Well, Folks, we need health insurance or healthcare reform... let's look at what we got today.

1) The insurance industry profits over the last ten years have increased over 1000%. In addition to being large in an absolute sense, administrative costs have been rising faster than other health care costs in recent years. The Medicare and Medicaid Actuary's Office estimates that the direct administrative costs of private health insurance plans (including profits) rose from about $40bn in the late 1990s to about $95bn in 2004. The following chart shows these costs represented in dollar terms and as a percent of total private health insurance payments.


2) Our insurance premiums have not gone down, in fact they have increased. Insurance executive compensations have now exceeded the realms of reality, with people like United Health Cares Bill McGuire's 1.87 Billion Dollar retirement or the 125 million a year that he earned before he retired. Stephen Hemsley the present CEO of United (they are the people who Do AARP Insurance) now earns a a modest 3 million plus dollars a year. Fortunately United's board has given him over 300 million in stock options (http://www.aflcio.org/corporatewatch/paywatch/ceou/database.cfm)

3) Don't believe the story that malpractice and capricious suits have driven up their costs. These suits account for less than 1%.

4) If you think that our for profit health insurance industry is there because they want to heal you think again. They are there for only one purpose and that is to make a profit. PROFIT and NOT COST is their concern.

5) And we are not getting what other industrial nations get for their healthcare spending.
In ranking the us against other industrial nations, the World Health Organization ranks the US 37th among the Industrial nations in health care. We are ranked below Costa Rica and Cuba.
We are one of the highest in infant mortality
We are one of the lowest in total adult life expectancy.

6) Every thirty seconds now, someone in the US declares bankruptcy as a result of medical bills.

7) National Health Insurance is not a new idea:
Teddy Roosevelt proposed comprehensive health care for all Americans in 1912.
President Truman Proposed a program for health insurance in 1947
President Eisenhower did the same
President Nixon tried to propose a health insurance program for Americans until he was beat down by the AMA and they compromised with a program forming HMO's.

8) People are leaving the US to have medical care done for them in other countries. Medical Vacations where someone goes to Thailand for a couple of months. He has a pre-existing condition and can not get affordable health insurance. He was able to pay for his trip, his lodging and still come out ahead because of the high cost of US health care.

9) We have the highest cost for health care in the world, but are ranked at the bottom (#37) with 3rd world nations, as a result of the quality of care that we provide.

10) The administrative cost for Medicare is under 3% the average administrative cost for private insurance exceeds 30%.

11) The poor can use Emergency rooms for Emergencies... not preventative care, or even long term help... and you and I are also paying that cost.

12) We see rallies organized by Dick Armies Freedom Works ( http://www.freedomworks.org/ ) and other front groups for the the Health Care industry as they try to manipulate people to go against their own best interests.

13) My insurance cost me over $13,000 a year. I have a group plan, and I was fortunate.
Then, my wife lost her job and was hospitalized for something that my insurance plan declared as a pre-existing condition. So, don't think that because you have insurance that it is going to cover you when the time comes to get medical care.

14) I hope you have good insurance, because 46 million people in the US don't have anything.. and people are dying because they can't afford to take care of themselves or their familes..