Dr. Howard Dean Talks Health System Reform
Great interview in Esquire:
ESQ: Speaking of the Obama plan, you’re even stronger than he has been lately in support of the public plan. You say that without it, it’s not reform.
HD: It’s not. It’s a waste of time. Don’t pretend you’re going to do health-insurance reform unless you’re really going to change the system. The discussions in the Senate have not been about changing the system.
ESQ: They seem to be worried about preserving the status quo.
HD: Washington is the most conservative town in America. Its culture is the most resistant to change except a few religious cults.
ESQ: [Laughter]
HD: It’s true! It’s absolutely true.
ESQ: You say that the public plan shouldn’t be able to dip into general government reserves to subsidize its operations. But the Republicans say it will.
HD: The Republicans just make things up out of whole cloth. Nothing they say about health care is true. It’s all just nonsense and fears and what-ifs. It doesn’t happen. First of all, Medicare doesn’t dip into government reserves. It has never happened. It might happen in 10 years if they don’t cut benefits or raise taxes, but so far, never in the history of America has a program like Medicare used public reserves. The Republican tactic is to raise objections because they never have anything positive to say themselves.
ESQ: In the book you ask, “Is health insurance really health insurance or an extension of the things that have been happening on Wall Street?”
HD: Think about it. What the big insurance companies have done is deny claims just so they can improve their bottom line. That’s just extraordinary.
Excellent stuff. As they say, Go Read The Whole Thing. Dr. Dean is in fine form and seems to be enjoying himself.
Tags: Health Care Reform, Howard Dean
Thank you Howard Dean! We need people like Howard Dean out there pushing because he’s right – without pressure the Democrats in Congress will fold like tissue paper.
Dr. Dean is not telling the full story! He isnt telling us that the Plan being offered by Obama doesnt cover anything but MEDICAL! No mental, dental, vision, long term, nursing home care, aids, prisoner care etc. etc. Anyone who believes we should spend a trillion dollar and not cover all those other health care issues is deceiving the public. Dean never supported single payer even when he was a governor. At that time he was a member of the right wing AMA, keeping the outrageous profits going to insurance companies to continue. There is enough money in the system already to cover all those other issues.
Obama’s plan has changed so many times we don’t even know what is really in the plan, yet they are out here pushing “their” plan, what the hell is their plan?
If you don’t know that every Senator and Congress person has been delivered millions in campaign contributions from these insurance companies they are now attempting to regulate…check out Biden and Carper, Castle in Delaware. Its almost like having Cheney bring in the energy companies to develop our energy policy? Its all a crock.
Dr Dean is right to push for Universal Coverage but he fails to admit Medicaid pays on average 76% of normal costs and Medicare squeezes providers in order to stay viable yet the Medicare fund is kaput after 2017.
Too bad the party labels are the focus, it should be economics.
http://delawarerepublican.wordpress.com/drtv/
Mike Protack