Boston for Bernie: Heath Care

One day three, I spent more of my time doing administrative work and volunteer coordination at the office. This gave me an opportunity to get to know some of the staff and volunteers who are devoting all of their time to this. Some of them have quit their jobs and are hopping from state to state. Others are volunteering full-time at the same time as working a full-time job. The level of commitment is unlike anything I’ve seen. They all have different stories and backgrounds but are united by their disdain for the status quo and their hope for a future of uncorrupted politics.

Americans do seem to usually have an idyllic view of Canada. Many think our health care system is fully public, when in reality it omits several crucial areas of care. Others think highly of Justin Trudeau, when in reality he is a climate criminal who is continuing Canada’s legacy of colonialism. Some think that our electoral system is fair, when in reality it is nowhere near proportional, and makes it difficult for real leftists to get a voice. Canada does some amazing PR work, and the stereotypes of politeness and multi-culturalism really help to gloss over a lot of issues. I guess its not hard to look halfway decent when stacked up beside the corruption and imperialism of the US.

The main thing that everyone wants to talk with me about when they hear that I’m from Canada is health care. They’ve lived their whole life in the US and have some horrible stories. I talked with a man who is still paying off debt from an emergency surgery he had 15 years ago. There is no reasonable way to defend a system that extorts money from sick people. It’s a night-and-day issue. In Canada, I can walk into any hospital in the country, and leave without a bill. Anyone can do that. Health care outcomes in Canada are much better than the US and Canadians spend about half as much per capita. Leaving a critical human right like health care up to the free market is an indefensible idea. Capitalists don’t care in the slightest if poor people have health care, they only care about growing their profit margin. Denying coverage and charging people out of pocket is the fundamental mechanism that insurance companies use to make money.

It’s been obvious to any reasonable person for decades and decades that single-payer health care is the only ethical policy, but lobbyists and corporate political donations have ruined the accountability of elected officials to their constituents. Health insurance companies do not deserve to exist, and the executives should be criminally liable for the unthinkable amounts of pain that they have caused. Any politician who thinks that there is still a place for them is severely compromised and is an enemy of the American people.

One of the underused arguments for a single payer system that some people at the office were talking about is the idea that single payer allows for more personal freedom. You aren’t tied down to a bad job because it literally keeps you alive. You don’t have to stay with an abusive partner because you don’t have your own healthcare plan. For many people, it’s not worth the risk to make a life change, because being uninsured can lead to massive bills or death. Being able to do what you want, and not being a slave to corporations or other people is an essential part of the American dream.

I don’t think it’s a contentious statement to say that Bernie far-and-away the strongest (and only) proponent of eliminating private insurance. Warren has continued to back away from her support of Medicare-for-all and has already started to compromise by proposing to start with a public option. The other candidates are comically repeating industry talking points that purposely mislead. If you believe in health care as a human right then there is only one choice.