Summary
"The one model [single-payer] that works is being set aside right from the start as 'not politically feasible,"* says Chris Townsend, political director of the United Electrical Radio and Machine Workers. "But somehow a Rube Goldberg scheme, requiring mandatory purchase of insurance, gets certified as politically viable."
Still, the labor-consumer coalition Health Care for America Now (HCAN)composed of roughly 30 groups, including the AFL-CIO, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), USAction, MoveOn.org and La Raza - has aggressively attacked the single-payer approach, citing focus groups and dubious polling. In his book, [Barack Obama]'s Challenge, progressive economist Robert Kuttner criticizes the promotion of "guaranteed affordable choice," noting that HCAN's pollsters "put a subtle thumb on the scale in the way they worded the descriptions of the various approaches that were read to the focus groups."Senate Finance Chair Max Baucus (DMont.), one of the most powerful members of Congress, already ruled the singlepayer option "off the table." The reason, he explains: "We are Americans. We're different from Canada, we're different from the United Kingdom."See the full content of this document
Extract
Skewed Debate
PRESIDENT OBAMA COMMITTED TO making a major legislative push for healthcare reform in his first year in office. But there is reason to worry that any potential reform may look more like the recent bank bailouts- that is, a massive giveaway to politically connected corporations- than a progressive restructuring of the U.S. healthcare system.
By substantial maj...See the full content of this document
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