Conyers, Clay back HR 676
By Alvin A. Reid Of the St. Louis American
African-American legislators have been the driving forces behind a bill to establish expanded and improved Medicare for Americans.
U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) introduced HR 676, which would create a “universal health care” type system in the United States. U.S. Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay is among the 76 other co-sponsors, but is the only member of Missouri’s national delegation to sign on in support.
At a rally outside Chase Park Plaza on Friday, Clay spokeswoman Allison Price said the congressman fully supports the bill, calling it vital to American health care.
“The congressman believes that health care is a human right and not a privilege,” she told a crowd that gathered before a preview of Michael Moore’s health care documentary Sicko.
State Rep. Jeannette Mott Oxford (D-St. Louis) filed a bill in Missouri in support of HR 676, but Speaker of the House Rod Jetton, a Republican, did not give the bill a hearing.
“This bill deserves public debate,” Mott Oxford said. “It is a travesty for any worker in America to be without health care.”
Standing beside a bus traveling throughout America in support of Sicko, Mott Oxford called Medicare cuts in 2005 “financially stupid” because the state forfeited more than $1 billion in federal funding because almost 200,000 were jettisoned from the program.
Julia Lamborn Gettinger, president of Missourians for Single Payer, said the gathering of nurses, doctors and supporters were in St. Louis “to celebrate HR 676.”
“Health care should be available in America from birth to death,” she said.
“We need this in our country, and we need it now.”
Conyers first filed HR 676 in 2005, and it was re-introduced in January following the return of Democratic majorities in the House and Senate.
“With more than 45 million uninsured Americans, and another 50 million who are under-insured, the time has come to change our inefficient, costly and fragmented non-health care system,” Conyers said.
The bill would mean that every person living in or visiting the United States and the U.S. Territories would receive a United States National Health Insurance Card and ID number once they enroll at the appropriate location. Social Security numbers may not be used when assigning ID cards.
This program would cover all medically necessary services, including primary care, in patient care, outpatient care, emergency care, prescription drugs, durable medical equipment, long term care, mental health services, dentistry, eye care, chiropractic, and substance abuse treatment.
Patients would have their choice of physicians, providers, hospitals, clinics and practices. No co-pays or deductibles are permitted under this act.
Opponents say the bill would create an overwhelming bureaucracy that the government is incapable of controlling. Lengthy waits for health care services and sub-standard medical attention are also possible setbacks for a universal health care system.
But Gettinger said there has to be a better way, because the current system is “cruel and controlled by insurance companies and profits through denial of care.”
