A national day of protest was held in 18 cities around the United States on June 20th in order to call attention to the crisis of healthcare coverage in this country. Organized by Healthcare-NOW, the goal of the protests is to increase political pressure on national leaders to create a single-payer health plan that would essentially provide all Americans with health care coverage.

Healthcare-NOW demands a dissolution of the American for-profit health insurance system in favor of an expansion of the Medicare system for all citizens. Such legislation (H.R. 676) has been proposed by Representative John Conyers, and while a move toward universal health insurance generally loses traction here in the US after its initial introduction, a growing movement of outraged Americans is beginning to demand that government officials consider universal coverage as an attainable goal.

According to Healthcare-NOW, one third of all Americans has poor coverage---or none whatsoever---while the CEO of United Health Group earns $122.7 million per year, an amount that would insure more than 34,000 people. Meanwhile, over 100,000 Americans die each year due to the lack of insurance or denial of medical insurance claims. Healthcare-NOW contends that the for-profit insurance industry holds too much power in Washington, DC, using their economic and political influence to subvert any plans that would interrupt their financial gain. 

-----

 NurseKeith is a writer, nurse, consultant and blogger. Please feel free to visit his blog, Digital Doorway . 

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (Registered users only)

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Add Comment