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RESOLUTION WILL BE PUT TO A VOTE AT THE ARIZONA DEMOCRATIC PARTY STATE COMMITTEE MEETING IN FLAGSTAFF, ARIZONA SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2009
Arizona Democratic Party Supports Real Health Care Reform
WHEREAS, access to quality health care is essential for the good health and productivity of every American citizen and qualifies as a human right, not a privilege; and
WHEREAS, the steadily increasing cost of accessing health care is causing financial individual hardships, bankruptcy, and mortgage foreclosures, causing business to be uncompetitive in the world market and making it difficult to decrease the national deficit; and while the U.S. spends more than any other industrialized country for health care, the U.S. has demonstrably inferior outcomes, even for the insured; and
WHEREAS, the current commercial market model mediated by private health insurance corporations must function to create profits for the companies, their administrators and shareholders, creating an unavoidable conflict-of-interest between promoting quality health care and maximizing their profits and currently diverts up to 25% of the insurance premium dollar from medical services and leaves 46 million people uninsured;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Arizona Democratic Party supports the establishment of a universal, single-payer, national health care system in the United States; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that such a system be publicly financed and privately delivered with automatic enrollment of all residents (regardless of age, status of employment, pre-existing condition, or income level) allowing people to choose from any licensed health care provider, providing all appropriate medical services including preventive education, dental care, mental health care, long-term in-home care, and affordable prescription medications.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that nothing less than a strong public option that will address these issues will be supported.
Steering Committee - Arizona Democratic Progressive Caucus
A Letter in Support of Single-Payer By Jeff Latas, Co-Chair
Arizona Democratic Progressive Caucus
Single-payer healthcare: I’m convinced that this is the only way to go. Being a retired military member, I have single-payer healthcare. After experiencing a very serious medical situation where my son had leukemia, then a relapse, and both were covered with no impact to my financial future (most bankruptcies in this country are due to these types of situations), I saw that my single payer plan works and I don’t see why all Americans should not have this type of coverage.
The Arizona Democratic Progressive Caucus will have a resolution supporting a Single-Payer Universal system on the floor at the 15 August meeting (to follow). This resolution passed our steering committee and will move forward to the entire State Committee. I ask for your support of this resolution and your help to educate those who don’t fully understand the consequences.
Nearly sixty percent of all MDs in the US support the position of Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP), the largest organization of US MDs, advocating for a Single Payer Healthcare system. An even greater percentage of clinic doctors who work outside of an operating room support a single payer system. The doctors who get their paychecks from the hospitals (anesthesiologist/radiologist, etc) are more inclined to either have no opinion or are against a single payer system.
PNHP has a very good web site, http://www.pnhp.org/, which will arm you to identify the misinformation of those who oppose a single payer system in order to protect their personal campaign financing by the for-profit insurance companies.
As I am a beneficiary of a Single Payer Universal system, TriCare, I can certainly testify that I have some of the best insurance in this country. After seeing my son go through two bouts of leukemia, financially I have not suffered any monetary set backs at all. I can’t say this about other families I saw on the pediatric cancer ward. Many will be financially in debt for the rest of their lives and this on top of unbelievable emotional suffering. I have seen what private insurance companies have done and they have put profit over care. Of those who have private insurance, we can expect about 130,000 to lose it before we convene our State Committee meeting next month. Unfortunately, there are already nearly 50 million Americans who don’t have any insurance and we can also expect over 1,000 die before the 15 August meeting because of a lack of insurance.
Currently, our Congress is virtually ignoring a single payer system and I can only speculate that this is because of the pressure corporate insurance companies are using. Insurance company executives and lobbyist are one of the largest bases of donors in our political system and you know that they have the ear of our legislators. It’s time that our elected officials hear us. Support this resolution and send a message to our legislators that the best option is what is best for the American public, a Single Payer Universal Healthcare system and that supporting corporate-for-profit healthcare is to only lean toward their own political financing.
Jeff Latas
Co-Chair AzDPC
