President Obama's family physician of 22 years has some strong and much needed medical advice for our president. He recommends:
"Medicare for all."
reports Forbes.com. Dr. Scheiner supports
a single-payer system where the government would cover everyone and pay for it by cutting out waste in the system. "A neurosurgeon gets paid $20,000 for cutting into the neck of my patient. Have him get paid $1 million a year instead of $2 million or $3 million. He won't starve,"
President Obama is too intelligent not to recognize the wisdom of his own doctor's advice. The question is whether the private insurance companies will drown out the words of the good doctor -- and millions upon millions of Americans who don't have access to health care -- with their millions upon millions of lobbyists and campaign contributions.
The streets of Iran are over-flowing with millions of Iranians who are demonstrating their anger at the questionable election results for their presidency. One hopes that the American people are watching and realizing that it may take millions of Americans in our streets to convince Congress and our president to put single-payer health care at the top of their agenda. Anything less than single-payer will not reduce cost and provide health care to all Americans.
Congress and our president has provided billions of dollars in bail-outs for our wealthy banksters. They are continuing to fund two costly wars and hundreds of military bases throughout the world. A fraction of that money, coupled with the reduction in administrative costs and excess profits enjoyed by private health insurers which single-payer would effect, could abundantly fund health care for every American.
We must demand that Congress order a congressional study of the costs that would be saved by implementing a single-payer system, compared to all the half-baked proposals for health reform now on congressional tables.
We must demand that President Obama follow his doctor's good advice and put his vast political capital behind single-payer health care. If he continues to refuse to do so, we must mobilize the millions of Americans who don't have health care to take to the streets like the Iranians and
force our government to pass programs which help the majority, not only the wealthy private insurers and other corporate interests.