Here is the entire thing just in case they decide to scrub the page:
Health care must be:
Affordable.
Accessible.
Of equal quality for all.
Controlled by the people of the community, not by doctors, hospitals and insurance companies.
To achieve this:
I. Introduce a set of immediate reforms in the present health care system.
A. At hospitals:
a.Prohibit hospitals from turning away any patient who needs medical care.
b. Give low- and moderate-income members of the community a proportional share of seats on the governing boards of all hospitals.
c. Force hospitals to concentrate on providing basic quality care instead of wasting huge sums on showcase buildings and technological gadgets.
d. Enforce federal legislation that requires uniform minimum standards of operation for nursing homes.
B. In the medical professions:
a. Require doctors - whose education is subsidized by the federal government - to work for three years in an area where there is a shortage of personnel.
b. Prosecute local chapters of the American Medical Association if they continue to fix prices for doctors’ services.
c. Permit doctors and dentists to advertise prices and require price posting.
d. Prohibit doctors and dentists from refusing Medicaid and Medicare patients, and from billing more than Medicaid and Medicare recommended prices for the services they provide.
e. Place members of the community on all medical licensing boards.
C. At the health insurance companies:
a. Throw doctors and hospital administrators off the boards of directors, and replace them with a low- and moderate-income majority.
b. Require insurance companies to control hospital costs and medical fees rather than passing them on to their customers.
c. Prohibit discrimination by health insurance companies on the basis of race, sex, geography, income, age, or health status.
d. Provide all women with the services of midwives without the constraints and restrictions of the medical profession. Require all third party reimbursement to provide direct payment to certified nurse midwives.
D. In the government:
1. Reform Medicaid and Medicare by:
a. Raising income and assets limits for eligibility and removing the spend- down requirement.
b. Financing in-home care for the elderly as an alternative to nursing home care.
c. Including dental care and other preventative treatment in all Medicaid and Medicare plans.
d. Allowing Medicare and Medicaid recipients unlimited nursing home care.
e. Providing direct competitive payments to non-physician health care providers.
2. Charge state governments with setting maximum prices for basic hospital and medical services.
3. Require proportional representation of low- and moderate-income people on all health planning boards.
4. Require generic substitution options and price postings of subscription drugs.
5. Require the federal government to provide for the health care needs of recent immigrants.
II. Create a national health care system, along the following lines:
A. All medical costs are covered, by a combination of insurance, health maintenance organizations, free public health service. and sliding scale payments based on income.
B. The system is progressively financed.
C. The system is controlled by democratically elected community-based committees.
D. There is a 24-hour, 7 day-a-week medical care / emergency room available in every neighborhood, based in neighborhood clinics. The clinics provide all types of basic care, including ob/gyn, pediatrics, and preventative care, as well as the following types of services.
1. House calls.
2. 24 Hour telephone service.
3. Ambulance service.
4. A mini-bus to bring neighborhood residents to the clinic.
5. Mobile paramedics.
E. Doctors are on set salaries.
F. Medical education is financed by the government, in exchange for which doctors are required to serve in the public health service for a period of at least ten years.
G. Special emphasis is placed on preventive health care with free universal care and more adequate research on the most important facets of preventive medicine, including dental care, chiropractic, nutrition, prenatal care and vaccination.
H. Special emphasis is placed on maintaining a healthy environment, with the public health service responsible for strict enforcement of standards on: environmental quality, occupational health and safety, sanitation, foods, and drugs.
“a.Prohibit hospitals from turning away any patient who needs medical care.”
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They need to ask Michelle Obama about THAT one, huh? *snicker*
Bowl-Sh!*
Community based, community controlled, community ....commune.... communism
So glad I went to medical school.
Class hatred. This is really what all of this is about. I will sleep 5 hours tonight, and work 12 hours tomorrow, at a minimum.I wonder how many ACORN ‘workers’ will do the same?
Frightening.