Trump Doesn't Give a Rat's Patoot About Health Care for the People

MR. PRESIDENT! It’s me, along with at least 24 million other Americans, waving to you from this ship that you said on Friday was going to explode.  You failed to get the Trump Care bill passed and instead of offering us a lifeline by telling us you were going back to the drawing board to make a better bill, or say you will fix ObamaCare, you say you are going to move on. I took that to mean, “I don’t give a rat’s patoot about health care for the people.” You said all along that you wanted ObamaCare to explode.  May I remind you, Mr. President, health care is the right of all Americans and it is your job to see that Americans do not suffer from lack of health care. 

FURTHER, Mr. President, what if ObamaCare withers on the vine due to inattention by you and the lawmakers?  What if tens of millions of Americans find themselves with no health care at all?  I know that would make you feel vindicated, but “I told you so” is not an option for living, breathing humans out here who will die without health care.

YOUR HEALTH care bill was thrown together haphazardly and was cruel to the low and middle income Americans.  Your drive to placate the people on the hard right, alienated those moderates that you needed to pass the bill. Your attempt to blame Democrats was a bust.  Mr. President, your “art of the deal” may work in real estate, but now you are dealing with the lives of tens of millions of Americans.  You told Robert Costas of the Washington Post that health care was not your passion.  That’s obvious by your cavalier attitude when you delivered the news that you had pulled the bill.  Just remember, Mr. President, there is more than one-way to skin a cat.  Bless your heart.

FOLKS, if Trump is to be believed, there will be NO healthcare for anyone by 2017.  Trump says he’s moving on and by all appearances, so will the House of Representatives.  With no replacement plan in place and no talk of fixing ObamaCare’s flaws, now is the perfect time for Democrats to write and sell the “Single Payer” Plan.

HOW WOULD you like to go to the doctor of your choice without checking a list?  Just show your insurance card.  No more co-pays, no more deductibles and no more fighting with insurance companies?  That is “Single Payer.”

SINGLE PAYER means no more agonizing over picking your plan.  No more navigating this complex and bewildering system.  No more high priced drugs because the government would have the ability to negotiate with drug companies for lower prices, much as they do for Veterans Affairs.  That is “Single Payer.”

YOU ASK, how will you pay for this insurance?  It’s easy, painless, and cheap.  It will be deducted from your income just as Medicare tax is now.  That is “Single Payer.”

THE ADMINISTRATIVE costs of this program would be cut drastically.  The doctors would submit their bills directly to the governmental agency over-seeing this.  That is “Single Payer.”

REMEMBER the reason Insurance companies gave for high premiums was the risk pool?  With coverage for everyone, there would be tens of millions more people paying into the plan and the risk pool would be a non-factor.   That is “Single Payer.”

THERE IS no better time right now for Bernie Sanders (don’t turn up your nose and stop reading because I mentioned his name) to dust off his very popular “Medicare for All” that was a centerpiece of his campaign.  At the time, polls showed that 58% of Americans agreed with his Plan.  For example, a family of four earning $50,000, would pay $466 per year amounting to a savings of over $5,800 for that family. It would save the U.S. 6 Trillion over the next decade.

I KNOW, even if you agree with me, you’re saying, “It can never happen.”  Yes, the insurance companies and lobbyists rule health care in this country.  However, after witnessing community activists accomplish the impossible, I have more faith than ever that the time is coming when all Americans will have healthcare and not just the kind Trump and Ryan want us to have. 

IF COMMUNITY activist groups are not on your radar, I’m giving you a heads-up.  They are cropping up all over Georgia faster than mushrooms in a cow pasture.  That’s just a sign of what’s happening all over this country.  Whether it is on-line groups of 25,000, 50,000, or three or four people around a kitchen table, they are organizing and taking action.  Never underestimate the power and wisdom of the people!  And that’s another way to skin a cat.