June 25, 2009, 10:00 a.m.



Take the day off of work, BE THERE. Tell Congress in person, join Together.


More information here: http://www.1payer.net/action-alerts/washington-rally.html

Video here: http://www.pixelfish.com/production/health_justice/hcfan_h264.mov

Anonymous said...

Thank you Betty B. Single payer is the only solution to the greed and corruption of the insurance companies.

Only a single-payer approach to healthcare reform will END THE INHUMANITY OF OUR FAILED HEALTHCARE INSURANCE SYSTEM, WHERE PROFITS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN PATIENTS’ HEALTH, and where people die because of it.