Health Care Advocacy

Energy and health care are two vital human needs, which is why CITIZEN POWER has chosen to work in these two arenas. There are many similarities in the way these two industries operate.

Virtually everyone agrees that the US health care system is broken. We spend twice as much per person on health care as do other industrialized countries. Yet, in the richest country in the world, 47 million Americans have no health coverage. An estimated 45,000 Americans die each year because they forego treatment due to lack of health insurance. Approximately 50% of personal bankruptcies in the US stem from high medical bills.

Why are healthcare costs so high? A big part of the problem is the 20-30% overhead costs associated with insurance companies, including excessive CEO salaries, marketing and profit.

As an advocate for energy policies that protect the environment and low-income consumers, CITIZEN POWER has learned a great deal about how public policy is developed and implemented. We understand the challenges of trying to change long-standing policies that are supported by powerful interests. We have decided to utilize what we have learned from this experience to make a contribution toward health care reform in ways not currently being done.

As with energy advocacy, we have short-term objectives that we work to achieve as part of process to reach our long-term goal. The long-term goal is the establishment of a non-profit, single-payer, universal health care system in the United States. A streamlined financing arrangement that will resolve many of the problems associated with our current health care system.

Accordingly, CITIZEN POWER supports passage of HR 676, legislation currently pending in the US House of Representatives, titled “The United States National Health Insurance Act” or “Expanded and Improved Medicare for All.” To read a summary of the bill, click here

To see the entire bill, click here

There are a number of  myths created by those who want to maintain the current, for profit, insurance-run, health care system. Click here for some answers prepared by Physicians For a National Health Program to frequently asked questions about single payer health care.

Here are some recommended readings on health care reform:

In the Guts of Health Care, Fouad B.Michael, MD, which can be purchased here

A Plan for a Single-Payer Health Care System: The Best Health Care in the World, Charles H. Chen, MD, which can be purchased here

Medicare Facts, Myths, Problems and Promises, Bruce Campbell and Greg Marchildon, Editors, which can be purchased here

CITIZEN POWER works toward the long-term goal of establishing a single-payer health care system in the US by being an active partner in the Western Pennsylvania Coalition for Single Payer Health Care. Click here to learn more about the Coalition. The Coalition is part of a national organization called Health Care Now. Click here to learn more about Health Care Now.