With articles such as "When Your Health Plan’s Deductible Is So High That You Can’t Afford to See a Doctor" still being published in a post-Affordable Care Act (ACA) era, it should come as no surprise that the American health care non-system remains a nightmare for middle-class and low-income Americans, not to mention the poor and destitute in states that cruelly chose not to expand Medicaid. So, following the SCOTUS ruling to preserve ACA subsidies today, it is instructive to look at the reactions of the two leading candidates for the Democratic nomination: Hillary and Bernie.
Hillary predictably -- and properly -- celebrated the ruling as a win for Americans.
Her campaign also created some sort of petition (i.e. excuse to ask for e-mails and donations) for Americans to sign.
The problem with Hillary's response, though, is that in the United States affordable health care is not a basic human right under the law. (She is right, though, that it is a basic human right in American hearts: the majority of Americans now support a single-payer, Medicare-for-all system.)
So, I am forced to wonder: given that Hillary has yet to endorse single-payer -- not even a public option -- how is she actually going to ensure access to health care as a right for all Americans? If a good is declared a basic human right, it follows that there must be a plan for actually fulfilling that right...for all Americans. Her Web site --"The Four Fights" -- says nothing about a plan to ensure all Americans can see a doctor. Maybe she is afraid of offending for-profit hospital chains whose stocks are surging today? Otherwise, I'm not really sure why she wouldn't propose a publicly-financed alternative to America's sadistic private health insurers.
Enter Bernie's reaction to the SCOTUS ruling.
This.
And this.
If you don't have the time -- or the data plan -- to click on the link, here's what he says in detail.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement on Thursday after the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in the case of King v. Burwell to uphold the Affordable Care Act:
“The Supreme Court recognized the common-sense reading of the Affordable Care Act that Congress intended to help all eligible Americans obtain health insurance whether they get it through state or national exchanges. Access to affordable health care should not depend on where you live.
“At a time when the United States in the only major country on earth that doesn’t guarantee health care to all Americans – and 35 million of our citizens today still lack insurance – it would have been an outrage to throw 6.4 million more people off health insurance.
“What the United States should do is join every other major nation and recognize that health care is a right of citizenship. A Medicare-for-all, single-payer system would provide better care at less cost for more Americans.”
Ok, so
that is a plan. Bernie is recognizing a problem with clear detail -- 35 million Americans still lack insurance coverage -- and proposing a clear solution based on best practice from Canada, Australia and the majority of the European Union countries: a
Medicare-for-all single-payer system.
So, again, we have two approaches to governing as a Democratic president. As I have argued before, Hillary and Bernie are two very different candidates with very different visions for America.
One candidate declares that affordable health care is a human right (note that Hillary does not even state that health care itself is a right, but that one should be able to theoretically pay for it if deemed "affordable" by some complex calculation), while the other candidate proposes an actual path towards actualizing the right of health care for every single American citizen.
Choose wisely.
9:23 AM PT: Yes, it is good news that both candidates have responded positively to the SCOTUS decision. I am happy with the SCOTUS decision -- it is good news.
That said, if you want to use the language of human rights, you must use it properly. If you declare that health care is a human right for all Americans, you must have a plan for actualizing that right. Bernie has proposed a reasonable policy for ensuring all Americans have access to health care; sadly, Hillary has not. Maybe she is OK with the U.S. never achieving truly universal health care, which is also fine, but if that is the case, she shouldn't be using the language of universal basic human rights, because doing so in the above context is dishonest.
10:36 AM PT: A commenter said I was being unfair in critiquing Hillary's petition as a fundraising tool.
Since posting the diary, I received an email from the Bernie Sanders campaign.
Yes, he is using a petition to raise campaign money, but he is also proposing a plan. Whereas Hillary simply says we should sign up to agree that "affordable health care is a human right" (even though she has yet to propose a policy to achieve health care for every American), Bernie's petition offers a detailed explanation of how he believes that this human right -- health care access for everyone -- can be achieved.
[Name] -
Today, because of the Supreme Court's decision to protect the modest gains made under the Affordable Care Act, it is a good day for millions of Americans who will be able to keep their access to health care.
It's also a good day for the small business owners who, before the passage of the Affordable Care Act, couldn't afford the escalating cost of providing insurance for their employees.
But while I am glad the Supreme Court upheld the law, in my view, the only long-term solution to America's health care crisis is a Medicare-for-all single-payer system.
I start my approach to health care from two very simple premises:
1. Health care must be recognized as a right, not a privilege -- every man, woman and child in our country should be able to access quality care regardless of their income.
2. We must create a national system to provide care for every single American in the most cost-effective way possible.
Tragically, the United States fails in both areas.
The health insurance lobbyists and big pharmaceutical companies make "national health care" sound scary. It's not.
In fact, a large single-payer system already exists in the United States. It's called Medicare and the people enrolled give it high marks. More importantly, it has succeeded in providing near-universal coverage to Americans over age 65 in a very cost-effective manner.
It's time to expand that program to all Americans.
If we are serious about providing high-quality, affordable care as a right for all Americans, the only solution to this crisis is a Medicare-for-all single-payer system. Add your name to our petition if you agree.
The American people understand that our current health care system is not working.
They understand that the profiteering of the pharmaceutical industry and private insurance companies causes the United States to spend more per capita on health care than any other nation, while our life expectancy, infant mortality and preventable deaths outcomes are worse than most other countries.
We should be spending our money on care and disease prevention, not paper-pushing and debt collection. But the simple truth is that our efforts to eliminate waste and profiteering are endangered by these powerful corporate interests.
A single-payer system will expand employment and lift a major financial weight off of businesses burdened by employee health expenses. And the millions of Americans stuck in jobs they don't like, they would be free to explore more productive opportunities as they desire.
I attempted to offer a single-payer amendment during the Affordable Care Act debate, but my efforts were blocked.
But our time will come.
Add your name to mine if you agree it's time for America to adopt a Medicare-for-all single-payer health care system.
I am convinced today more than ever before that universal quality health care as a right will eventually become the law of the land. It is the only way forward.
Thank you for adding your name to mine,
Bernie Sanders