NOW sent out an email a while back about how our screwed up healthcare system spends approximately two trillion dollars a year on... what? One-third of that is wasted on CEO salaries, trial lawyer fees, marketing, and other non-healthcare related things. We’re talking about SIX HUNDRED SIXTY SIX BILLION (with a B) dollars here folks.
We desperately need to find a way to fix our screwed up system. There’s absolutely no excuse for that kind of waste when we have nearly 50 million people living without access to healthcare services.
Hillary spent some time up in New Hampshire recently, where she talked of the need to replace the state-by-state patchwork system we have now, with a nationwide system that applies the same rules universally (universal – just like her healthcare plan).
Hillary w/ First Lady of New Hampshire – Dr. Susan Lynch
Make the jump – there’s more...
Now some of you have seen my posts about my father’s battles with the Blues - he lost his health insurance coverage over a 2 cent shortfall. Long story short – he died at the age of 61 because he couldn’t see a doctor when he needed one.
Some of that 666 billion (with a B) dollars hard at work, yeah?
As you can well imagine, healthcare reform is a big issue with me. I've taken a look at the various plans out there and for my money - Hillary's plan has the best chance of becoming law.
The AP just posted an article about a house party Hillary attended at Judy Lanza’s house in Goffstown New Hampshire. The article mentioned Hillary’s call to subject insurance companies to a uniform set of regulations at a national level...
The patchwork of state regulation that insurers now operate under has allowed them to get away with offering meager health care policies and to move to states with more favorable rules, Clinton said. She said the federal government should regulate the companies more, though states still would be able to enact their own rules.
"We can't do this state by state," she said. "No state has the ability to get everyone in their state to get the insurance they need."
Snip
Clinton repeated a statistic she cites often — contending that insurance companies spend $50 billion a year figuring out ways to avoid paying claims.
"This is all part of their business model. This is how they make money, but it's so bad for the rest of us," she said. "I say to them, use the $50 billion to actually take care of people," she said.
People like my father
The article wraps up by noting that the First Lady of New Hampshire, Dr. Susan Lynch has just endorsed Hillary’s historic run for the White House (thus – the photo above the fold)...
Earlier Monday, Clinton was endorsed by Dr. Susan Lynch, a pediatrician who is married to New Hampshire's Democratic governor.
Lynch, a childhood obesity activist, said Clinton's commitment to fighting for children and families help make her the best choice for Democrats and the country. Lynch will be a national co-chairwoman of Clinton's presidential campaign.
"I have personally gotten to know Hillary. As I watch and listen to her campaigning across New Hampshire, I see a candidate who has the right experience, commitment to bipartisanship and a passion to lead," she said, standing next to Clinton at a news conference in Concord.
Lynch works at Concord Hospital in a program to control cholesterol in children. In 2004, she was a member of "Doctors for Dean," which supported former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean for president.
For more information, you can check out the healthcare issues page at Hillary’s website.
For more info on the back-and-forth over the health care plans lately, click here