An American Health Care Plan

We live in a community that cares for others as do so many across our nation. This is as it should be because we recognize that all people are deserving of compassion. At the same time we realize that when we live in communities, large or small, we have a shared responsibility to provide services to all – fire and police protection, public education, hospital ERs, public infrastructure and the like – as we all share in these collective benefits. Caring about one another is more than just simple common sense; it’s what binds us together and makes our communities stronger and safer. Without these social contracts we cannot assure the human dignity that is the right of all people.

We all know that insurance company bureaucracies ration health care, refuse health care and deny legitimate claims. Patient/doctor relationships are governed by insurance companies for profit and not care, and excessive costs are passed onto citizens in order to maximize corporate profits. Everyone knows that’s how it works. Private insurance companies have driven millions of Americans, an estimated 700,000 a year, into bankruptcy in order to pay for health care. This is the only advanced nation in the world where such a cruel and heartless system exists.

Health care systems throughout the world, not all wealthier, industrialized countries either, have recognized health care (e.g. preventing disease, promoting public health, relieving pain and suffering) as a basic human right assuring human dignity. It is no different than the right to vote, the right for justice in a court of law, and the rights afforded all citizens for the civil liberties we have declared. We are a society comprised of communities that have realized we share a common bond and interconnection with one another to safeguard and provide for the welfare of all because each of us is worthy of care. We need, we deserve and we must have an American health care plan that will provide basic services for all our people.