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Butte County Health Care Coalition P.O Box 3673,Chico,CA 95927 Dedicated to equitable and affordable health care for all! |
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-Ideas You Can Use in Letter-Writing and Speaking Health care is a right, not a privilege. -Profit for some or health care for all? -The fact is that the insurance industry has an obligation first to its stockholders; second to policyholders.. -Most labor-management strife is because of health benefits. -US companies are at a disadvantage when compared to Canadian, European and Japanese companies whose governments sponsor health care for their people. -The middle-class, most of whom have health insurance, may still face devastating financial burdens when there is serious illness or injury -More than 18.000 people die in the United States each year because of their lack of health insurance. -About half of all personal bankruptcies are due to medical reasons. -More than 75% of those whose medical problems led to bankruptcy, had health insurance. -Bankrupt families lose more than their assets: one in five went without food; one in three had their utilities cut off; two in three skipped needed medical visits. -The public is more aware now of the failures of our health care system than at any time in the last twenty years. -The rate of increase of employer health care premiums is more than twice the rates of inflation and wage hikes. -Most countries see it as part of their job to take care of their citizen’s health. -Thanks to the billions of dollars funneled to private health plans, Original Medicare, with it’s reliable, cost-efficient stability, is being privatized, with increased costs to beneficiaries and to taxpayers. -Studies by the Congressional Budget Office show that taxpayers are paying from 12% to 19% more to private Medicare Advantage plans than to Original Medicare. -The greatest source of insecurity for many Americans is the soaring cost of health care. -Two independent studies concluded that a single payer system could save enough in paperwork alone to make it more cost-effective than the present system. -The pharmaceutical industry spends more than an average of $10,000 a year on every licensed doctor to promote drug products. -More than 47 million people in the United States, in excess of 15% of the population, are without health insurance. -Medical loss ratios - amount actually spent on health care by insurance companies - is typically only 70% of their income. -In a recent poll, 84% said they support expanding SCHIP which President Bush vetoed. -Universal coverage must be our goal, and it must allow ready access to all aspects of the medical system at affordable prices. -The emphasis must be on treatment, not bureaucracy. -Researchers at Harvard University estimate that about a third of the $2 trillion in annual healthcare spending is on overhead. and profit. -Employer-based healthcare is obsolete. -As costs continue climbing, businesses can no longer meet their historical obligation of being the primary provider of coverage to American families. -Quality medical treatment is a right, not a benefit.
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