A conversation on universal health care
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- May
- 15
The Greater New York Hospital Association and health care workers’ union 1199 SEIU  the partnership that vigorously fought Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s proposed Medicaid cuts  are teaming up once again. This time, its to promote universal health care.
They released statewide television today narrated by award-winning actress Blythe Danner dicsussing the need to provide health care coverate to every man, woman and child. The ad will run for the next several weeks. A direct mail campaign is also planned.
“We can think of no higher priority than to provide all New Yorkers with access to affordable health insurance, and we would welcome the opportunity to pursue solutions with Governor Spitzer, legislative leaders, and other stakeholders,â€? said GNYHA President Kenneth E. Raske in the press release. “The time is right to seriously start the debate on universal coverage in New York.â€?
“As health care workers, we see firsthand how patients and families suffer when they don’t have health insurance,â€? said 1199 SEIU President Dennis Rivera. “Time and again they delay necessary care and face serious financial problems if they get sick or injured. We truly believe that by working together we can solve the problem of the uninsured.”
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on Tuesday, May 15th, 2007 at 11:55 am by Glenn Blain.
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Well,back to universal health ins.I have to admit,when Hillary brought it up 10 or so years ago,I thought is was a good idea.She was a bit pushy back then and did turn people off.She was ahead of her time on this issue.Personally,I am on medicare and have a good back up.I`ve been in emploment where Imy health ins has been paid for,etc. My daughter pays 1400. qa month for ins.her husband is in his own business. There are freinds of theres that can`t afford ins. Mamaaged cares job is to represent the ins. company,to save them as much money as they can,not looking at the big picture,as far as closing hospital and more. Don
« NEW ORLEANS EDUCATIONAL DISASTER | GED Programs
June 02, 2007
HEALTH CARE, GANGS, IMMIGRATION, TAXES, AND GED
By Profesor Martin Danenberg
“El Quijote del GED�
The proposed national health plan may be doomed to failure again and not because of Hillary Clinton. I attended a labor breakfast where the principal speakers were Dennis Rivera and Marie Gottschalk. Rivera is president of the powerful 1199 and Gottschalk is associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania. They must know that the immigration movement has failed to educate the undocumented immigrants and now the Congress is requiring education of those immigrants. They must know that our schools have 700,000 dropouts each year. They must know that crime and gangs are on the rise across the United States. And they must know that people want a greater accountability for spending of tax payer’s money and reduced taxes. The money for the health plan can come from various savings that we know come from better health coverage and from the plan that I have outlined below. Dennis Rivera should know that not enough Hispanics are entering union jobs after being apprentices because half of the Hispanic adult population needs a GED and he must know that not enough Hispanics are going into civil service for the very same reason.
The health plan concept needs broader support from the American people to overcome all of the powerful interests that want to defeat it.
Uniting the health care issue with GED, immigration and citizenship (and voter registration), gang prevention, and tax savings would be a win-win situation for everyone. About forty million people (adults and potential voters) need the GED and about ten million of them are undocumented immigrants. Americans are very concerned about gangs and the spike in crime among our youth. Tax savings can be obtained by keeping most of the 700,000 dropouts in school or helping those youth get a GED faster.
There may be a close correlation with the insurance needs of New York residents and the GED and this may be true nationwide. The poverty that we saw as a result of Katrina was due to centuries of neglect starting with slavery and an educational system that impacted harshly on the poor including African-Americans in that region.
Tens of billions of dollars could be saved by turning our youth on to education and keeping them off social service rolls. Then there is the benefit to Americans who are denied tax reductions because the Congress has decided to give reductions to the rich. I have been saying for two years that we can give a trillion dollars in refunds to those who are not rich and require that the adjusted portion be placed in a retirement account where the money would be invested just the way we all invest (the rich too). These funds will help all Americans when they are ready to retire and keep the economy as strong as it would be with the investment money of the rich. In fact, the American people should demand a refund for previous years where the wealthy received these benefits.
Rivera and Gottschalk should see the wisdom of uniting forces to provide a package that American people can buy into with their votes and support. Health insurance is a priority but by building up the entire infrastructure Americans can progress in the 21st Century and that build up cannot be done separately because of the correlation that exists among the parts among our nation’s poor.
MARTIN N. DANENBERG
7 BLAZER DRIVE
ISLANDIA, NY 11749
631-348-1341
GEDHOTLINE@AOL.COM
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